Tag - Pnc

Shares of National City Corp. (NYSE:NCC) have gained some 14% in pre-market trading after news that the regional bank is said to be in talks with several banks, including PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE:PNC) and Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS), for a possible sale, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Shares jumped 14%, or $0.31, to $2.54 in pre-market trading. For detailed price information and news stories on National City, click NCC.

Small-cap stocks were expected to open flat to slightly higher Wednesday morning as the market digests Tuesday’s collapse, which registered as the largest one-day downdraft of the year. The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was up about 0.2% in after-hours trading, which would suggest an open near 708.60.

Stocks index futures price direction was choppy in after-hours trading with the Dow and S&P 500 slipping into negative territory, then bouncing back after trading higher much of the night. Nasdaq futures were up about 0.5%. Stock markets around the world were mixed to lower overnight, with Japan off 0.4%, Hong Kong down 2.4%, Australia down 1.5%, Singapore down 1.9%, India down 1.6%, China up 0.1%, South Korea up 0.8% and Taiwan up 0.5%.

A big part of the story during Tuesday’s collapse was an unraveling of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LEH), as LEH shares tumbled some 44% and triggered a wave of selling throughout the financial landscape. This morning LEH released earnings, which were awful, but the market was already expecting awful news anyhow. LEH confirmed they were planning to sell off prized assets to raise capital, as the fourth-largest U.S. investment bank posted losses nearing $4 billion for the quarter. LEH shares were turning higher ahead of the open.

Crude oil prices tipped lower, slipping about $0.30 a barrel toward the $103 zone. The market spent much of the overnight session on a mild rally after OPEC surprised the market by voting to cut production 500,000 barrels a day in response to the recent slide in prices. The temporary bump in energy prices helped lift gold off 11-month lows that were set in Asian trading. The U.S. dollar was firm against the euro . . .

Shares of Sterling Financial Corp. (Nasdaq: SLFI) soared this morning after reporting that it is being acquired by the PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC).

PNC said Sterling Financial, which provides banking and other financial services, including leasing, trust, investment and brokerage, to individuals and businesses through 67 branches in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware, will assist PNC in solidifying its footprint in central Pennsylvania through developing a leadership position in deposit share in central Pennsylvania.

Shares of Sterling Financial surged 70.14%, or $7.40, to $17.95 Thursday morning.