Closing Bell: DJIA's first "almost" positive month this year (C, GU, MRK, SGP, MON, NCST)

Posted Mar 31st 2008 5:19PM by Jon Ogg
Filed under: Citigroup Inc. (C), Merck and Co (MRK)

Today marked the end of the first quarter of 2008, and the markets ended on an up-note today. The gains in the DJIA today were within a few points of closing up for the month of March 2008. The DJIA hasn't had a positive month since October 2007.

One of the premiere helping hands came from Hank Paulson's proposals that would regulate more players in the financial services industry ahead. Another note was that the Chicago Purchasing managers Index actually gained from 44.5 in February to 48.2 in March, also above the 47.3 estimates. Below are the unofficial closing levels for the DJIA:

DJIA 12,262.89 (+46.49, +0.38%)
NASDAQ 2,279.10 (+17.92, +0.79%)
S&P500 1,322.69 (+7.47, +0.57%)
10YR-TBond 3.432% (-0.034%)
Full 52-Week Lows

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) announced today that it plans to reorganize its consumer credit card business into two parts, Consumer Banking and Global Cards. Analysts doubt the move will eventually result in a spin-off of the unit. The regionalized restructuring will allow more localized control which should enable Citigroup to target international markets more effectively.

Gushan Environmental Energy Limited (NYSE: GU) dropped after Piper Jaffray analyst downgraded the Chinese biodiesel company from a "buy" to "neutral" rating, citing that the company is overvalued but will still be able to capitalize on biodiesel fuel shortages in China. Shares were down some 14% at $12.85 in the last five minutes of the day. See top 10 pre-market analyst calls.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MRK) and Schering-Plough Corporation (NYSE: SGP) suffering a big drop as their jointly-marketed cholesterol drug, Vyotrin, took a hit in a recent controversial study. The study showed that Vyotrin is not more effective than Zocor and its generics at treating cholesterol. The study should challenge those combined $5 Billion sales quite a bit. In the last five minutes of the day, Merck shares were down over 14% at $38.14 and Schering-Plough was down over 25% at $14.46.

Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON) announced today it is to buy seed company De Ruiter Seeds Group for $863 million. The transaction will close pending European regulatory approval. Shares actually were trading lower by almost 3% at $111.14 in the last five minutes of the day.

Nucryst Pharmaceuticals Corporation (NASDAQ: NCST) was up over by over $0.60, a whopping 60% jump, to $1.64 in mid-day trading on new news. Friday, the stock dropped $0.50 to a new 52-week low. This volatile infection and inflammation biotech company has a 52-week range of $1.01 to $1.85. Shares were up some 53% at $at $1.55 in the last five minutes of the day.

Tags: C, GU, gushan environmental energy, GushanEnvironmentalEnergy, MON, MRK, NCST, nucryst pharmaceutic..., NucrystPharmaceutic..., schering-plough, SGP