Stocks Open Lower on Weak Retail Sales
April retail sales unexpectedly fell as home foreclosures rose to record levels. Investors promptly took profits ending a two-month rally in stocks. The Dow dropped 140 points to 8328 while Nasdaq tumbled 25 points to 1690.
Macy's (NYSE: M) posted a wider 1st quarter loss, but the results were better than expected.
McDermott International (NYSE: MDR) posted lower 1st quarter profits. Investors remained worried about the outlook for the engineering and construction company.
Regional bank BB&T (NYSE: BBT) offered 75 million shares at $20 apiece in order to raise money to start repaying $3.1 billion in federal government loans.
The Medicines Company (Nasdaq: MDCO) stopped late stage trials for its anti-clotting drug candidate.
In the broad market, declining issues overwhelmed advancers by a margin of nearly 5 to 1 on the NYSE and by 4 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks fell 12 points to 482.
On the upside
The European Union slapped Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) with a record $1.45 billion fine for thwarting competition. The figure represented 4% of Intel's worldwide revenues last year. Analysts pointed out that the EU could have levied a fine equivalent to 10% of global sales.Macy's (NYSE: M) posted a wider 1st quarter loss, but the results were better than expected.
On the downside
McDermott International (NYSE: MDR) posted lower 1st quarter profits. Investors remained worried about the outlook for the engineering and construction company.
Regional bank BB&T (NYSE: BBT) offered 75 million shares at $20 apiece in order to raise money to start repaying $3.1 billion in federal government loans.
The Medicines Company (Nasdaq: MDCO) stopped late stage trials for its anti-clotting drug candidate.
In the broad market, declining issues overwhelmed advancers by a margin of nearly 5 to 1 on the NYSE and by 4 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks fell 12 points to 482.
