US open: Staples, Walt Disney weigh on Wall Street

Wall Street was in a sombre mood on Wednesday following poor numbers out of entertainment giant Walt Disney and after regulators blocked a merger between Office Depot and Staples, in keeping with a tougher stance of late from regulators on both sides of the Atlantic.

As of 16:36 BST the Dow Jones Industrials was off by 0.65% or 116.25 points to reach 17,810.49, the S&P 500 by another 0.43% or 8.91 points to 2,075.48 and the Nasdaq Composite by 0.35% or 16.70 points at 4,793.64.

Investors were also waiting on the results of a $23bn auction of 10-year debt by the US Treasury, close on the heels of very heavy issuance in the euro area.

Not an even a rise in crude oil futures after the latest set of government data on commercial stockpiles was enough to lift the mood.

According to the Energy Information Administration, the US Department of Energy’s statistical arm, commercial crude oil stockpiles fell by 3.4m barrels over the five days ending on 6 May.

Front month West Texas Intermediate futures were moving higher by 2.786% as a result to $45.94 per barrel on the NYMEX.

On the company front, Walt Disney shares were off by 4.36% to trade 101.95 trade after reporting quarterly profit and revenue figures that missed analysts’ estimates for the first time in five years.

“The box office hits have not proved enough to offset weaker results from its theme parks and cable TV business,” said Jasper Lawler, market analyst at CMC Markets.

Shares in office supplies chain Office Depot were getting crushed, crumbling by 37.77% after terminating its merger agreement with Staples following a US District Court’s recent ruling to grant regulators request for a preliminary injunction to block the transaction.

Stock in video-games publisher Electronic Arts rocketed after the company posted quarterly results that beat forecasts.

Department store Macy’s dropped sharply - taking their 12-month loss to approximately 44% - after telling investors like-for-like sales fell 6.1%, for a fifth consecutive drop.

The only major economic release on Wednesday's agenda was the monthly US government budget statement due out at 19:00 BST.

S&P 500 - Risers
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $73.63 +14.08%
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) $4.66 +8.37%
Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) $11.73 +8.01%
Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) $12.50 +4.69%
Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) $32.88 +4.25%
Williams Companies Inc. (WMB) $19.77 +3.29%
ConocoPhillips (COP) $44.13 +2.94%
Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) $48.39 +2.94%
Halliburton Co. (HAL) $39.97 +2.91%
Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC) $36.46 +2.85%

S&P 500 - Fallers
Staples Inc. (SPLS) $8.69 -16.12%
Macy's Inc. (M) $32.11 -13.19%
PVH Corp. (PVH) $83.51 -7.17%
Nordstrom Inc. (JWN) $45.66 -6.55%
Kohls Corp. (KSS) $38.64 -6.17%
Tiffany & Co. (TIF) $66.39 -6.12%
VF Corp. (VFC) $61.39 -5.47%
Ralph Lauren Corp (RL) $84.60 -5.32%
Urban Outfitters Inc. (URBN) $27.07 -5.08%
Endo International Plc (ENDP) $14.73 -5.08%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $73.32 +1.12%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $51.48 +0.90%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $62.41 +0.60%
American Express Co. (AXP) $65.20 +0.56%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $162.03 +0.38%
General Electric Co. (GE) $30.59 +0.37%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $112.63 +0.32%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $150.34 +0.25%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $101.41 +0.14%
3M Co. (MMM) $170.27 +0.01%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $65.75 -4.42%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $102.04 -4.28%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $57.04 -3.65%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $134.85 -1.93%
Visa Inc. (V) $77.99 -1.53%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $131.88 -1.27%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $129.95 -1.25%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $33.44 -1.06%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $89.28 -0.79%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $64.62 -0.57%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $73.63 +14.08%
Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) $212.93 +2.03%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $37.07 +1.81%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $10.26 +1.68%
Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $711.59 +1.21%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $51.48 +0.90%
Whole Foods Market Inc. (WFM) $30.55 +0.89%
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. - Ordinary Shares (NCLH) $47.26 +0.79%
Texas Instruments Inc (TXN) $58.02 +0.68%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $36.16 +0.56%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Endo International Plc (ENDP) $14.73 -5.08%
Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $54.65 -5.06%
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (BBBY) $44.13 -3.52%
Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $79.35 -2.86%
Tractor Supply Company (TSCO) $92.40 -2.76%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $37.32 -2.74%
Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA) $202.77 -2.64%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $90.46 -2.62%
Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) $56.17 -2.30%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $162.42 -2.28%