Home Sales In New York Are Up
Home sales in New York are way up thanks to increases in Brooklyn and Queens. Reuters

U.S. stocks edged lower at the open Monday after data showed pending home sales in the U.S. fell in June, and as investors wait ahead of the Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting beginning on Tuesday.

Hertz Global Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HTZ) reported second-quarter profit soared 31 percent to $121.4 million, or 27 cents a share, compared to a profit of $92.9 million, or 21 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue increased 22 percent to $2.71 billion. Shares fell 3.24 percent to $26.02 a share in early trade.

Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) shares jumped 4.79 percent to $68.19 per share in morning trade after the marketing giant and France’s Publicis Group SA announced the two agreed to merge over the weekend.

In other news, Hudson’s Bay Co. (HBC: Toronto) will acquire Saks Inc. (NYSE: SKS) for $2.4 billion. Shares of Saks Fifth Avenue rose 3.85 percent to $15.90 per share after the news.

Perrigo Company (PRGO) fell over 4 percent after the company said it will buy Irish drugmaker Elan Corporation, PLC (ADR) (NYSE: ELN) for $8.6 billion. Shares of Elan rose 4.42 percent to $15.59 in morning trade.

Data released Monday showed pending home sales fell 0.4 percent in June to 110.9, while sales were up 10.9 percent from June 2012 levels, the National Association of Realtors said.

As of 10:42 Eastern, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 45.42 points, or 0.29 percent, to 15,513.41. The S&P 500 Index lost 5.54 points, or 0.33 percent, to 1,686.10. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 6.08 points, or 5.51 percent, to 3,608.42.

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