Market Roundup

Shares of Halliburton Co HAL lost about 0.5% after Standard & Poor's reduced its ratings outlook on the company from “stable” to “negative.” S&P has a long-term corporate credit rating of “A” on the company. S&P credit analyst Scott Sprinzen said, "The outlook revision reflects our view of the risk that Halliburton could ultimately suffer significant financial consequences because of court judgments and/or legal settlements." Shares of Exco Resources XCO advanced about 30% after Douglas Miller, the chief executive of the company offered to buy the outstanding shares of the company for $20.50 per share, representing a 38% premium over its closing price on October 29. Miller mentioned that he is in talks with private-equity firms Ares Management LLC, Oaktree Capital Management LP and T Boone Pickens. Miller said, “I anticipate continuing to run the business in accordance with our current practice and maintaining the company's valuable employee base, which we view as one of its most important assets.” Treasury prices moved down to push the yields higher, after the Institute of Supply Management's index of factory activity increased to 56.9% in October. However, economists were expecting a decline to 54% in the index. Yields on 10-year notes gained about 1.35%, while yields on 2-year notes surged about 3.54%. Shares of Baker Hughes Inc BHI gained about 3.8% after the company reported strong year-over-year surge in its Q3 results on the acquisition of BJ Services. The company's earnings came in at $0.59 per share, up from $0.18 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding items, the company would have earned $0.54 per share. The company's revenue advanced 83% y/y to $4.08 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings at $0.47 per share on $3.7 billion in revenue. Read more from Benzinga's Markets.