Major stock indices were down sharply in midday trading on banks reporting lower earnings, a second health worker in Texas found to have the Ebola virus, and on concerns over Greek bond debt.
The S&P 500 was down 2.51% to 1,830.49. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.36% and dropped below 16,000 to 15,930.00. The Nasdaq fell 2.07% to 4,140.27.
The yield on a 10-year Treasury bond fell 9.25% to 2.00%.
The price of gold was up 0.78% to $1,243.90.
TECHNOLOGY
Costa Mesa-based network connectivity company Emulex Corp. was up 8.7% to $4.87 and a market cap of $345.6 million. It revised preliminary revenue guidance for its first quarter ending September 28 to a range of $102 million to $104 million from $93 million to $99 million citing “solid performance across multiple product line.” It reports first quarter 2015 results on Thursday, October 30. On Friday, analyst D.A. Davidson & Co. upgraded the stock on Friday from “underperform” to “neutral.”
SERVICES
Newport Beach-based natural gas fueling station builder Clean Energy Fuels Corp. was up 1.5% to $6.08 and a market cap of $545.6 million. It bought controlling interest in NG Advantage LLC in Milton, Vt., and the company’s compression station in that city. NG Advantage delivers commercial clients in New York State and New England with large amounts of natural gas via truck when the customers aren’t connected to a pipeline. Clean Energy Fuels’ stock price has dropped by about 40% in the last 45 days.
HEALTHCARE
Irvine-based Sabra Health Care REIT Inc. was up 1.2% to $25.22 and a market cap of $1.2 billion. It bought eight senior housing facilities in Florida, Maryland and Texas. Separately, Bank of America/Merrill Lynch upgraded the stock from “neutral” to “buy” and set a price target of $28.50.
