MARKET PULSE-J.C. Penney, voxeljet, La-Z-Boy, gold stocks, Clovis

(For more market insights, including options activity, click on ; for the Day Ahead newsletter http://link.reuters.com/mex49s); for the Morning News Call newsletter, http://link.reuters.com/nex49s) The Dow and S&P 500 dipped on Wednesday after minutes from a Federal Reserve policy meeting said the central bank could start to slow bond purchases at one of its next few meetings if the economy improved enough.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 0.17 percent. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 0.10 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.02 percent.

** SGOCO GROUP LTD, $7, up 32 pct (2:37 p.m. ET)

The China-based designer and distributor of liquid crystal display products such as PC monitors and televisions is expected to report third-quarter results after market close on Wednesday. SGOCO is expected to swing to a profit and report revenue growth, according to a Seeking Alpha report. (http://link.reuters.com/beb84v)

** J.C. PENNEY CO INC, $9.28, up 6.5 pct (2:38 p.m. ET)

The struggling retailer said it was encouraged by business so far in November and forecast higher comparable store sales in the current holiday quarter.

** TWITTER INC (NYSE: TWTR - news) , $40.72, down 2.5 pct (11:18 a.m. ET)

** FACEBOOK INC (NasdaqGS: FB - news) , $47.14, up 1.68 pct (11:33 a.m. ET)

Cantor Fitzgerald cut its rating on Twitter's stock to "hold" from "buy," citing valuation.

"We move to the sidelines until management begins showing proof of further upside to consensus estimates; we favor Facebook instead," Cantor Fitzgerald analysts said.

** VOXELJET AG (NYSE: VJET - news) , $44.96, down 23 pct (2:17 p.m. ET)

** STRATASYS LTD (NasdaqGS: SSYS - news) , $110.05, down 6 pct

** EXONE CO, $52.12, down 10 pct

** 3D SYSTEMS CORP, $69.69, down 7 pct

Short-seller Citron Research questioned voxeljet's quarterly results, saying the Germany-based 3D printer maker provided loans to customers to generate sales and avoid posting a loss in its first results as a public company.

** CHINA HOUSING & LAND DEVELOPMENT INC, $2.05, down 31 pct (11:19 a.m. ET)

The Chinese real estate company late on Tuesday reported a 14 percent fall in third-quarter revenue as demand for its mid-tier houses fell.

** ZHONE TECHNOLOGIES INC (NasdaqCM: ZHNE - news) , $4.95, up 26 pct (10:42 a.m. ET)

The fiber-based network equipment maker's FiberLan product has been approved for used by the U.S. military.

** NORTHWEST BIOTHERAPEUTICS INC (NasdaqCM: NWBO - news) , $4.98, down 25 pct (2:41 p.m. ET)

The biotechnology company priced a public offering of about 4.9 million units at $4.80 per unit for gross proceeds of $23.5 million. Each unit consists of a share of common stock and a warrant to buy 0.5 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $6 per share.

** UNILIFE CORP, $4, up 42.5 pct (2:42 p.m. ET)

UK-based drugmaker Hikma Pharmaceuticals Plc (LSE: HIK.L - news) said it would pay up to $40 million including milestones to Unilife (Frankfurt: 4UL.F - news) in a 15-year commercial supply deal to use the U.S.-based company's prefilled drug delivery syringes.

** CLOVIS ONCOLOGY INC (NasdaqGS: CLVS - news) , $52.54, up 12 pct (2:29 p.m. ET)

The company said on Tuesday that it bought a privately held Italian biopharmaceutical company for $10 million in cash and $190 million in Clovis common stock to gain rights to its experimental cancer drug in the United States and Japan.

Clovis will develop Ethical Oncology Science's drug with French drugmaker Servier, which holds its rights in Europe and the rest of the world, except China.

Clovis said it would get up to $470 million in milestone payments from Servier as well as royalty payments on the sales of the drug, lucitanib, in Servier territories.

