3:20PM NY, U.S. Market Movers

Sotheby’s (BID: chart) shares slipped 7.39% after an analyst said the completion of a contemporary art auction leaves little room for growth in the near term. At the auction held Tuesday, a Mark Rothko abstract painting was sold for nearly $73 million including the buyer''s premium, well above a $40 million estimate and a record for postwar art.

Copa Holdings SA (CPA: chart), airline company, said that its first-quarter net earnings rose 51% to $48.6 million, or $1.12 per share, compared with $32.3 million, or 75 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Revenue rose 27% to $242.7 million. Shares in Copa Holdings surged 9.79%.

Quanex Corp. (NX: chart) jumped 8.9%. The producer of metal products for automobiles and construction said it may sell or spin off a building-products unit that generated more than half its revenue last year.

Gaming Partners International Corp. (GPIC: chart) shares slipped 31.8%, after the maker of gambling products said that its fourth-quarter net earnings declined to $115,000, or a penny per share, compared with net earnings of $2.1 million, or 26 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Revenue fell to $16.1 million from $16.2 million in the same period last year.

Epoch Holding Corp. (EPHC: chart) reported a total revenue growth rate that exceeds the rate of growth of expenses. Total operating revenue increased by 114% while total operating expenses increased by 56%. The company recorded net income of $2.3 million, compared to a net loss of $1.1 million for the same period a year ago. The increase in revenue, coupled with investment income from the Strategic Data transaction and realized gains on the sale of ARTG securities, were the primary reasons for this increase. Basic earnings per share for the quarter were $0.11 per share versus a loss of $0.06 per share for the same period a year ago. Shares in Epoch Holding slipped 13.86%.

Bancorp Rhode Island, Inc. (BARI: chart) shares dropped 5.24% after the company announced that, based on an estimate of the votes cast at the company''s Annual Meeting of Shareholders, the company believes that shareholders have voted to elect all of the Board of Director''s nominees.

1:00PM NY, 5:00 PM Frankfurt European stocks closed lower, pressured by weak airlines.

European stock markets closed in the negative territory on Wednesday, pressured by weakness among airlines stocks as well as mixed earnings from Credit Agricole and Vivendi. Air France-KLM dropped 2.1% after UBS downgraded the company to neutral from buy. Shares in the French Credit Agricole slipped 4.1% after the bank reported a 92% increase in Q1net income, but excluding special items, earnings came below estimates.

Again in France, Vivendi shares rose 1.1% after reporting 23% increase in Q1 adjusted net income. Among tech stocks, chipmakers Infineon Technologies dropped 3.2% and STMicroelectronics fell 1.8% after U.S. peer Applied Materials posted a weak outlook Tuesday. In contrast, automakers were mostly higher, with Volkswagen rising 1.8% and Porsche moving up 2.3%. The U.K. FTSE 100 edged down 0.1% at 6,559.50, the French CAC-40 declined 0.2% to 6,017.91, and the German DAX Xetra 30 lost 0.3% at 7,481.25.

11:30AM Market averages moved lower on weak resource and semiconductor stocks.

In late morning trading, U.S. stocks reversed from earlier gains made on the back of better-than-expected economic data. On Wednesday, investors welcomed data which showed that construction of homes and apartments rose 2.5% in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.528 million units. However, requests for new construction permits fell 8.9% in April, the biggest drop since a 24% plunge in February 1990. According to another report, industrial output rebounded by 0.7% in April, more than double the 0.3% gain that had been expected.

Market sentiment was hurt by weakness in resource and semiconductor stocks. Metals companies declined amid a decrease in commodities prices. Semiconductor stocks came under pressure after Applied Materials (AMAT: chart) posted a disappointing guidance. While the Dow and the Nasdaq traded below the flat line, the S&P 500 managed to remain in positive territory on strong gains by Compuware (CPWR: chart) and Bausch & Lomb (BOL: chart), rising 12.2% and 8%, respectively.

In late morning trading Wednesday, the Dow fell 1.95, or 0.01%, to 13,381.89 after being up as high as 57 points earlier. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index advanced 2.30, or 0.15%, to 1,503.49 and the Nasdaq composite index fell 1.91, or 0.08%, to 2,523.38. Bonds showed little change despite the economic readings. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note remained flat at 4.71% from late Tuesday.


9:45AM U.S. markets opened higher on mixed housing data and gains for Citigroup.

U.S. stocks advanced at opening on Wednesday, reflecting mixed housing data, speculation about Citigroup and a cautious outlook at chip-equipment maker Applied Materials. Dow component Citigroup (C: chart) jumped 3% after hedge-fund manager disclosed he bought more than 15 million shares in the bank. The blue-chip average received further support from gains in the shares of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ: chart), up 1.8%, J.P.Morgan (JPM: chart), rising 1.4%, and Boeing (BA: chart), higher by 1%.

Tech stocks were pressured by Applied Materials (AMAT: chart) which fell 4.6% after forecasting flat Q3 sales and up to a 15% drop in orders. Rival chip equipment makers KLA-Tencor (KLAC: chart) fell 2.1% and Lam Research (LRCX: chart) slipped 2.7%. Homebuilders advanced as investors shrugged off data showing 8.9% drop in building permits. Hovnanian Enterprises (HOV: chart) rose 1.3%, while Toll Brothers (TOL: chart) added 0.3%.

Again in the tech sector, Agile Software (AGIL: chart) dropped 13% after agreeing to be bought by Oracle Systems (ORCL: chart) for $495 million, or $8.10 a share. On the earnings news front, Federated Department Stores (FD: chart) said it swung to a profit from a loss, although earnings fell short of analyst expectations. Jack in The Box (JBX: chart) climbed 5% after it reported a better-than-forecast 25% profit rise.

In early trading, the Dow rose 45.99, or 0.34%, to 13,429.83. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index rose 7.35, or 0.49%, to 1,508.54 and the Nasdaq composite index rose 10.78, or 0.43%, to 2,536.07. Bonds showed little change despite the economic readings. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note remained flat at 4.71% from late Tuesday.