The major averages are lower at midday, though the Dow's decline is modest and the Nasdaq's slide has been more pronounced. Equity futures were modestly weaker after the Dow closed at yet another record high yesterday, though the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each fell Tuesday following all-time highs on a closing basis had been hit on Friday.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., retail sales rose 5.3% in January and jumped 5.9% excluding autos, both of which beat expectations. The PPI reading sharply beat estimates with January gains of 1.3% for the headline and 1.2% for the core. Industrial production rose 0.9% in January, which was also stronger than expected, while capacity utilization improved to 75.6% from the 74.9% prior reading. The NAHB housing market index bounced 1 point to 84 in February. Business inventories increased 0.6% in December.
TOP NEWS: Shares of Wells Fargo (WFC) are 5% higher near noon after Bloomberg's Hannah Levitt said the bank "has taken a significant step forward" on the path toward getting a Federal Reserve order that caps the bank's growth removed. Officials at the central bank have privately signaled to the bank that they accept Wells' revised proposal for overhauling risk management and governance, according to Levitt, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
Several other high profile investments, including some new holdings, of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) were disclosed in an SEC filing last night, including the firm having reduced its stake in Wells Fargo. Berkshire's three new buys during the fourth quarter included Verizon (VZ), Chevron (CVX), and Marsh & McLennan (MMC).
In M&A news, Energy Transfer LP (ET) and Enable Midstream Partners, LP (ENBL) announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement whereby Energy Transfer will acquire Enable in an all-equity transaction valued at approximately $7.2B. Under the terms of the agreement, Enable common unitholders will receive 0.8595 ET common units for each Enable common unit.
In earnings news, shares of Palantir (PLTR) are on the rise after the company's "strong" Q4 report prompted an upgrade to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was EHang Holdings (EH), which surged 43% in New York after it responded to Wolfpack Research's report accusing the company of being "an elaborate stock promotion, built on largely fabricated revenues." The company says that report issued yesterday "contains numerous errors, unsubstantiated statements, and misinterpretation of information." Also higher was Ebang (EBON), which rose 16% after announcing it will launch a bitcoin mining business.
Among the notable losers was Luokung (LKCO), which declined 30% after it raised $100M in a registered direct offering. Also lower was Shopify (SHOP), which fell 5% after reporting quarterly results.
INDEXES: Near midday, the Dow was down 35.89, or 0.11%, to 31,486.86, the Nasdaq was down 181.08(-1.29%, to 13,866.41, and the S&P 500 was down 20.69, or 0.53%, to 3,911.90.
Wells Fargo
+1.9 (+5.46%)
Verizon
+2.33 (+4.30%)
Chevron
+1.69 (+1.82%)
Marsh McLennan
+3.41 (+2.98%)
Palantir
+0.9 (+3.23%)
Berkshire Hathaway
+404.41 (+0.11%)
Energy Transfer LP
-0.095 (-1.36%)
Enable Midstream
-0.49 (-7.54%)
EHang
+17.5 (+37.63%)
Ebang
+1.18 (+14.97%)
Bitcoin
+ (+0.00%)
Bitcoin
+ (+0.00%)
Luokung Technology
-0.86 (-28.76%)
Shopify
-60.6 (-4.15%)