Stocks were flat in another quiet session as the country awaits the House of Representatives' vote on two articles of impeachment being brought against President Donald Trump. The impeachment proceedings, while historic, have done little to rattle the markets as of yet as the consensus view, at least as indicated by the stock market, appears to be that there are negligible odds of the president being removed from office.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., no economic data of note was reported.
TOP NEWS: Shares of FedEx (FDX) plunged 10% after the shipping giant reported a Q2 earnings miss and lowered its FY20 guidance last night. While Oppenheimer analyst Scott Schneeberger downgraded FedEx to Perform from Outperform after the company's quarterly results were weaker than expected, several others on Wall Street defended their Buy or equivalent ratings on the stock on the view that FY20 earnings will likely mark a bottom.
In other news, Fiat Chrysler (FCAU) and Peugeot S.A. (PUGOY) announced that they have signed a binding combination agreement providing for a 50/50 merger of their businesses to create the fourth largest global automotive original equipment manufacturer by volume and third largest by revenue. Additionally, New York Life announced an agreement to acquire Cigna's (CI) group life and disability insurance business for $6.3B.
Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reported that Broadcom (AVGO) is working with Credit Suisse as an advisor as it looks to sell its radio-frequency wireless chip business. The unit could be worth $10B, though "it isn't clear if that's achievable," according to the Journal. Broadcom shares rose 1% after the news.
In addition, Reuters reported that European Union antitrust regulators are set to give unconditional approval to Nvidia's (NVDA) acquisition of Mellanox Technologies (MLNX).
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was PG&E (PCG), which rose 4% after submitting a multi-party settlement agreement to the California Public Utilities Commission related to 2017 and 2018 wildfires in Northern California. Also higher was Steelcase (SCS), which gained 16% after reporting quarterly results.
Among the notable losers was Qiwi (QIWI), which fell 11% after announcing the resignation of CEO Sergey Solonin. Also lower was The Toro Company (TTC), which slid 6% after reporting quarterly results.
INDEXES: The Dow fell 27.88, or 0.10%, to 28,239.28 , the Nasdaq gained 4.38, or 0.05%, to 8,827.73 , and the S&P 500 declined 1.38, or 0.04%, to 3,191.14 .
