Elena
18 Dec, 2006
New York City
U.S. stocks advanced at opening Monday, as a number of takeover deals raised hopes of continued corporate confidence at the end of the year. Pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts confirmed its $26 billion bid for rival Caremark RX. In another deal, Realogy agreed to be acquired by private equity firm Apollo Group for about $6.65 billion. Dow component Citigroup rose 0.7% after Merrill Lynch upgraded its stock to a buy from neutral.
Ivaylo
18 Dec, 2006
New York City
The FTSE 100 was near a six-year high on Monday owing to strong gains for Smith & Nephew shares. Reports suggested that Smith & Nephew is still a contender in the running to buy Biomet, but is confronted by stiff competition from private equity groups. Also, BT dipped as it struggles to resolve its huge pension deficit. The FTSE 100 in London traded unchanged in mid-afternoon down 1.40 points, or 0.02%, at 6,258.60.
Elena
18 Dec, 2006
New York City
U.S. stock market futures looked ready to extend the year-end rally, boosted by takeover activity and upgrade for Citigroup. Harrah''s Entertainment is close to being sold to private equity firms Apollo Management and Texas Pacific Group for at least $90 a share. Two Norwegian oil companies agreed on a takeover deal. Statoil agreed to buy the oil and natural-gas division of Norsk Hydro in a deal that will create the world''s largest offshore operator.
Elena
18 Dec, 2006
New York City
Express Scripts, which is a small company with a market capitalization of $9.3 billion, and debt of around $1.6 billion, said it would pay $29.25 in cash and 0.426 shares in Express Scripts for each share of Caremark.
Ivaylo
18 Dec, 2001
New York City
Asian markets ended higher Monday. Japanese Nikkei 225 Index advanced on gains in exporters after the yen slipped versus the dollar, while another record finish on New York stock exchange also boosted sentiment. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index egded higher by gains in large-cap China Mobile. South Korea and Australia also advanced, although miners in Australia finished lower. Shares in Taiwan, Singapore gained as well, while New Zealand bucked the overall trend and declined.
Ivaylo
18 Dec, 2006
New York City
Norsk Hydro and Statoil statement that they are to merge its oil and gas business with aided European stock markets to advance on Monday, despite downside pressure from bank and technology stocks. Carmakers also gained with Fiat, Volkswagen and Porsche jumping while BT Group and Tate & Lyle declined. By mid morning, the FTSE 100 in London was flat, Frankfurt Xetra Dax gained 0.2% while the CAC 40 in Paris retreated 0.1%.
Ivaylo
18 Dec, 2006
New York City
The declines were in line with the U.S. dollar getting ready for a weekly gain. The gold market looked vulnerable to liquidation as the dollar was overcoming its recent weakness. The mid- to longer-term expectations for gold remain upbeat due to rising investor interest and speculation of institutional dollar diversification. Copper hit a low under $3 a pound for the first time since late June as traders measured supply and demand.
123jump.com Staff
15 Dec, 2006
New York City
Benign November inflation data on Consumer Price index and core CPI sparked a wave of buying in the morning. The reported CPI and core CPI nearly unchanged supported a broad buying in financials, industrial and consumer durable sector. Gold fell $12 on inflation report but oil managed to rise. European markets closed higher on feversih takeover activities. Brazil continued to gain but Mexico settled after closing for eight records in nine days.
123jump.com Staff
15 Dec, 2006
New York City
European shares closed higher for the day and for the week on takeover rumors, restructuring news and higher energy and metals prices. Takeove rumors lifted stocks of ABN AMRO and Rentokil. France Telecom reiterated its plan to cut 17,000 staff in France by the year 2008. Austrian Bank BAWAG was sold to private equity group and media report suggested that Ahold food services may be sold for $6 billion. Tenaris gained 13% on takeover rumors. Nestle gained on the deal to buy Novartis nutrition.
Elena
15 Dec, 2006
New York City
Tame inflation in November and industrial production rise for the first time in two months boosted market averages, with the Dow hitting a record high after consumer price data signalled that the U.S. economy is maintaining growth and inflation is in check. Positive sentiment was also generated by a batch of strong earnings reports in the tech sector.
Elena
15 Dec, 2006
New York City
The Sensex closed Friday with a gain for the third day in a row. Heavy interest in Reliance Communicatons and metal stocks supported the upward trend in the market. Banks rallied after weekly inflation data. Tata Steel led the advancers followed by Grasim, SBI and Infosys. NTPC and Wipro led the decliners. Tata Motors and Fiat will invest over Rs 4,000 crore in a joint venture.
Elena
15 Dec, 2006
New York City
U.S. stocks extended rally on tame inflation in November and industrial production increase. The report showed that industrial production rose 0.2% in November, the first increase in two months, amid increased output by automobile makers. Among tech stocks, Adobe Systems rose 5% after it posted Q4 earnings in line with estimates, while revenue was above expectations.
Ivaylo
15 Dec, 2006
New York City
London market hit a new five year high on Friday afternoon, as upbeat crude prices lifted oil stocks and shares in BAE Systems advanced supported by reports of the failure of an inquiry into allegations of corruption within key Saudi arms contracts. Tobacco stocks were in the limelight in the wake of the agreement by Gallaher to be acquired by Japanese Tobacco in a long-awaited deal. In mid-afternoon, the FTSE 100 benchmark index traded 0.5% higher to 6,261.6.
Elena
15 Dec, 2006
New York City
Stock futures advanced Friday, lifted by tame report on consumer inflation which helped ease concerns of further interest-rate spikes. The Labor Department reported that consumer prices were flat in November, even better than the increase of 0.2% analysts had been expecting. Prices fell in the three consecutive months because of sharply lower gasoline and other energy costs.
Elena
15 Dec, 2006
New York City
The purchase would also boost Japan Tobacco''s share of the European tobacco market to 23% from 10%. JT''s global market share would increase by 3.1% to about 11%. If the transaction completes, this will be the largest-ever corporate acquisition by a Japanese company. The takeover bid exceeds Softbank Corp.''s buyout of Vodafone Group PLC''s Japanese mobile-phone operations for $15.6 billion.
