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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Pending home sales fell 2.3% in September, the second drop in a row, the National Association of Realtors reported Thursday. The index is at its second lowest level of the year, though it’s up 3% from the same level 12 months ago. The NAR said there continues to be a dearth of available listings in the lower end of the market for first-time buyers. A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction has not closed.

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Allergan Plc confirmed on Thursday that it has been approached by drug giant Pfizer Inc. regarding a possible combination of the two companies. The news of a potential deal, which would be the biggest merger of the year, was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. Allergan said the talks were preliminary and friendly, but cautioned that no agreement has been reached and there is no certainty that a deal will materalize. Both stocks were halted in early trade. “Under any potential scenario with Pfizer, Allergan remains strongly committed to complete the proposed divestment of its global generics business to Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd and expects the generics divestiture transaction to close in the first quarter of 2016,” the company said.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – Speaker John Boehner resigned his post on Thursday saying he had “no regrets and no burdens.” In a speech on the House floor, Boehner listed his accomplishments, including ending earmarks, or money for a specific project, on massive government spending bills and using federal funds for a school voucher program for poor students in the District of Columbia. In a light-hearted speech, Boehner earned a standing ovation when he pulled out a box of tissues at the start of his remarks. He also said his House colleagues could “dress better.”

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Shares in Mead Johnson Nutrition Inc. gained 3.5% in early U.S. trading on Thursday after China announced the end of its one-child policy. Market watchers credited Beijing’s announcement for helping to boost the shares of several companies that sell baby formula in that country. Danone S.A. shares recently traded up 2% in France, and Nestle S.A. inched 0.1% higher in Switzerland. These gains came while the main U.S. and European stock benchmarks lost ground on Thursday.

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New York Times Co. said Thursday it had net income of $9.4 million, or 6 cents a share, in the third quarter, after a loss of $12.5 million, or 8 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to 9 cents, ahead of the FactSet consensus of 6 cents. Revenue rose to $367 million from $365 million, also ahead of the FactSet consensus of $365 million. The company added 51,000 net digital subscribers in the quarter, bringing the total to 1.04 million. “This is the largest number of net subscribers we have added in a quarter since Q4 2012, evidence of our ability to continue to grow our digital subscriber count more than four years after the launch of our pay model and of the high demand for our digital journalism,” Chief Executive Mark Thompson said in a statement. The company is now expecting circulation revenue to increase at the same pace in the fourth quarter and for ad revenue to rise in the mid-single digits. Shares were not yet active in premarket trade, but are down 1.4% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained 1.5%.

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Rite Aid Corp. said its October same-store sales rose 1% from last year’s levels. Total drugstore sales for the month increased 1.4% to $2.09 billion from $2.06 billion a year earlier. Prescription sales totaled 70.7% of drugstore sales. Walgreens Boots Alliance announced late Tuesday that it agreed to acquire Rite Aid for $17.2 billion. Rite Aid shares are down 9.1% over the past three months. The S&P is down 0.9% for the same period.

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ManpowerGroup announced a new stock repurchase plan on Thursday to buy back up to 6 million of its shares. The new authorization comes after it completed a previous buyback program authorized in December 2012. The company also declared a dividend of 80 cents a share, payable on Dec. 15 to shareholders of record on Dec. 1. Shares of ManpowerGroup rose 0.3% in premarket trade, putting the stock on track to open around $89.81. Its shares have risen 36% over the last 12 months, outperforming the S&P 500’s 5.5% gain.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – The number of people who applied for U.S. unemployment benefits rose by 1,000 to 260,000 in the week ended Oct. 24, showing essentially no change in the level of layoffs ocurring throughout the economy. Economists polled by the MarketWatch had expected claims to total 265,000. The average of new claims over the past month, meanwhile, fell by 4,000 to seasonally adjusted 259,250, marking the lowest level since 1973, the Labor Department said Thursday. The monthly average smooths out sharp fluctuations in the more volatile weekly report and is seen as a more accurate predictor of labor-market trends. Some 2.14 million people collected weekly unemployment checks in the seven days ended Oct. 17. These so-called continuing claims were down 37,000 from the prior week.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) – The U.S. economy slowed to annual growth rate of 1.5% in the third quarter from 3.9% in the spring, mostly owing to a smaller buildup in warehouse inventories. Yet the main engine of U.S. economic growth, consumer spending, rose a much healthier 3.2% after an even larger gain in the second quarter. The steady pace of spending is likely to extend into the fourth quarter, helped by cheaper gas prices, rising inflation-adjusted incomes and a big burst in hiring over the past several years. Business investment in equipment, meanwhile, rose 5.3% in the third quarter, more than offsetting a 4% drop in spending on structures such as oil platforms or commercial buldings. Outlays on home construction climbed 6.1%. Yet strength in those areas was unable to fully offset weak investment in inventories. The value of warehouse merchandise rose by $56.8 billion in the third quarter, a dramatic comedown from gains of $113.5 billion and $112.8 billion in the prior two quarters. Trade was a wash. Exports rose 1.9%, with imports up 1.8%. Inflation as measured by the PCE index rose at a 1.2% annual pace in the third quarter, or 1.3% minus food and energy.

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Boeing Co. said on Thursday it received an order valued at $2.2 billion for up to nine 787 Dreamliners from El Al Israel Airlines. El Al will also lease six other 787 aircraft from independent leasing companies. “Boeing is proud of our long-standing relationship dating back to the delivery of the airline’s first 707 in 1961 and we are pleased to now count EL AL as the newest 787 customer,” said Boeing Commercial Airplanes Chief Executive Ray Conner. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has run up 14% year to date, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has slipped 0.2%.

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From:: Stock Market News