>>> US After Hours Summary: MLHR +8.2%, RHT -4.3% following earnings/g


After Hours Summary: MLHR +8.2%, RHT -4.3% following earnings/guidance

After Hours Gainers:

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: MLHR +8.2%,

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to news: LCI +5.2% (MintBroker discloses 5.12% passive stake), AVP +2.6% (to consolidate US operations into existing facilities in Suffern, New York), AMD +0.6% (tgt raised to $38 from $21 at Stifel)

After Hours Losers:

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: RHT -4.3%

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to news: MTEM -13.8% (commences $30 mln common stock offering), TLRY -8.9% / CRON -1.2% (ongoing volatility), CRSP -4.4% (announces proposed public offering of $200 mln of its common shares; files mixed securities shelf offering), KOS -3.8% (indicated lower on block trade pricing), DM -3.3% / D -0.3% (Dominion Energy announced that it has made an offer to Dominion Energy Midstream Partners to acquire all outstanding common units not owned by Dominion Energy in exchange for Dominion Energy common shares), IVC -2.6% (will initiate an executive search for a new leader of its North America business segment; Dean Childers, SVP General Manager, North America has departed), VKTX -0.7% (to offer and sell, subject to market and other conditions, shares of its common stock in an underwritten public offering)

>>> US Close Dow +0,61% S&P +0,13% Nasdaq -0,08% Russell -0,47%

Closing Market Summary: Financials Push S&P 500 Slightly Higher

The S&P 500 finished Wednesday with a slim gain of 0.1%, buoyed by financial shares, which rallied amid another rise in interest rates. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average outperformed, adding 0.6%, but the tech-heavy Nasdaq lagged, closing lower by 0.1%. The small-cap Russell 2000 fell 0.5%.

Wednesday's mixed outing followed an unexpected rebound on Tuesday, which came after the U.S. announced a $200 billion tranche of tariffs on Chinese goods, to which Beijing responded with $60 billion in retaliatory duties. Asian shares rallied for the second day in a row on Wednesday, with China's Shanghai Composite climbing 1.1%.

The rate-sensitive financial sector led the S&P 500 higher with a gain of 1.8% as Treasuries sold off, sending yields higher across the curve. The yield on the benchmark 10-yr note, for instance, climbed three basis points to 3.08%, hitting a fresh a four-month high. For the week, the 10-yr yield is up eight basis points.

The materials sector (+1.1%) also outperformed on Wednesday, but most groups finished in the red, including the top-weighted technology space (-0.1%). The lightly-weighted utilities, telecom services, and real estate sectors were the worst performers, losing between 0.9% and 2.1% apiece.

Cannabis stocks were in focus with Tilray (TLRY 214.06, +59.08) going on a wild ride after its CEO said on Tuesday evening that his business would be a "smart hedge" for major pharmaceutical companies. TLRY shares finished higher by 38.1%, but were halted several times after adding as much as 93.2% and losing as much as 1.3%.

Amazon (AMZN 1926.42, -14.63) also made headlines as it's reportedly planning to construct up to 3,000 cashier-less stores by 2021 and is testing a new shopping site for furniture and women's shoes -- news that weighed on shares of Wayfair (W 139.03, -4.23, -3.0%). Amazon shares finished lower by 0.8%.

In geopolitics, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un agreed to further steps towards denuclearization after meeting in Pyongyang with South Korean president Moon Jae-in, and China said it won't devalue the yuan to make its exports more competitive, despite its ongoing trade dispute with the U.S.

Trade talks between the United States and Canada resumed in Washington on Wednesday, but Bloomberg reported that a deal this week is unlikely.

Reviewing Wednesday's economic data, which included August Housing Starts and Building Permits, the Q2 Current Account Balance, and the weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index:

  • Housing starts rose to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 1.282 million units in August (consensus 1.229 million), up from a revised 1.174 million units in July (from 1.168 million). Building permits declined to a seasonally adjusted 1.229 million in August (consensus 1.310 million) from a revised 1.303 million in July (from 1.311 million).
    • The key takeaway from the report is that permits (a leading indicator) for single-family homes fell 6.1% month-over-month to 820,000, driven by declines across all four geographic regions.
  • The current account deficit for the second quarter totaled $101.5 billion (Briefing.com consensus -$103.3 billion). The first quarter deficit was revised to $121.7 billion from $124.1 billion.
  • The weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index rose 1.6% to follow last week's decrease of 1.8%.