** LOWE'S COS INC, $47.30, down 6 pct (2:42 p.m. ET)

Lowe's reported slightly lower-than-expected quarterly earnings and gave a disappointing fiscal-year outlook, underscoring the No. 2 home improvement retailer's struggle to catch up with market leader Home Depot (TLO: HD-U.TI - news) .

** PHILIP MORRIS INTERNATIONAL INC (LSE: 0M8V.L - news) , $89.01, down 2.6 pct (1:49 p.m. ET)

The Marlboro cigarettes maker raised its full-year profit forecast, citing a lower impact from unfavorable exchange rates, and said it would enter the e-cigarette business in the second half of 2014.

** LA-Z (Other OTC: ZHLD - news) -BOY INC, $26.84, up 10 pct (2:43 p.m. ET)

The furniture retailer reported second-quarter results that beat analysts' estimates on Tuesday, helped by strong sales growth in its upholstery business.

The upholstery business, which includes furniture such as recliners, sofas, chairs and ottomans, accounted for about 80 percent of La-Z-Boy's total sales in the second quarter.

** GRAY TELEVISION INC, $11.02, up 17 pct (2:44 p.m. ET)

The company and Excalibur Broadcasting LLC will buy 15 television stations from Hoak Media LLC and Parker Broadcasting Inc for $335 million in cash.

** REMARK MEDIA INC (NasdaqCM: MARK - news) , $4.99, up 16 pct (11:02 a.m. ET)

The Las Vegas-based media company said it has been selected as the official digital distributor of the welterweight fight between Manny Pacquiao and Brandon Rios at the Cotai Arena in Macau on Nov. 24. Remark Media is distributing the bout, dubbed 'The Clash in Cotai', in Greater China (HKSE: 0431.HK - news) , with PPTV as the platform partner. Remark also said it was creating China's first boxing channel, which will be distributed on PPTV's platform.

** URANIUM RESOURCES INC (NasdaqCM: URRE - news) , $3.10, up 12 pct (12:38 p.m. ET)

The uranium miner said it has secured financing with Resource Capital Fund and would also continue to reduce costs. The company also said it would restate its financial results "to expense certain costs that were previously capitalized" for the years 2010, 2011, 2012 and the three quarters of 2013. However, the company added that the restatement would not impact its cash position, financing agreements, progress on operating plans or future production.

** J.M. SMUCKER CO, $100.99, down 7 pct (2:44 p.m. ET)

The maker of Folgers coffee and Jif peanut butter reported weaker-than-expected quarterly revenue as lower commodity costs and product selling prices failed to translate into sales growth.

** HERBALIFE LTD (NYSE: HLF - news) , $70.44, up 6.8 pct (2:23 p.m. ET)

William Stiritz, the chief executive of Post Holdings Inc (NYSE: POST - news) , raised his stake in the nutritional products maker to 6.38 percent from 5 percent, according to a regulatory filing late on Tuesday. (http://link.reuters.com/quc84v)

Stiritz said he planned to discuss with the company's management issues such as potential financing and recapitalization actions and strategies to address current speculative short positions in the company's stock.

** SEABRIDGE GOLD (Toronto: SEA.TO - news) $7.93, down 3.6 pct (2:27 p.m. ET)

** AURICO GOLD INC (NYSE: AUQ - news) , $3.88, down 2.7 pct

** BARRICK GOLD (Berlin: ABR.BE - news) $17.28, down 3 pct

** NEWMONT MINING (Xetra: NMM.DE - news) $26.75, down 2 pct

Gold fell around 1 percent on Wednesday, as unusually large trades in the New York futures market set the tone for lower prices ahead of the release of minutes of the Federal Reserve's last policy meeting later in the day.

Spot gold was down 0.9 percent at $1,262.71 an ounce by 11:24 a.m. EST (Other OTC: ECPCY - news) (1624 GMT), having rebounded from a one-month low of $1,255.84.

