Late Market Roundup (CAL, LCC, FIS, MS, DDAIF.PK)

Despite a rise in jobless claims, US airline stocks moved up today. The crude’s benchmark price dipped below $75 a barrel. The NYSE Arca Airline Index (XAL) gained 1%. The benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 Index was nearly flat at 1,030.71 points. The top gainers among the airline stocks were US Airways LCC and Continental CAL. Crude for August delivery fell $0.91 to $74.72 a barrel in electronic trading. Shares of Fidelity National Information Services Inc FIS fell 0.75% after Standard & Poor's lowered its ratings from “BB+” to “BB.” The downgrade was the result of the company issuing debt in order to buy back its stock. The outlook for the company remained stable. According to Philip Schrank, an S&P credit analyst, "The downgrade follows FIS' decision to pursue a leveraged recapitalization, issuing $2.6 billion of incremental debt to repurchase its common stock through a Dutch auction tender offer." Morgan Stanley MS has appointed Francis Barron as its new chief legal officer. Barron will succeed Gary Lynch, who will continue to be based in London as a vice chairman of MS. Eric Grossman, the company’s general counsel of the Americas and worldwide head of litigation, will also join the management committee of MS. Daimler AG DDAIF has reported its US sales for the month of June at 19,574 vehicles, up 20.3% from 16,271 in the same period last year. While sales of Mercedes-Benz’s passenger cars and light truck vehicles jumped 20.5% to 18,269 units, those of the newly released Mercedes-Benz and Freightliner Sprinter Vans came in at 728 vehicles for the month. Read more from Benzinga's Markets.