MARKET PULSE-Biofuel, Orexigen, Rambus, Synaptics

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Dow Jones industrial average futures were down 0.38 percent at 16,877, S&P 500 futures were down 0.45 percent at 1,941.75 and Nasdaq 100 futures were down 0.45 percent at 3,783.5.

** OREXIGEN THERAPEUTICS INC (NasdaqGS: OREX - news) , Tuesday close $6.81, -16.15 pct premarket

The company said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration delayed its decision on the marketing application of its obesity drug, contrave, by three months.

** LULULEMON ATHLETICA INC (NasdaqGS: LULU - news) , Tuesday close $45.48

Founder Chip Wilson said he voted against the re-election of Chairman Michael Casey and RoAnn Costin to the yogawear retailer's board.

** EXELON CORP, Tuesday close $37.16, -2.37 pct premarket

The utility company said it would offer 50 million shares of its common stock and 20 million equity units for sale. The net proceeds would be used to partly finance the acquisition of Pepco Holdings Inc (NYSE: POM - news) .

Each equity unit will comprise a contract to purchase Exelon (Frankfurt: PEO.F - news) common stock by June 1, 2017 and a 1/20 undivided beneficial ownership interest in $1,000 principal amount of Exelon's junior subordinated notes due 2024.

** HILTON WORLDWIDE HOLDINGS INC, Tuesday close $23.43, -2.26 pct premarket

The hotel operator said some of its shareholders were selling 90 million Hilton shares at $23.04 per share, a slight discount to the stock's Tuesday close of $23.43. The company said it would not receive any proceeds from the sale.

** BIOFUEL ENERGY CORP (NasdaqCM: BIOF - news) , Tuesday close $5.775, +18.61 pct premarket

The ethanol producer said it would buy real-estate assets controlled by Greenlight Capital Inc and real estate investor James Brickman for $275 million in cash and stock.

** MICRON TECHNOLOGY INC (NasdaqGS: MU - news) , Tuesday close $29.51, +4.37 pct premarket

Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS - news) raised its price target to $50 from $30 on the chipmaker's stock, citing enterprise demand for its DRAM memory chips used in personal computers.

Prices for DRAM chips made by Micron, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and SK Hynix Inc (KSE: 000660.KS - news) have bounced back from a deep memory chip price slump in 2012 that led some chipmakers to throttle back production.

** H&R BLOCK INC (NYSE: HRB - news) , Tuesday close $30.73, +4.13 pct premarket

The tax preparer's fourth-quarter earnings rose to $3.29 per share from $2.42, after the company exited unprofitable retail partnerships and improved its online tax-preparation software offering.

** RAMBUS INC (NasdaqGS: RMBS - news) , Tuesday close $12.36, +8.41 pct premarket

The technology licensing company raised its second-quarter revenue forecast to $75 million-$77 million, from its previously stated range of $69 million-$74 million.

Rambus also entered into a patent license agreement with Qualcomm Global Trading Pte Ltd, a unit of Qualcomm Inc . The agreement gives Qualcomm Inc and its units access to patented memory, interface, and security technologies from Rambus. The company said other terms of the agreement were confidential.

** APPLE INC (NasdaqGS: AAPL - news) , Tuesday close $94.25, -0.69 pct premarket

** STARBUCKS CORP, Tuesday close $74.6

The European Commission said it had opened three in-depth investigations into tax decisions affecting Apple, Starbucks (Berlin: SRB.BE - news) and Fiat Finance and Trade in Ireland (Other OTC: IRLD - news) , the Netherlands and Luxembourg respectively.

** SYNAPTICS INC (NasdaqGS: SYNA - news) , Tuesday close $66.52, +19.09 pct premarket

The touchscreen chipmaker's Chief Executive Rick Bergman said he would be "thrilled" to win back Apple as a customer after agreeing to buy the sole supplier of display driver chips for its iPhone.

** BANK OF AMERICA CORP, Tuesday close $15.92, -1.19 pct premarket

The bank and the U.S. Department of Justice have reached an impasse in negotiating a multibillion-dollar settlement related to BofA's mortgage investments, the New York Times reported citing people briefed on the matter.

** AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL GROUP INC, Tuesday close $55.01, -0.38 pct premarket

The insurer said Peter Hancock would succeed Robert Benmosche as CEO and president, effective Sept. 1.

** INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP, Tuesday close $184.29

The tech giant is nearing a deal to sell its chip-making business to contract chipmaker Globalfoundries Inc, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

** MORGAN STANLEY (Berlin: DWD.BE - news) , Tuesday close $32.08

The company will "probably" close sales of two physical commodities businesses in the third quarter, CEO James Gorman said.

** BP PLC (LSE: BP.L - news) , Tuesday close $50.95, -0.53 pct premarket

** AEROVIRONMENT INC (NasdaqGS: AVAV - news) , Tuesday close $35.43

British Petroleum has been authorized to use unmanned aircraft to survey pipelines and other infrastructure on Alaska's North Slope, the first commercial drone flights over U.S. land, government authorities said on Tuesday, giving a boost to the tiny aircraft's manufacturer AeroVironment.

** AMAZON.COM INC, Tuesday close $332.41, +0.96 pct premarket

The retailer plans to launch a marketplace later this year for local services - a broad term encompassing anything from babysitters to handymen to birthday clowns - beginning with a single market, several people familiar with the matter said.

** PENN VIRGINIA CORP, Tuesday close $14.11, -5 pct after market

The oil and gas producer said on Tuesday it plans to offer 2.5 million depositary shares and use the net proceeds to finance its Eagle Ford Shale development program and acquire more leaseholds in Eagle Ford Shale.

** ULTA SALON COSMETICS AND FRAGRANCE INC, Tuesday close $85.31, +8 pct after market

The beauty products retailer reported better-than-expected first-quarter profit and revenue on Tuesday helped by higher e-commerce sales and forecast current-quarter sales above analysts' average estimate.

At least two brokerages raised their price targets on the stock on Wednesday.

** UNITED NATURAL FOODS INC (NasdaqGS: UNFI - news) , Tuesday close $68.5, -2 pct after market

The U.S. food distributor reported first-quarter results in line with analysts' average estimates on Tuesday and said it expects earnings of $2.47-$2.50 per share for the year ending Aug. 2, down from the $2.45-$2.51 it expected earlier.

The company said the updated outlook reflects acquisition costs related to its agreement to buy Tony's Fine Foods for about $195.3 million.

** PROSPECT CAPITAL CORP, Tuesday close $9.82, +4.38 pct premarket

The business development company said it will not need to restate historical financial statements to consolidate some wholly owned subsidiaries, based on discussions with the office of the chief accountant of the Securities and Exchange Commission. (Reporting By Shubhankar Chakravorty in Bangalore; Editing by Joyjeet Das)