Citigroup Profit Lifts Markets To Higher Open
Citigroup's surprise profit lifted the markets to a higher open with the Dow rising 22 points to 11,040. Nasdaq added 2 points to 2483.
On the upside
Wells Fargo cited improving customer trends for upgrading Sprint (NYSE: S) to Outperform.
American Capital (Nasdaq: ACAS) will sell 58.3 million common shares at $5.06 per share to institutional investors through a registered direct offering.
Citigroup (NYSE: C) impressed by swinging to a first quarter profit that topped analyst estimates by a wide margin despite a drop in revenue as loan loss provisions fell and trading revenue surged.
On the downside
Morgan Keegan downgraded Palm (Nasdaq: PALM) to a Sell rating saying that the company will be unable to sell itself.
Demand weakend for Freddie Mac's (NYSE: FRE) bonds.
Collins Stewart downgraded Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ).
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 5 to 2 on the NYSE and by nearly 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks eased a point to 712.
