US stocks dropped on Wednesday as investors remain concerned about signs of an economic slowdown.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 21.87 points, or 0.18%, to finish at 12,048.94. The S&P 500 declined 5.38 points, or 0.42%, to close at 1,279.56. The Nasdaq Composite retreated 26.18 points, or 0.97%, to 2,675.38.
LDK Solar Co.Ltd. (NYSE: LDK) reported late Tuesday that its first-quarter profit jumped to $135.4 million, or 95 cents per American Depositary share, from $7.2 million, or 6 cents per ADS, in the prior-year quarter. Revenue climbed to $766.3 million from $347.6 million a year earlier. Analysts, on average, expected the company to report earnings of 86 cents per share on revenue of $769.45 million. Shares of the company slumped 53 cents, or 7.46%, to close at $6.57.
Molycorp, Inc. (NYSE: MCP) plunged $5.49, or 9.35%, to $53.21 after the company announced that, subject to market conditions, certain of its selling stockholders intend to offer 10,000,000 shares of Molycorp's common stock in a registered public offering. In addition, the selling stockholders intend to grant the underwriters of the Common Stock an option to purchase an additional 1,500,000 shares of the Common Stock.
Shares of Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) slumped 12 cents, or 5.58%, to close at $2.03.
Crude Oil prices rallied nearly 2% to settle near $101 a barrel after OPEC failed to reach an agreement on crude production levels.
European stocks closed down. The UK FTSE fell 55.76 points, or 0.95% to 5,808.89. The German DAX and French CAC decreased 0.92% and 0.88% respectively.
Asian stocks finished mixed. The Nikkei 225 rose 6.51 points, or 0.07%, to 9,449.46. The Hang Seng index of Hong Kong dropped 207.04 points, or 0.91%, to 22,661.63.
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