Silver was down 0.3 percent at $20.25 an ounce, having earlier touched a three-month low of $20.08.

** BIOMARIN PHARMACEUTICAL INC (NasdaqGS: BMRN - news) , $69.36, up 4 pct (2:45 p.m. ET)

An experimental drug to treat Morquio A Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that causes skeletal malformation and a variety of related lung, eye, ear and heart problems, should be approved, an advisory panel to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration concluded on Tuesday. The 21-member panel voted overwhelmingly in favor of approval, saying the benefits of the drug, Vimizim, which is made by BioMarin, outweigh its risks. Leerink Swann raised its price target of the stock to $78 from $76.

** DEERE & CO (Frankfurt: DCO.F - news) , $85.18, up 3 pct (10:12 a.m. ET)

The company offered an unexpectedly upbeat forecast for 2014 on Wednesday, saying sales of construction and forestry equipment should offset an anticipated slowdown in demand for agricultural machinery.

** YAHOO INC (NasdaqGS: YHOO - news) , $35.43, up 2 pct (10:12 a.m. ET)

The company said it has increased its share repurchase authorization by $5 billion and that it planned to offer $1 billion in convertible notes.

** AEROPOSTALE INC (NYSE: ARO - news) , $10.09, up 6 pct (11:33 a.m E.T)

Dallas-based private investment firm Hirzel Capital Management LLC took a 6 percent stake in the apparel retailer's stock, late on Tuesday, and called the shares undervalued. [ID: nEOL2s08JT]

** HARVEST NATURAL RESOURCES INC (NYSE: HNR - news) , $3.47, up 9 pct (10:14 a.m. ET)

The oil and gas producer said Argentina's Pluspetrol has agreed to buy Harvest's 32 percent stake in Petrodelta SA - a joint venture with Venezuela's state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela SA - for about $400 million. The agreement comes a week after Harvest said its near-term liquidity concerns could weigh on the company's ability to negotiate best possible terms to sell assets.

The cash from Pluspetrol, if received in the near term, would alleviate Harvest's liquidity concerns, Wunderlich Securities analyst Jason Wangler said in a note. Harvest also said negotiations to sell stake in an offshore license in Gabon have been terminated.

** GREEN PLAINS RENEWABLE ENERGY INC (NasdaqGS: GPRE - news) , $15.48, up 9.3 pct (11:03 a.m. ET)

Piper Jaffray & Co raised its rating on the stock of the ethanol supplier to "overweight" from "neutral", according to Theflyonthewall.com.

** MATTSON TECHNOLOGY INC (NasdaqGS: MTSN - news) , $2.61, up 8.3 pct (12:02 p.m. ET)

The company, a supplier of rapid thermal processing equipment, said its product, paradigmE XP system, was qualified for production by one of its customers. The company said additional systems were manufactured, shipped and installed at a customer wafer fabrication facility during the quarter.

** OLYMPIC STEEL INC (NasdaqGS: ZEUS - news) , $25.57, up 3 pct (10:45 a.m. ET)

** AK STEEL HOLDING CORP, $5.18, up 3 pct

Higher output in the developed world boosted global steel production growth in October, data from an industry body showed, reflecting improving confidence in the industrial sector. World production rose by 6.6 percent to 134 million tonnes in October from a year earlier, the World Steel Association data showed on Wednesday, as rating agency Moody's raised its outlook on Europe's steel sector.

** ENERGY TRANSFER EQUITY LP, $74.40, up 7.3 pct (11:00 a.m. ET)

** ENERGY TRANSFER PARTNERS LP, $53.48, up 2.3 pct

Energy Transfer Equity said it would buy liquefied natural gas processor Trunkline LNG Co LLC from its gas transportation and processing affiliate Energy Transfer Partners LP for about $1 billion. The transaction will immediately add to distributable cash flow per unit of both the companies.

** PENN VIRGINIA CORP, $10.6, up 6 pct (11:23 a.m. ET)

Analysts at RBC Capital Markets and Howard Weil raised their price targets on the oil and gas company's stock.

