| 12:34 EDT |  | CG, BMY, CALM, DUF, HLF, PFE | On The Fly: Midday Wrap
Stocks on Wall Street were mixed at midday as the last minute fiscal cliff negotiations may prove to be a boost, or a bane, to the averages in the last hours of trading of the year. With little else for investors to key in on, the fiscal cliff headlines will dominate once again for the remainder of the session... ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S. a minor economic report, the Dallas Fed's December manufacturing survey, came in better than expected at +6.8. In China, the HSBC purchasing managers’ index for December rose to a final reading of 51.5, an upward revision from the preliminary 50.9 result and an improvement from 50.5 a month earlier... COMPANY NEWS: After Friday's closing bell, the FDA announced it had approved the anti-clotting drug Eliquis, marketed by Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) and Pfizer (PFE). Atlantic Equities upgraded Bristol-Myers citing the approval and shares advanced about 1%. Pfizer shares, however, slid about 0.3%... MAJOR MOVERS: Among the notable gainers was Duff & Phelps (DUF), up 20% after agreeing to be acquired by a group led by The Carlyle Group (CG), with the provision that Duff & Phelps can continue to seek a better deal. Also higher were shares of Herbalife (HLF), which rose over 8% as the stock continues to bounce back from the sell-off begun with Bill Ackman's revelation of his short position. Among the noteworthy losers was Cal-Maine Foods (CALM), down 10% after reporting Q2 earnings that missed expectations... INDICES: Near noon, the Dow was down 2.10, or 0.02%, to 12,936.01; the Nasdaq was up 20.07, or 0.68%, to 2,980.38; and the S&P 500 was up 3.80, or 0.27%, to 1,406.23. |
