Mid-Day Market Update: U.S. Stocks Tumble; Regis Shares Decline On Downbeat Results

Midway through trading Monday, the Dow traded down 0.35 percent to 15,824.04 while the NASDAQ dropped 1.32 percent to 4,073.61. The S&P also fell, declining 0.68 percent to 1,778.09.

Top Headline
Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) reported a 44% rise in its fourth-quarter profit.

Caterpillar's quarterly profit surged to $1 billion, or $1.54 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $697 million, or $1.04 per share. Its revenue declined to $14.40 billion from $16.08 billion. However, analysts were expecting a profit of $1.27 per share on sales of $13.41 billion. Caterpillar announced its plans to buy back $10 billion in common stock by the end of 2018.

Equities Trading UP
Millennial Media (NYSE: MM) shot up 10.88 percent to $7.44 as the company lifted its Q4 forecast and announced the resignation of its founder and CEO Paul Palmieri.

Shares of Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) got a boost, shooting up 4.41 percent to $89.97 after the company reported upbeat Q4 results.

Rayonier (NYSE: RYN) was also up, gaining 6.78 percent to $43.97 after the company reported Q4 results and announced its plans to separate into two public companies.

Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Geron (NASDAQ: GERN) were down 18.46 percent to $4.5828 after the company reported that 20 patients have discontinued from Imetelstat study since its inception.

Regis (NYSE: RGS) shares tumbled 9.13 percent to $12.20 after the company reported downbeat Q2 results.

Idenix Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: IDIX) was down, falling 9.45 percent to $6.61 after JMP Securities downgraded the stock from Market Perform to Market Underperform.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.71 percent to $95.95, while gold traded down 0.21 percent to $1,261.80. Silver traded up 0.40 percent Monday to $19.85, while copper fell 0.35 percent to $3.26.

Eurozone
European shares were lower today.

The Spanish Ibex Index dropped 0.95 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index dropped 0.44 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX declined 0.33 percent and the French CAC 40 fell 0.41 percent while U.K. shares tumbled 3.19 percent.

Economics
Sales of new homes declined 7% to an annual rate of 414,000 in December, but climbed 4.5% y/y in the month. However, economists were projecting an annual rate of 455,000 in the month.

The Dallas Fed general business activity index rose to 3.80 in January, versus a prior reading of 3.10. However, economists were expecting a reading of 3.50.

Posted-In: Earnings News Guidance Eurozone Futures Forex Global Econ #s Economics Intraday Update Markets Movers Tech

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