Analysts at RBC (MCX: RBCM.ME - news) said Penn's outlook continues to look solid through 2015 and likely beyond. The brokerage also said that there was a good chance of Penn increasing its activity in the next year or two, driven by funding from asset sales or better capital efficiency.

** GREEN DOT CORP, $22.96, down 5.4 pct (11:45 a.m. E.T.)

BTIG analyst Mark Palmer said some investors may have expected Green Dot to make an announcement at its investor day on Tuesday about using its unencumbered cash for a share buyback.

"No such announcement occurred, and the shares are retracing somewhat after a nice run," Palmer said in an emailed note.

Green Dot shares have risen about 13 percent in November.

** EXCO RESOURCES INC (NYSE: XCO - news) , $5.21, up 5 pct (11:00 a.m. ET)

** MAGNUM HUNTER RESOURCES CORP (NYSE: MHR - news) , $6.89, up 5 pct

U.S. natural gas futures gained ground on Wednesday, backed by forecasts for a shift to colder weather later this week and next week that should force more homeowners and businesses to turn up the heat. Natural gas is used for heating homes.

U.S. crude oil futures also turned higher after government data showed a smaller-than-expected build in oil inventories last week.

** CAMAC ENERGY INC (AMEX: CAK - news) , $0.9, up 1 pct (1:01 p.m. ET)

The oil and gas producer said it would buy its remaining stake in two offshore licenses in Nigeria from Allied Energy Plc for $170 million in cash plus shares and notes. To fund the acquisition, Camac has signed an agreement with South African state-owned investment manager Public Investment Corp Ltd for a $270 million investment. Camac will also list its stock on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

** NOAH HOLDINGS LTD, $20.06, down 3.4 pct (11:27 a.m. ET)

Shares of the Chinese wealth management company continued to fall after the company on Monday reported a 50 percent rise in operating expenses for the third quarter.

** CABOT OIL & GAS CORP, $34.10, up 3 pct (11:00 a.m. ET)

Analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein have upgraded the stock of the oil and gas producer to "outperform" from "market perform", citing the company's potential for production growth with 5 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) of production expected at its Marcellus facility in northeast United States. The analysts also expect natural gas prices to go up next year.

** INOVIO PHARMACEUTICALS INC (AMEX: INO - news) , $2.12, up 10 pct (10:16 a.m. ET)

The company said a preclinical study of its vaccine to prevent the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus showed that it induced a durable response to the virus in mice.

** SEASPAN CORP, $21.19, down 10 pct (10:17 a.m. ET)

The shipping company said on Tuesday it would offer 3.5 million common shares to the public. The company plans to use net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, which could include vessel acquisitions.

** CHINA MING YANG WIND POWER GROUP LTD, $2.05, down 10 pct (10:50 a.m. ET)

The wind turbine manufacturer's third-quarter loss widened partly due to a rise in transportation costs.

** ARC GROUP WORLDWIDE LTD, $23.18, down 10 pct (10:58 a.m. ET)

Research firm 3D Analytics completed a thorough review of the company, which makes equipment used in wireless communication, and determined the stock is significantly over-valued, investment website Seeking Alpha reported. (http://link.reuters.com/qac84v)

** CEREGON NETWORKS LTD, $2.55, down 12 pct (1:01 p.m. ET)

The Israeli telecom equipment maker said it was selling its ordinary shares in a public offering. The offering is expected to be priced after the close of market on Wednesday.

** TESLA MOTORS INC (Xetra: A1CX3T - news) , $121.37, down 3 pct (10:20 a.m. ET)

U.S. auto safety regulators have launched an investigation into electric sports car maker Tesla Motors luxury Model S sedan after three car fires in six weeks, and Tesla announced it is raising the vehicle's ground clearance.

