Italian Jitters Sink Stocks — Monday’s IP Market Recap

by Marc Bastow | February 25, 2013 4:59 pm

InvestorPlace Market Recap[1]With no hard domestic economic news and little on the earnings front to focus on Monday, investors instead looked out across the Atlantic to Europe — in particular, to elections in Italy[2] — and didn’t like what they saw.

Europe’s indices finished mixed, and Italian stocks were hammered, including a nearly 6% loss for the iShares MSCI Italy Index (NYSE:EWI[3]) ETF. That late selling came back across the pond as all three major American indices followed last week’s losses with another round.

The net result were broad losses, with the S&P 500 sinking 1.83% to 1,487.85, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 1.55% to 13,784.17, and the Nasdaq was trimmed by 1.44% to 3,116.25.

In corporate news, shares of Barnes & Noble (NYSE:BKS[4]) rose nearly 12% after Chairman Leonard Riggio said he plans to buy the company’s retail operations[5] while leaving the Nook electronic book segment separate. Riggo’s SEC filing for the purchase did not include a price.

Zynga (NASDAQ:ZNGA[6]) shares continued to ride momentum from last week’s news that Nevada will allow real-money gambling over the Internet[7], rising more than 7% on the day.

On the earnings front, shares of content-to-print solutions provider 3D Systems (NYSE:DDD[8]) sank 9% after it reported quarterly results[9] that were only slightly better than expected. It also executed a 3-for-2 stock split.

Meanwhile, home improvement retailer Lowe’s (NYSE:LOW[10]) reported lower sales and earnings that drove shares down just less than 5%. However, the results were slightly better than forecasts, and the company sweetened the news by unveiling a $5 billion share repurchase program.

Earnings notables for Tuesday include Home Depot (NYSE:HD[11]), Macy’s (NYSE:M[12]), and RadioShack (NYSE:RSH[13]).

Three Up

Three Down

Marc Bastow is an Assistant Editor at InvestorPlace.com. As of this writing he does not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.

Endnotes:

  1. [Image]: https://investorplace.com/hot-topics/investorplace-market-recap/
  2. in particular, to elections in Italy: https://investorplace.com/2013/02/berlusconis-pressure-cooker-effect/
  3. EWI: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=EWI
  4. BKS: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=BKS
  5. buy the company’s retail operations: https://investorplace.com/2013/02/barnes-noble-chairman-may-take-retail-stores-private/
  6. ZNGA: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=ZNGA
  7. Nevada will allow real-money gambling over the Internet: https://investorplace.com/ipo-playbook/investors-double-down-on-zynga/
  8. DDD: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=DDD
  9. reported quarterly results: https://investorplace.com/2013/02/3d-systems-shares-dive-on-revenue-miss/
  10. LOW: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=LOW
  11. HD: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=HD
  12. M: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=M
  13. RSH: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=RSH
  14. EGO: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=EGO
  15. AMGN: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=AMGN
  16. HTZ: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=HTZ
  17. CHK: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=CHK
  18. ODP: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=ODP
  19. ANR: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=ANR

Source URL: https://investorplace.com/2013/02/mondays-ip-market-recap-hd-m-rsh-ddd-znga/