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Market Wrap: Greek Official Resigns; More Beer M&A; New Home Sales at 2-Year High

June 25, 2012 4:58 PM EDT
Market wrap-up for June 25th

End of the Day: Dow Jones down 138.1 to 12,502.66; S&P 500 down 21.3 to 1,313.72; Nasdaq down 56.3 to 2,836.16

The following is a brief summary of events moving markets today:
  • Health causes one new Greek official to submit resignation: Not what he wanted to do, we're sure, but newly appointed Greek Finance Minister Vassilis Rapanos said he had to resign due to health reasons.

    Rapanos had been suffering from health problems over the last several days and made the decision following counsel from his doctors.

    Persons being considered to fill the role, according to the WSJ, include "former European Commissioner Stavros Dimas, former Greek Interior Minister Tasos Giannitsis, Development Minister Kostis Hatzidakis and respected economist Yannis Stournaras."

  • What's another $20 billion, anyway?: Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE: BUD and Grupo Modelo affirmed being in "strategic talks" earlier, after speculation InBev would make a $12 billion move for the remaining portion of Modelo it doesn't already own surfaced. Later reports suggested the purchase price may have been closer to $20 billion. AB InBev shares moved lower following this headline. InBev initially got its stake in Mexico's largest brewer following the $52 billion acquisition of Anheuser-Busch in 2008.

  • Microsoft, Yammer make it official: Though it was mulled on June 14th, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) and Yammer finally made it official by announcing they entered into a definitive agreement for Microsoft to acquire Yammer in a $1.2 billion cash deal.

  • Merger, revisited: Quest Software (Nasdaq: QSFT) moved higher after disclosing a superior bid from a mystery bidder. The offer, at $27.50 per share, is largely believed to be from Dell (Nasdaq: DELL), which made an effort in the past to acquire the company.

  • Cha-ching!: Sales of new homes rose by 7.6 percent in May, compared to the prior month seasonally-adjusted rate of 369,000. The Street was looking for a more modest gain of 346,000.

    Sales were up 20 percent from the same period last year and at the highest level since April 2010.

    New home prices rose 5.6 percent to a median of $234,500 (not a typo).

    Numbers are improving as the foreclosure market is thinning out. According to a recent survey by the Realtors' group, foreclosed homes accounted for just 25 percent of all sales in May, from 31 percent the prior year.
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