Amgen Falls 4% on Cancer Drug

Elena
23 Mar, 2007
New York City

Wall Street opened nearly flat on Friday, with investors waiting for the release of February existing home sales. In corporate news, Amgen fell 4.2% after the company halted a trail of colon cancer drug Vectibix. ImClone Systems, which makes Erbitux, a competitor drug to Vectibix, jumped 15%. DaimlerChrysler rose 4.1% amid reports the automaker would sell its Chrysler unit.

[R]9:45AM U.S. stocks opened flat ahead of dousing data.[/R]
Wall Street opened nearly flat on Friday, with investors waiting for the release of February existing home sales. In corporate news, Amgen ((AMGN)) fell 4.2% after the company halted a trail of colon cancer drug Vectibix. ImClone Systems ((IMCL)), which makes Erbitux, a competitor drug to Vectibix, jumped 15%. DaimlerChrysler ((DCX)) rose 4.1% amid reports the automaker would sell its Chrysler unit. Kraft Foods ((KFT))rose nearly 1% after news the company will join the S&P 500 on March 30, replacing Sabre Holdings Corp. ((TSG)).

Among companies reporting earnings news, Nike ((NKE)) fell 2.9% after the retailer posted an 8% profit jump but also said that margins in the current quarter and year would be flat or slightly down. Palm ((PALM)) gained 1% after it issued a better-than-forecast earnings report. Nevertheless, UBS downgraded its stock, citing recent stock gains.

Dow component Citigroup ((C)) received some attention amid reports that a faction within the bank is in favor of a bid for ABN Amro ((ABN)). The Dutch bank holding merger wich is talks with Barclays ((BCS)) gained 2.2%. In the first hour of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 6.41, or 0.05%, to 12,454.73. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 0.54, or 0.04%, to 1,434.00, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 1.45, or 0.06%, to 2,450.29. Bonds rose, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note falling to 4.57% from 4.58% late Thursday.


[R]9:00AM Wall Street to open modestly higher ahead of housing data.[/R]
U.S. stock markets looked poised for moderately higher opening on Friday, awaiting key economic data on housing starts. Wall Street expects a decline in sales after jumping to 6.46 million in January. The Federal Reserve said earlier this week that an ‘adjustment’ in the housing sector was continuing, offering some relief for investors concerned about the troubled subprime mortgage market. Among companies in focus, shares of Amgen ((AMGN)) dropped 4.2% in pre-open trade after it halted a study due to poor survival in patients that used Vectibix along with Genentech''''s ((DNA)) Avastin and chemotherapy to treat colorectal cancer.

In earnings news, Nike ((NKE)) slipped 2% after the athletic apparel maker reported an 8% profit rise but issued a soft gross margin forecast. Palm ((PALM)) lost 1.1% in pre-open trade after UBS still downgraded the maker of handheld devices, citing its recent stock price run. The company reported a better-than-forecast quarterly profit. Jabil Circuit ((JBL)) dropped 8.3% after releasing disappointing forecasts. On the merger-and-acquisition news front, Acciona and Enel ((EN)) said they''re considering a joint bid for Spanish utility Endesa ((ELE)) that could top the $55 billion offer from Germany''s E.On. S&P 500 futures rose 1.3 points at 1,446.30 and Nasdaq 100 futures rose a point at 1,819.75. Dow industrial futures rose 4 points.