End-of-Day Market Summary for October 4, 2011

This is your Benzinga news summary for Tuesday, October 4, 2011, covering headlines from today's trading session.

Today, U.S equity markets traded higher. At market close, the Dow Jones Index traded up 154 points or 1.45%, the S&P 500 traded 2.25% higher, the Nasdaq Composite Index traded up 2.95%, and the U.S. dollar trades lower near the $79.50 level. The Dow Jones Industrial Index was down almost 250 points earlier this morning.

During today's session, DA Davidson upgraded Level 3 Communications (NASDAQ: LVLT) to Buy. View all of today's upgrades here.

Standpoint Research downgraded Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) to Hold. View all of today's downgrades here.

Overseas, European markets ended their trading session lower. Britain's FTSE 100 lost 2.6%, Germany's DAX tumbled 3% and France's CAC 40 slid 2.6% on the session. Asian stocks ended their session lower as well. China's Shanghai Index lost 0.25%, Japan's Nikkei 225 slid 1.1%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index tumbled 3.4%.

On the economic calendar, August Factory Orders reported (0.2%) versus a 0.0% estimate.

The New York Federal Reserve purchased $4.59 billion in U.S. Treasury debt during its permanent open market operations (POMO) today as part of its Operation Twist program.

On the commodity front, gold and silver futures are mixed in post-market trading, with gold trading lower by about 0.25% today. Energy futures are mixed with crude oil down over 0.34% near the $77.40 level and gasoline futures are trading higher by about 0.4%. Natural Gas futures are higher by about 1% and copper futures are trading over 0.5% higher.

In corporate news, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) unveiled its new iPhone, the iPhone 4S, with new features including Apple's dual-core A5 chip, an 8MP camera, 1080p HD resolution video recording, and Siri, a voice control assistant. The iPhone 4S will be released on October 14 and will be available on Sprint's (NYSE: S) network, along with Verizon's (NYSE: VZ) and AT&T's (NYSE: T) networks.

According to Business Insider and Cult of Android, Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) has sold over 250,000 Kindle Fires, or 50,000 a day, since it was unveiled last week.

IMAX Corporation (NYSE: IMAX) announced that CJ CGV HOLDINGS, LTD, has signed a revenue share agreement to add 15 new IMAX digital theatre systems in the People's Republic of China.

Some of today's movers include:

Focus Media Holding (NASDAQ: FMCN) +16.60% after Jian Jason Nachun filed a 13D filing.

OmniVision Technologies (NASDAQ: OVTI) +20.46% on heavy volume.

iRobot (NASDAQ: IRBT) +12.31% following yesterday's contract announcement.

Helen of Troy (NASDAQ: HELE) +7.97% - hearing Wedbush upgraded the company to Neutral.

InterOil (NYSE: IOC) -16.25% on heavy volume.

Sify Technologies (NASDAQ: SIFY) -14.70% following the recent downtrend.

Banro Corporation (NYSE: BAA) -13.48% following the lower gold price.

US Gold Corp. (NYSE: UXG) -13.33% following the lower gold price.

This concludes your news summary for October 4, 2011.