Afternoon Market Update

Shares of J Crew Group Inc JCG surged about 16% after the company agreed to be purchased by TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners for about $3 billion or $43.50 per share, representing a 16% premium over JCG's closing price on Monday. JCG reported its Q3 profit at $0.58 per share on sales of $429.3 million. The company reduced its full-year profit projections to $2.08 to $2.13 per share, from its earlier guidance of $2.35 per share. Analysts were expecting Q3 earnings at $0.55 per share and full-year earnings at $2.24 per share. Treasury prices remained higher after the National Association of Realtors reported a decline of 2.2% in the US sales of existing homes in October. Yields on 10-year notes dropped about 2.64%. Shares of Hewlett-Packard Co HPQ rose about 0.3% after the company posted better-than-expected quarterly results. The company reported a 5% y/y rise in its fiscal FQ4 profit, and issued upbeat projections. Read more from Benzinga's Markets.