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The US stocks plunged on Monday, pulled down by mild data out of China and Boeing's recent production reversal. However, merger and acquisition announcements and company-specific news including on Facebook and Alexion Pharma, helped keep the S&P 500 and Nasdaq from larger losses.
China's exports slipped 18.1% in February, versus anticipations for a 6.8% increase, swerving the trade balance into deficit and adding to worries of a slowdown in the world's second biggest economy. Boeing Co. shares erased 1.3% to $126.89 on another production lapse for the company's latest jet, as hairline cracks were observed in the wings of some forty 787 Dreamliners. The weekend disappearance and assumed crash of a Malaysian airliner made by Boeing was another headwind for the stock.
The Dow Jones industrial average dipped 34.04 points or 0.21%, to 16,418.68. The S&P 500 missed 0.87 points or 0.05%, to 1,877.17. The Nasdaq Composite slid 1.775 points or 0.04%, to 4,334.448. The S&P 500 had finished at a record of 1,878.04 last Friday.
Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold wiped out 2.5% to $31.38 as hints of a slowing down China drove London copper to more than eight-month low. Facebook shares reached an intraday record of $72.15 following the UBS hiked its price target on the online social media giant to $90, previously $72. They ended up 3.2% at $72.03.
Alexion Pharmaceuticals leaped 7.1% to $180 following it escalated its profit and sales postulations for the year. The French government agreed to raise reimbursement payments for the firm's treatment for two rare blood disorders.
Freescale Semiconductor employees on the disappeared Malaysia Airlines flight were doing elaborated work at the US chipmaker, a company spokesman said last Sunday. They were a portion of a wide drive to make Freescale more productive and cost effective. Freescale shares dropped 1.3% to $23.09.
Chiquita Brands and Irish rival Fyffes, Europe's biggest distributor, entered an all-stock merger deal to make the world's largest banana supplier. Chiquita shares bounced 10.7% to $12. United Rentals Inc. profited 3.8% to $91.82. The world's biggest equipment rental company said it agreed to purchase privately-held National Pump, the second biggest specialty pump rental firm in North America, for $780 million.
FMC Corp. climbed 6.7% to $83.10. The chemicals manufacturer said it would be divided into two companies, one encompassing its minerals business and the other its agricultural, health, and nutrition interests. Traders kept tab on Ukraine. Unknown armed men fired in the air as they moved into a Ukrainian naval post in Crimea on Monday in the recent standoff since Russian military groups took control of the Black Sea peninsula. Russia said the United States had passed up an invitation to conduct new talks on resolving the upheaval.
Around 6 billion shares listed on US exchanges, based on BATS Global Markets data, below the daily average of about 6.98 billion so far this month. Decreasing issues outmatched advancers on the New York Stock Exchange by a ratio of less than 4 to 3. On Nasdaq, seven issues dived for every six that ascended.
