Closing Bell
The three major indices all had a strong bounce-back session Wednesday as markets shook off worries from Italy to get back on track. The Dow and S&P 500 closed higher for the first time in four sessions.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.26%, or 307 points to 24,669, while the S&P 500 gained 1.27%, or 34 points to 2,724, and the Nasdaq gained 0.9%, or 66 points to 7,462.
Lowe's to Drop Deadly Paint Remover
Lowe's (LOW) CCO Mike McDermott announced that the home improvement retailer will stop selling commercial paint strippers containing the chemicals methylene chloride and N-methyl pyrrolidone (NMP) by the end of the year.
The chemicals have been responsible for over 60 deaths since 1980.
"We care deeply about the health and safety of our customers and great progress is being made in the development of safer and more effective alternatives," McDermott said in a press release.
Royal Bank of Scotland CFO Departs
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) shares had wild fluctuations Wednesday after CFO Ewen Stevenson announced he was departing the firm on the same day of its annual meeting.
The firm fell as low as $7.38, but the stock was up 0.47% to $7.44 in afternoon trading Wednesday.
RBS has been transforming itself since taking a $60 billion bailout from the British government during the financial crisis in 2008, divesting trillions of dollars in assets as it streamlines its operations.
U.S. First Quarter GDP Growth Was Softer Than First Thought
U.S. first-quarter gross domestic product grew 2.2%, the U.S. Commerce Department reported, down from its initial estimate of 2.3% growth. Compared with a year earlier, total output expanded 2.8% in the quarter.
Economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal also were expecting growth of 2.3%.
After-tax corporate profits, excluding inventory valuation and capital consumption adjustments, rose to a seasonally adjusted 7.8% in the first quarter after declining 9.6% in the previous quarter.
Dick's Spikes on Earnings Beat as Gun Business Decline Is Offset by Other Segments
Dick's Sports Goods (DKS) decision to eliminate the sale of certain weapons and to increase the age for customers looking to purchase firearms hurt its hunting business, but strength in other segments helped push the company's bottom line ahead of analyst expectations.
The company reported a 3.2% increase in profit to $60.1 million, or 59 cents per share on a 4.6% increase in revenue to $1.91 billion. Same-store sales did post a steeper drop than expected, declining 2.5% vs. a 1.4% expected decline.
Dick's shares were up 20% in morning trading Wednesday.
Premarket
U.S. futures were rising ahead of the opening bell Wednesday as markets look to bounce back from a dismal day of trading that saw the Dow drop triple digits.
Dow futures were rising 0.6%, indicating an open 143 points higher, while S&P futures climbed 0.49%, indicating an open 13 points higher, and Nasdaq futures gained 0.39%, indicating an open 27 points higher.
Asian markets were still reeling Wednesday with the Shanghai Composite dropping 2.53%, the Hang Seng falling 1.37% and the Nikkei dropping 1.52%.
European markets were mixed with the CAC 40 dropping 0.25%, but the DAX rose 0.71% and the FTSE 100 gained 0.3% with about four hours left in trading.
