Macy's, Saks, Nordstrom, Best Buy Fall

Mayank Mehta
30 Nov, 2009
New York City

U.S. stocks traded sideways. Ratings revisions lifted Abercrombie & Fitch, Deer & Company, Nucor and Supervalu. AIG dropped 7.4% after Sanford C. Bernstein & Co lowered it price target by 40% to $12. CSG Systems increased 8%. Apparel retailers edged lower.

[R]2:00 PM New York – U.S. stocks traded sideways. Ratings revisions lifted Abercrombie & Fitch, Deer & Company, Nucor and Supervalu. AIG dropped 7.4% after Sanford C. Bernstein & Co lowered it price target by 40% to $12. CSG Systems increased 8%. Apparel retailers edged lower.[/R]

Of the stocks in S&P 500 index, 4 increased, 492 declined and 4 were unchanged.

Industrias Bachoco, S.A.B. de C.V led the decliners in the S&P 500 index with a loss of 6.4% followed by losses in United States Natural Gas Fund, LP of 5.4%, in American International Group, Inc of 4.2%, in Theravance, Inc 3.0% and in Supervalu Inc of 2.9%.

Deere & Company led gainers in the S&P 500 index with a rise of 2.3% followed by gains in Nucor Corporation 1.3%, in Sysco Corporation of 0.9% and in Abercrombie & Fitch Co of 0.7%.

Apparel retailers traded lower after lukewarm holiday retail sales start. Nordstrom, Inc ((JWN)) decreased 3.2% to $32.91, The Gap ((GPS)) dropped 3% to $21.38, Macy’s, Inc ((M)) declined 6% and Saks Inc ((SKS)) dropped 8.3% to $5.98.

TJX ((TJX)) declined 1.7% to $37.97 and Best Buy ((BBY)) declined 0.3% to $42.69.

Other Movers

Abercrombie & Fitch Co ((ANF)) added 0.7% or 29 cents to $40.26 after the teen-apparel retailer was upgraded to “outperform” from “market perform” at FBR Capital Markets.

American Capital Ltd ((ACAS)) the investment firm climbed 3.8% or 11 cents to $2.99.

American International Group, Inc ((AIG)) the insurer fell 7.4% or $2.52 to $30.77 after Sanford C. Bernstein analyst lowered its price target to $12, a 40% cut from its previous estimate.

CSG Systems International, Inc ((CSGS)) increased 15% to $18.76 after billing services provider to cable company said it extended a contract with Dish Network.

Deere & Company ((DE)) rose 2.3% or $1.21 to $53.57 after the maker of farm equipment was upgraded to “neutral” from “underweight” at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Industrial Bachoco, SAB de CV ((IBA)) Mexican poultry processor and commercial animal feed grower increased 6.7% to $22.84.

Nucor Corporation ((NUE)) rose 1.5% or 65 cents to $42.46 after the steelmaker was upgraded to “attractive” from “neutral” at Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Supervalu Inc ((SVU)) dropped 2.9% or 42 cents to $14.00 after the owner of supermarkets was downgraded to “underweight” from “equalweight” at Morgan Stanley.

Sysco Corporation ((SYY)) the distributor of food to restaurants rose 0.9% or 25 cents to $27.08.

Theravance, Inc ((THRX)) slipped 3.2% or 43 cents to $12.70 after the drugmaker announced today that the European Medicines Agency has completed the validation phase for telavancin marketing application for the treatment of nosocomial pneumonia, including ventilator-associated pneumonia.

Tata Motors Limited ((TTM)) increased 3.2% to $14.16 after it swung to a fiscal second quarter profit of $4.6 million on higher auto sales at its Jaguar Land Rover division and lower operating cost.

UAL Corporation ((UAUA)) increased 7.2% to $7.77

Unify Corporation ((UNFY)) advanced 7.4% or 22 cents to $3.17 after the business software provider reported second quarter revenues rose 22.4% to $7.1 million from $5.8 million a year ago. Net loss in the quarter was $1.4 million or 14 cents per diluted share compared to net income of $725,000 or 10 cents per share a year ago.