FOX Business: The Power to Prosper

Wall Street ended in a mixed picture on Wednesday as the Nasdaq Composite eked out a mini gain, but the Dow failed to bounce back from its worst performance in three months. 

Today’s Markets

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 15.62 points, or 0.14%, to 11007.88, the Standard & Poor's 500 advanced 0.25 points, 0.02%, to 1178.59 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 6.17 points, or 0.25%, to 2476.01. The FOX slid 1.83 points, or 0.22%, to 846.20.

The choppy markets were held back by weakness for big banks like Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) and continued uncertainty about Europe’s sovereign debt mess.

“The market hasn’t really bounced at all from yesterday’s selloff. But it’s just as much of a positive that the market hasn’t followed through by being down more today,” said Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities.

After seeing triple-digit swings in several recent trading sessions, the blue chips moved in a very tight range of just over 50 points on Wednesday. About half of the Dow's 30 stocks advanced, led by Merck (NYSE:MRK) and Travelers (NYSE:TRV). The index's worst performers were BofA and Home Depot (NYSE:HD). 

However, the Nasdaq Composite posted minor gains, led by technology stocks like Amazon.com (NADAQ:AMZN) and Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM).

Wall Street hit session lows after NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP) spooked the markets ahead of the close by releasing quarterly results and guidance that trailed estimates.

Meanwhile, the financial sector slid nearly 1%. The Federal Reserve said it will require all 19 original “stress test” banks to submit capital plans by early next year so they can prove they can absorb losses before raising dividends or buying back stock. These plans will impact big banks like Citigroup (NYSE:C) and Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC).

After days of turbulence in Europe, markets there were relatively calm and the euro bounced off a two-month low against the dollar despite Ireland's debt mess still being unresolved. European officials are reportedly readying a financial support package for Ireland as large as $135 billion and the U.K. said it is ready to help its neighbor as well. The cost to insure the debt of Ireland and other troubled countries like Portugal have spiked in recent days amid concerns about their soaring deficits.

The markets have worried problems in Ireland could spread to other nations like Spain and rattle the euro. A weaker euro versus the dollar tends to hurt U.S. exports and is seen as a bearish catalyst. The euro was up 0.24% to $1.3519 on Wednesday.

Despite the weaker dollar, commodities continued to lose ground. Crude oil fell $1.90 a barrel, or 2.31%, to a four-week low of $81.04. Gold declined $1.50 a troy ounce, or 0.11%, to $1,336.80.

U.S. markets mostly yawned at the day's economic headlines. The Labor Department said consumer prices rose just 0.2% in October, compared with forecasts for a rise of 0.3%. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy costs, was unchanged. The reading on consumer prices comes as the Federal Reserve looks to avoid deflation, commodity prices have soared and many worry about the threat of a spike in inflation.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department released more dismal news on the housing front, saying U.S. housing starts tumbled by 11.7% in October to an 18-month low of 519,000 annualized units. Economists had called for a more modest decline to 600,000 units. Home builders like Pulte (NYSE:PHM) and Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL) were mixed.

The markets also received more positive news on the General Motors front as the auto maker boosted the size of its initial public offering by 31% to 478 million shares due to heavy demand, giving it a chance to be one of the largest IPOs ever. The move comes after GM already upped the price range to $32 to $33. The bailed-out auto maker is scheduled to price its highly-anticipated IPO Wednesday evening and begin trading on Thursday.

Corporate Movers

Target (NYSE:TGT) posted a 23% jump in third-quarter profits and non-GAAP EPS of 68 cents that matched estimates. Revenue increased by 2.2% to $15.61 billion, also mirroring the Street’s view. Target predicted it will post its best same-store sales of any quarter in the last three years.

BJ’s Wholesale (NYSE:BJ) beat the Street with a 32% rise in third-quarter profits and EPS of 43 cents. Analysts had called for EPS of 36 cents. Revenue increased 4.9% to $2.63 billion, nearly meeting the Street’s view of $2.64 billion. BJ’s also upped its full-year EPS view, projecting $2.48 to $2.52, which would top estimates for $2.45.

Dynergy (NYSE:DYN) signed off on a sweetened takeover bid from private equity giant Blackstone (NYSE:BX) worth $5.00 a share. The new bid reflects an 80% premium to Dynergy’s closing price on August 12, the day before the initial offer. Dynergy shareholders will still have a chance to vote on the deal later on Wednesday.

Booz Allen (NYSE:BAH) soared nearly 13% in the government consulting firm’s debut on the New York Stock Exchange.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) named former Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) CEO Ronald Sugar to the company’s board of directors. Sugar replaces Jerome York, a former IBM (NYSE:IBM) CEO who died in March.

Suntech Power (NYSE:STP) slumped nearly 10% to 10-week lows after missing estimates with a profit of 18 cents a share. Analysts had called for EPS of 23 cents. Credit Suisse also downgraded the solar sector from “neutral” to “underperform,” dragging down stocks like First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) and LDK Solar (NYSE:LDK).

Global Markets

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 inched up 0.19% to 5692.56, France's CAC 40 rose 0.79% to 3792.35 and Germany's DAX gained 0.55% to 6700.07. 

In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 advanced 0.15% to 9811.66, Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 2.02% to 23214.50 and China's Shanghai Composite slid 1.92% to 2838.86.