Market Update

Inflation Worries Drag Global Markets

123jump.com Staff
05 Jan, 2007
New York City

December non-farm payroll rose by 167,000, significantly higher than the estimate of 115,000. The rise in payroll numbers worried traders that it may signal rising inflation. Market averages during the day traded mostly lower led by a decline in tech stocks. Motorola cautioned that the latest quarterly earnings may be lower than anticipated. Brazil lost 4% and markets in Europe and Japan closed lower.

Nokia Weighs on European Stocks

Elena
05 Jan, 2007
New York City

European stocks finished in the red on Friday, pressured by weakness in the energy sector and concerns over mobile-phone maker Nokia''s revenue. Losses on Wall Street also weighed, with U.S. stocks falling on stronger-than-expected payrolls data. The German DAX 30 dropped 1.2%, followed by the French CAC 40 and London FTSE 100, each down 1.1%.

Tech Stocks Drag Nasdaq 1%

Elena
05 Jan, 2007
New York City

U.S. stock markets extended losses due to a surprising surge in job creation and wages and weakness in the tech sector. The Nasdaq dropped more than 1% as Motorola''s profit warning weighed on technology shares. Motorola fell 8% after the cell-phone maker cut its earnings estimates. Among other tech stocks posting losses, Intel Corp. fell after a downgrade at Credit Suisse, while Qualcomm Inc. dropped 2.8%.

India Slips, Oil and Gas Shine

Elena
05 Jan, 2007
New York City

In a highly volatile session, the Indian benchmark closed lower with oil and gas stock stocks outperforming all the other sectors on fresh buying interest. HDFC, ONGC and ICICI Bank rallied, Reliance Communications, Maruti and ITC declined. The Sensex, however, finished the week with a gain of 74 points. Small-caps and mid-caps did well but the pressure was on the large-caps as investors are waiting for Q3 results. Weekly inflation was reported at 5.48%, higher than 5.43% in the previous week.

Rate Worries Pressure US Stocks

Elena
05 Jan, 2007
New York City

U.S. stock markets opened Friday trading session in the negative, reflecting rate concerns, raised by stronger-than-expected employment rate in December, steeply lower oil prices and a profit warning from Motorola. Best Buy rose 1.4% after the consumer electronics retailer said same-store sales rose 7%. Circuit City erased earlier gains made on its report that December same-store sales rose 4.2%.

FTSE Weakens on Utilities

Ivaylo
05 Jan, 2007
New York City

UK stocks fell on Friday under the weight of weak utility with oil and gas stocks also suffering heavy losses. UK utility shares were punished as the biggest energy companies in Europe could face restrictions by the EU competition commissioner in the wake of an inquiry into the sector which found evidence of complicity and other severe market violations. The FTSE 100 fell 16.8 points, or 0.3%, to trade at 6,270.2 in mid-morning session.

UK stocks Rise, Retailer Next Drops

123jump.com Staff
03 Jan, 2008
New York City

UK stocks edged higher on rising oil prices and stable metal prices. FTSE 100 Index addded 1% or 62.70 to close at 6,479.40. Of the 102 stocks in the index 56 gained, 44 declined, and 2 closed unchaged. Anglo American gained 3.1%, Rio Tinto added 2.2%, and Lonmin jumped 4.4%. Tullow Oil surged 5.6% on oil trading near $100 per barrel. Next Plc declined after reporting same store sales decline of 3.2% in the 21 weeks ending on December 24.

Strong Jobs Data Fail to Lift Pre-Market Mood

Elena
05 Jan, 2007
New York City

U.S. stock futures remained in the negative territory even after stronger-than-expected December payrolls data eased concerns about an economic slowdown. The Labor Department said that total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 167,000 in December to 136.2 million, following increases of 86,000 in October and 154,000 in November. The number of new jobs added to the economy in December exceeded analysts'' forecasts for a gain of around 115,000.

Motorola Cuts Earnings and Sales Outlook

Elena
05 Jan, 2007
New York City

The main reason cited by Motorola were lower margins and average selling prices due to an unfavorable geographical and product mix of mobile-phone sales. The world''s No. 2 mobile phone maker said that Q4 sales will come in the range of $11.6 billion to $11.8 billion, lower than earlier guidance of between $11.8 billion and $12.1 billion.

HK Gains, Japan Dips

Ivaylo
05 Jan, 2007
New York City

Japanese stocks were brought down Friday by profit-taking on recent gainers such as Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor. The advance of the yen against the dollar also weighed on the export sector. In China, after the close of trading, the People''s Bank of China stated it will lift the reserve requirement ratio for financial institutions by 50 basis points effective Jan 15. Hong Kong gained, while Australia and South Korea declined, as oil companies slipped and Samsung in Seoul retreated.

Tech Concerns Pull Europe down

Ivaylo
05 Jan, 2007
New York City

European markets gave up some territory on Friday as ailing commodity markets pushed resource stocks down and as a profit warning from US telecoms equipment maker Motorola weighed on the technology sector in Europe. Motorola reduced its forecast for profits in the fourth quarter. Nokia also suffered as Credit Suisse cut its rating. The FTSE 100 in London shed 0.5%, Frankfurt Xetra Dax fell 0.6%, the CAC 40 in Paris lost 0.5%.

Gold Dips, Silver Rises

Ivaylo
05 Jan, 2007
New York City

Precious metals traded in opposite directions on Thursday, with gold retreating along with the euro and crude oil but silver rebounding. Copper kept on its losing streak and hit the lowest level since April. As for silver advances, it may be that investors are looking at the gold/silver ratio at this point. Silver had outperformed gold during much of late 2006. Whereas gold recovered at the end the previous year, traders may be starting to favor silver on the ratio again.

Two-Days, Oil Drops 9%

123jump.com Staff
04 Jan, 2007
New York City

Two-day drop in oil price of 9% took center stage today. Traders and investors took a note of suddden drop in oil price, two-year low, lifted retail stocks but hurt the stocks in energy complex. Other than teen age apprael retailers, most companies falied to meet December retail sales forecast. Of the 51 companies reporting sales only 23 managed to beat the estimates. Intel rose 4% on broker upgrade and Cisco rose on $830 million buyout of IronPort Systems.

Dip In Oil, Retailers Higher

123jump.com Staff
04 Jan, 2007
New York City

Market averages are trading close to unchanged level after registering a mild rise in the morning hours. Only 23 of the 51 reporting companies managed to beat same store sales during the month of December. Luxury and select apparel retailers reported stronger than anticipated sales. Oil dropped 3% on top of 4% loss registered yesterday.

Miners Lead European Losers

Elena
04 Jan, 2007
New York City

European stocks closed down Thursday amid uncertainty related to inflation and economic growth after minutes from the Federal Reserve''''s latest monetary-policy meeting. Miners were among the heaviest decliners, with BHP Billiton, and Rio Tinto falling more than 3.5% as copper prices continued to decline. Oil companies like Royal Dutch Shell and Total fell 1.2% amid a sharp decline by the oil price. The French CAC 40 fell 0.7%, London FTSE 100 was down 0.5%, and the German DAX 3 fell 0.3%.