Looking ahead, investors will receive several pieces of economic data on Thursday, including weekly Initial Claims, the Philadelphia Fed Index for September, Existing Home Sales for August, and the Conference Board's Leading Economic Index for August.

  • Nasdaq Composite +15.2% YTD
  • Russell 2000 +10.9% YTD
  • S&P 500 +8.8% YTD
  • Dow Jones Industrial Average +6.8% YTD

>>> US Gapping down


Gapping down
In reaction to disappointing earnings/guidance:

  • APOG -6.7%, AZO -5.8%, CBRL -5.8%, BWA -4.7%, ORCL -4.4%, GIS -3.9%, FDX -2.2%

M&A news:

  • ATHN -11.2% (Elliott Management plans to back away from bid for ATHN, according to NY Post)

Other news:

  • PSDO -12.1% (announces underwritten secondary offering of 3.0 mln shares of common stock by selling shareholders)
  • EROS -2.8% (files for 3,111,088 A ordinary share offering by selling shareholders )
  • ARGX -2.3% (launches $300 mln proposed public offering in the United States)
  • SONO -1.9% (lower on reports that Amazon plans to release at least eight new devices powered by Alexa)
  • CFFN -1.1% (files for approx 2.96 mln share common stock shelf offering by selling securityholders)

Analyst comments:

  • WK -6.2% (downgraded to Underweight from Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley)
  • FTNT -1.8% (downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS)
  • RHT -1.7% (downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan)
  • UAL -1.4% (downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Macquarie)
  • PRI -0.9% (downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Citigroup)
  • PLYA -0.9% (downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Nomura)

>>> US Gapping up


Gapping up
In reaction to strong earnings/guidance:

  • N/A

M&A news:

  • NXEO +14.9% (Univar to acquire Nexeo in cash and stock transaction valued at approx $2.0 bln or $11.65 per share)
  • AVP +12.5% (Avon Products has attracted M&A interest from Natura Cosmeticos, according to WSJ)
  • UNVR +1.2% (Univar to acquire Nexeo in cash and stock transaction valued at approx $2.0 bln or $11.65 per share)

Other news:

  • VKTX +141.2% (announces 'positive' top-line results from a 12-week Phase 2 study of VK2809)
  • TLRY +10.2% (US DEA has granted approval to import a cannabinoid study drug into the United States from Canada for a clinical trial at the University of California San Diego)
  • UNP +4.7% (to launch Unified Plan 2020 Oct 1 -- will be rolled out in phases across the entire Union Pacific rail network)
  • EEQ +4.3% (Enbridge confirms agreement to acquire all public equity of Enbridge Energy Partners (EEP) and Enbridge Energy Management)
  • NFLX +1.1% (following last night's Emmy Awards) MA +0.7% (reaches agreement to settle monetary damages related to U.S. merchant litigation)

Analyst comments:

  • IMGN +1.5% (initiated with Buy at Guggenheim)
  • MRVL +1.4% (resumed with a Buy at Goldman)
  • LB +1.3% (upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at BofA/Merrill)
  • MD +1.2% (upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at BofA/Merrill)
  • TRGP +1% (upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo)

>>> US Early premarket gappers


Early premarket gappers

Gapping up:

  • NXEO +14.9%, AVP +12.5%, UNVR +2.6%, UNP +2.1%, IMGN +1.5%, NFLX +1.1%, CLVS +0.6%, MA +0.5%, SYMC +0.4%, V +0.4%

Gapping down:

  • ATHN -7.2%, PSDO -6.8%, ORCL -4.4%, ARGX -3.5%, EROS -2.8%, FDX -2.7%, SONO -1.6%, CFFN -1.1%, AZN -0.4%

SPH LN : Huadong and Sinclair today confirm that these pre-conditions have now b

Huadong and Sinclair today confirm that these pre-conditions have now been satisfied in relation to 32p/shr offer of certain pre-conditions, including in relation to the financing of the Possible Offer.

Huadong and Sinclair today confirm that these pre-conditions have now been satisfied and, accordingly, the Sinclair Independent Directors and Huadong are pleased to announce that they have reached agreement on the terms of a recommended cash offer by Huadong to acquire the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Sinclair. The Offer is intended to be implemented by means of a Court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement under Part 26 of the Companies Act (the "Scheme"). Huadong reserves the right to elect to implement the Offer by way of a Contractual Offer, subject to the terms of the Offer Agreement and the Panel's consent, if required.Under the terms of the Offer, each Sinclair Shareholder will be entitled to receive:32 pence in cash for each Sinclair Share