Moody’s Revised Germany’s Aaa Rating, Markets Open Lower
July 24, 2012 at 02:46 AM EDT
Germany’s Aaa credit rating was cut to Negative from Stable by Moody’s sending the markets down to a lower open with the Dow dropping 54 points to 12,666. Nasdaq lost 7 points to 2882.On the upsideSarepta Therapeutics (Nasdaq: SRPT) reported positive results from a Phase IIb clinical trial of its Duchenne muscular dystrophy treatment eteplirsen.Second quarter earnings surged for Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) to beat analyst expectations as revenue soared.Under Armour (NYSE: UA) reported higher second quarter earnings and revenue prompting the athletic apparel maker to lift its full year revenue outlook.On the downsideAlzheimer’s disease treatment bapineuzumab developed by Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) and Elan (NYSE: ELN) failed a late stage clinical trial.Gentex (Nasdaq: GNTX) reported higher second quarter earnings and revenue but the results fell short of analyst expectations.DeVry (NYSE: DV) warned that fourth quarter results will miss expectations by a wide margin and announced the elimination of 570 positions prompting a downgrade.In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 3 to 2 on the NYSE and on by more than 7 to 5 Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks lost 2 points to 776.
