Late Market Update (HP, LCC, CAL, AMR, CKR)

Shares of Helmerich & Payne Inc HP gained more than 6% after the company agreed to build and operate 7 new FlexRigs under a few multi-year term contracts. HP has signed contracts with 4 exploration and production companies. The company has not unveiled customer names as well as price of the contracts. The company expects that it will be able to deliver 1 rig per month till January 2011. US Airline stocks moved up today following the movement of the wider market. The US carriers have reported disciplined seat-capacity management, along with healthy passenger demand, in the month of June. The stocks that topped the list were US Airways LCC, Continental CAL and AMR Corp AMR. The NYSE Arca Airline Index (XAL) gained 4.13% with all 13 components in the black. CKE Restaurants Inc CKR is currently in the process of getting acquired by Columbia Lake Acquisition Holdings Inc, an affiliate of Apollo Management. CKR expects the acquisition deal to complete by around July 12. Columbia Lake Acquisition Holdings Inc is buying the operator of Carl's Jr and Hardee's restaurants by paying $12.55 per share in cash. Read more from Benzinga's Markets.