Late Market Roundup

Crude-oil futures increased their losses after the Energy Department reported an unexpected rise in oil stockpiles. Crude for November delivery moved down 0.3% to $83.51. However, the EIA reported a surprise decline of 2.6 million barrels for gasoline stocks, along with a fall of 1.1 million for...

Delta Air Lines Inc (NYSE: DAL) announced that its total September traffic gained 6.5%, from 15.13 billion revenue passenger miles a year ago to over 16 billion revenue passenger miles. Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) has urged for the dismissal of copyright claims filed by Oracle Corp (NASDAQ: ORCL)...

Shares of Sara Lee Corp (NYSE: SLE) advanced after a report that the company has rejected a buyout offer of $12 billion from Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. SLE shares are up about 8% following the report. Shares of Canada are down, with Toronto's main stock index dropping after decline in the US...

Natural-gas futures increased their losses, following the government report depicting a larger-than-expected increase in inventories. Natural gas for November delivery fell about 3.7%. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that natural-gas supplies moved up 74 billion cubic feet for...

Gold futures moved down after reaching $1,315 previously in the day. Gold for December delivery fell $0.30 to $1,308 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). Silver maintained its 30-year high, with its December contract moving up $0.08 to $21.79 an ounce. Shares...

Shares of Endo Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: ENDP) surged about 8.5% after the company agreed to acquire Qualitest Pharmaceuticals from private-equity firm Apax Partners for $1.2 billion to expand its business in the generic and pain drug markets. Buddy Gumina, partner and co-head of global...

Gold futures fluctuated today to settle at $1,298.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), after hitting an intraday high of $1,301.30 an ounce. However, Silver kept its 30-year high as its December contract gained 0.2% to $21.45 an ounce. Analysts at...

Shares of Texas Instruments Inc (NYSE: TXN) gained about 1.9% after the Standard & Poor's upgraded the long-term corporate credit rating on the company from “A” to “A+” due to the conservative financial policies of the company. The outlook on the company's rating is stable. S&P credit...

US Financial shares performed the worst in the S&P 500 today. The decliners in the list were Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), Citigroup (NYSE: C) and Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC). Shares of regional banks like Zions Bancorp (NASDAQ: ZION) and Marshall & Ilsley Corp (...

Gold futures declined, one day after closing at a record high level as investors were cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve's decision on the monetary policy. Gold for December delivery lost about 0.42%. Kitco Metals analyst Jon Nadler said, “Not much here that can be labeled as anything...

After the merger of UAL Corp (NASDAQ: UAUA) with Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL), the combined company will be listed under the ticker symbol "UAL" on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The merged company will be named United Continental Holdings Inc. The changed ticker is subject to approval by...

Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc (OTC: ANCUF) has announced that it will take its offer to buy Casey's General Stores Inc (NASDAQ: CASY) directly to the shareholders, following the rejection of its bid by CASY, earlier this week. ANCUF has mentioned its willingness to lift its bid from $38.50 per share...

A private communications systems company, Avaya, has disclosed its new business computing device, Flare Experience, today. Avaya said, "The new solutions, which range from personal desktop to multi-screen room systems, make high definition, low bandwidth video collaboration accessible for more...

Joel Rassman, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Toll Brothers Inc (NYSE: TOL), passed away early Tuesday. Rassman had been the CFO of the company since 1984. He had served as a member of the board since 1996. Executive Chairman Robert Toll said, "As we announced in December of 2008, he faced serious...

US stocks have narrowed their gains after the downward movement of consumer stocks. Shares of Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) declined more than 4% after Sanford Bernstein downgraded the company. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up by 100 points in the morning, but is now up by about 34 points. The board...