Stocks opened in positive territory following a better than expected earnings report from Boeing (BA), which single-handedly lifted the futures from negative to positive ground. The averages saw their highs shortly after the open and then crossed into negative ground, after which the sellers gained the upper hand. With today’s losses, the S&P has closed lower in 12 of the past 14 sessions, leading the benchmark index, and the Dow, to erase their gains for the year. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., new home sales declined 5.5% to a 553,000 rate in September, which was weaker than the 625,000 home sales pace forecast. Markit’s flash manufacturing PMI for October edged up 0.3 points to 55.9, while the services PMI climbed 1.2 points to 54.7 versus 53.5 in the prior month. In Federal Reserve news, the Fed said in its latest Beige Book that economic activity has expanded across the U.S., with New York and St. Louis indicated slight growth overall while Dallas reported robust growth. The Fed added that employment expanded “modestly or moderately” across most of the U.S. COMPANY NEWS: Shares of Boeing initially had a strong positive reaction to the company’s headline earnings beat and guidance hike, but the stock came off its highs as the broader market reversed. By the close, shares of Being were up 1%… Amid the bomb scare news at its recently-acquired CNN unit, AT&T (T) also reported earnings that missed expectations. AT&T shares were 8% lower at the close… A number of Wall Street analysts cut their price target on Texas Instruments (TXN) shares and the stock slid 8% in response to the company’s earnings report. Among them, RBC Capital’s Amit Daryanani lowered his target on TI to $120 from $127… Meanwhile, shares of Exxon Mobil (XOM) fell 3% after New York Attorney General Barbar Underwood announced a lawsuit against the company, claiming that it “misled investors regarding the risk that climate change regulations posed to its business.” MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was AutoNation (AN), which rose 2% after BofA Merrill Lynch upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral. Also higher was Trivago (TRVG), which gained 11% following their respective quarterly results. Among the notable losers was DXC Technology (DXC), which fell 16% after The Register reported that the general manager of the company’s Americas region has been let go amid sales weakness in the geographic area. Also lower was Noodles & Co. (NDLS), which fell 25% after reporting quarterly results. INDEXES: The Dow fell 608.01, or 2.41%, to 24,583.42, the Nasdaq lost 329.14, or 4.43%, to 7,108.40, and the S&P 500 declined 84.59, or 3.09%, to 2,656.10.
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