World Markets Close Higher; Alcoa Loss Narrows

123jump.com Staff
12 Apr, 2010
New York City

U.S. stocks edged higher ahead of the earnings season and after the close Alcoa said first quarter loss narrowed to $210 million or 20 cents a share. The euro closed higher after the EU and the IMF offered $61 billion in emergency financial aid at below market rate.

[R]6:15 PM New York – U.S. stocks edged higher ahead of the earnings season and after the close Alcoa said first quarter loss narrowed to $210 million or 20 cents a share. The euro closed higher after the EU and the IMF offered $61 billion in emergency financial aid at below market rate.[/R]

U.S. stocks advanced ahead of earnings season and after the close Alcoa Inc reported net loss of $210 million or 20 cents a share compared to a loss of $497 million or 61 cents a share. Sales rose 18% to $4.89 billion.

The EU-IMF led bailout offered 45 billion euros of loans for three years to Greece. The euro edged higher. ConocoPhillips is in discussions with Sinopec of China to sell Syncrude Canada for $4.7 billion.

DynCorp surged 48% after it agreed to be acquired by a private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP for $1.5 billion. Mirant Corp and RRI Energy agreed to merge in a stock transaction.

European markets recovered from the lows of the day to close up after the EU and IMF offered details of emergency bailout to Greece. UBS AG added more than 3% after it estimated first quarter profit and assets outflow declined in the period. Greek benchmark stock index surged more than 6%.

UK stocks traded higher for the second day led by a rise in retailers. Miners declined. UBM buys electronic design exhibition organizer. Ladbrokes sells its Italian business. e2v technologies revenues plunge. Hikma Pharmaceuticals takes full control of Algerian joint venture.

The bank loans in Japan fall 2.5% in March. Bank of Japan noted that the economic recovery is still fragile but aggregate demand is not sufficient to sustain the economic target.

Stocks in Mumbai traded lower after industrial production surged 15.1% in February prompting worries of rate hike. Sun Pharma gets a U.S. approval for a generic drug. Glenmark Pharma settles patent dispute with GlaxoSmithKline.

Home loan approvals in Australia fell 3.4% in February. South Korean steelmaker Posco is likely to support the deal between Macarthur Coal and Gloucester Coal deal.

North American Markets

Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 8.62 or 0.08% to close at 11,005.97, S&P 500 Index edged higher 2.11 or 0.2% to 1,196.48 and Nasdaq Composite Index added 3.82 or 0.2% to close at 2,457.87. Toronto TSX Composite Index decreased 28.18 or 0.2% to 12,148.66.

Latin American Markets Indexes

Mexico Bolsa Index increased 11.54 or 0.03% to 33,852.39 and Brazil Bovespa Stock Index declined 802.91 or 1.1% to 70,614.36.

Europe Markets Review

In London FTSE 100 Index closed higher 6.67 or 0.12% to 5,777.65, in Paris CAC 40 Index decreased 0.04 or 0.00% to close at 4,050.50, in Frankfurt DAX index higher 0.99 or 0.02% to close at 6,250.69. In Zurich trading SMI increased 21.99 or 0.32% to close at 6,910.96.

Asian Markets Review

The Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo closed higher 47.56 or 0.42% to 11,251.90, Hang Seng index in Hong Kong decreased 70.33 or 0.32% to 22,138.17 and CSI 300 index in China lower 27.69 or 0.82% to 3,351.48. ASX 200 index in Australia increased 36.20 or 0.73% to 4,984.30. The FTSE Bursa KL Composite index in Malaysia closed higher 5.63 or 0.42% to 1,339.61.

The Kospi Index in South Korea decreased 14.17 or 0.82% to close at 1,710.30. SET index in Thailand closed lower 28.76 or 3.64% to 760.90 and JSE Index in Indonesia increased 36.32 or 1.28% to 2,881.33. The Sensex index in India decreased 80.14 or 0.45% to 17,853.00.

Commodities, Metals, and Currencies

Crude oil decreased $0.58 to $84.34 a barrel for a front month contract, natural gas edged down 6 cents to $4.01 per mBtu and gasoline increased 0.65 cents to 229.58 cents.

Soybean future closed up 6.50 cent to $9.68 a bushel. Wheat futures increased 1.25 cents in Chicago trading to $4.805 a bushel. Sugar closed up 0.09 cents at 16.85 cents per pound.

Gold increased $0.03 in New York trading to close at $1,162.20 per ounce, silver closed up $0.06 to $18.41 per ounce and copper for the front month delivery decreased 2.55 cents to $3.56 per pound.

Dollar edged lower against euro to $1.358 and increased against the Japanese yen to 93.21.

Yield on 10-year U.S. bonds closed lower at 3.84% and with 30-year maturities closed lower at 4.70%.