** STAPLES INC (NasdaqGS: SPLS - news) , $15.02, down 2 pct (10:17 a.m. ET)

The largest U.S. office supply retailer reported lower-than-expected third-quarter sales, citing weak demand and a stronger dollar. The company, however, stuck to its full-year forecast, saying it was driving growth online and in new categories.

** OPTHOTECH CORP, $24.70, up 3 pct (2:24 p.m. ET)

Clarus Lifesciences II said it had a 10.2 percent activist stake in the biotechnology company as on Sept. 25, according to a regulatory filing. (http://link.reuters.com/guc84v)

** GLU MOBILE INC (Xetra: F2P.DE - news) , $3.49, up 3 pct (10:10 a.m. ET)

The maker of games for smartphone and tablet said it released its first game developed exclusively for Google Inc (NasdaqGS: GOOG - news) 's computing eyeglass called Google Glass at Glass Hackathon event in San Francisco on Tuesday.

The interactive word puzzle game, called Spellista, allows players to solve word scrambles in nine environments or make their own puzzle levels to share with friends on Glass.

** SOCIEDAD QUIMICA Y MINERA DE CHILE SA, $26.66, down 5.4 pct (10:58 a.m. ET)

The Chilean fertilizer producer said potash demand should be higher next year as it scrambles to recover from the breakup of a major cartel supplying the key crop nutrient, which hit third-quarter earnings.

** SPS COMMERCE INC (NasdaqGS: SPSC - news) , $66.27, down 4 pct (10:22 a.m. ET)

The provider of cloud-based supply chain management and data analytics software priced its public offering of 750,000 shares of common stock at $67 per share.

** PRICELINE COM INC, $1,163.00, up 4 pct (10:23 a.m. ET)

Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS-PB - news) added the online travel company's stock to its "conviction buy" list, according to Theflyonthewall.com.

** GLADSTONE COMMERCIAL CORP (NasdaqGS: GOOD - news) , $17.79, down 5 pct (10:23 a.m. ET)

The real estate investment trust late on Tuesday said it planned to sell shares in a public offering to raise funds for property acquisitions and repayment of debt.

** ADT CORP, $43.76, up 2 pct (10:40 a.m. ET)

The security services provider reported higher-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue as its customer base reached a record high. The company also said it was raising its quarterly dividend.

** DEVON ENERGY CORP, $64.57, up 3 pct (10:24 a.m. ET)

The company will buy GeoSouthern Energy Corp's core assets in the Eagle Ford shale region of south Texas for $6 billion in cash, in a deal that looks to answer criticism about the company's lack of exposure to higher-margin oil.

** D.R. HORTON INC, $19.55, up 1 pct (10:37 a.m. ET)

** LENNAR CORP (NYSE: LEN - news) , $35.22, up 3 pct

** KB HOME (NYSE: KBH - news) , $17.18, up 2 pct

Raymond James raised its ratings on the U.S. homebuilders. "After a careful evaluation of the current macroeconomic backdrop, coupled with a recent moderation in expectations for 2014 earnings and new home orders - we are once again advising investors to participate in the seasonal 'hope trade' in homebuilding stocks," analysts led by Buck Horne wrote in a note to clients.

** DEMANDWARE INC (NYSE: DWRE - news) , $54.95, down 5 pct (1:02 p.m. ET)

The company, which makes software that powers e-commerce sites, priced its offering of about 3.3 million shares at $57 per share.

** FEDERATED NATIONAL HOLDING CO, $11.68, down 3 pct (10:26 a.m. ET)

The insurance provider priced its public offering of 2.4 million shares at $10.75 per share, an 11 percent discount to the stock's Tuesday close.

** NQ MOBILE (NYSE: NQ - news) , $14.31, up 7 pct (10:27 a.m. ET)

The Chinese mobile security software company forecast full-year revenue ahead of Wall Street expectations. The company expects revenue in the range of $305 million to $310 million, above the $286.7 million analysts were expecting, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. (Compiled by Natalie Grover; Editing by Kirti Pandey)