Afternoon Selloff in NY; Gold Rises

Arthi Gupta, Mayank Mehta and Sanjay Barot
24 May, 2010
New York City

Stocks in New York trading declined on the fears of fiscal and financial crisis in the euro-zone. Traders overlooked the rise in existing home sales in April increase 7.6% to 5.77 million, the best in five months. Investors ignored the sharp gains in China and Australia.

[R]5:05 PM New York – Stocks in New York trading declined on the fears of fiscal and financial crisis in the euro-zone. Traders overlooked the rise in existing home sales in April increase 7.6% to 5.77 million, the best in five months. Investors ignored the sharp gains in China and Australia.[/R]

U.S. stocks closed lower on continued worries about European debt and high fiscal debt in Europe. Three deals totaling $3 billion dominated trading sentiment in the early morning but worries related to Spain and euro-zone dragged markets lower in the afternoon.

Gentiva Health Services agrees to acquire Odyssey HealthCare for $1 billion. Equity One to buy Capital And Counties USA through $600 million joint venture deal. AT&T sells its Sterling Commerce to IBM for $1.4 billion.

Seasonally adjusted existing home sales in April increased 7.6% to 5.77 million units from 5.36 million in March but 22.8% higher from a year ago month in 2009 of 4.70 million units.

Campbell Soup profit dips in the latest quarter. DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc dropped as much as 14% after the latest movie reported lower than expected weekend revenues.

The European markets fell on lingering concerns that the bailout package may not contain the deepening financial and fiscal crisis. Bank of Spain takes forced to take over a regional savings bank CajaSur. Four banks in Spain are looking to merge according to a regulatory filing after CajaSur was put under administration.

U.K. stocks decline amidst concerns about the euro-zone debt crisis. U.K. Chancellor plans £6.2 billion spending cuts. Standard Chartered aims to raise as much as £406 million through the bank''s first share listing in India.

Stocks in Tokyo traded sideways and closed lower as global economic worries persisted. Shipping companies closed higher. Cabinet office noted in its monthly report that the economy is steady though not in the self-sustaining mode. China based Shangdong Ruyi Group agreed to acquire 40% stake in the apparel maker Renown Inc.

Market indexes in Shanghai and Hong Kong surge on the recovering global optimism. Strategic talks between China and US begin in Beijing today as China resists pressure to revalue the yuan. Second land auction in Hong Kong fetches below estimated price. New home prices drops 16% in the week ended May 23.

Mumbai stocks traded higher after industrial production index increased in March and in the fiscal year ending in the month. Ambani brothers agree to cooperate to resolve natural gas distribution dispute. Standard Chartered Plc is scheduled to launch its public offering.

Australian stocks rebound but the dollar continues to fall for the sixth day in the last seven days. Fortescue CEO says the government is adamant on super tax threshold. Healthscope Ltd permits private equity consortium due diligence in preparation of a takeover bid

North American Markets

Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 126.82 or 1.2% to close at 10,066.57, S&P 500 Index decreased 14.04 or 1.3% to 1,073.65 and Nasdaq Composite Index fell 15.49 or 0.7% to close at 2,213.55. Toronto TSX Composite Index added 115.40 or 1.1% to 11,521.35 in Friday’s trading and markets in Canada were closed today.

Latin American Markets Indexes

Mexico IPC Index added 130.33 or 0.4% to 30,759.48 and Brazil Bovespa Stock Index fell 344.19 or 0.6% to 59,915.14.

Europe Markets Review

In London FTSE 100 Index traded higher 6.68 or 0.13% to 5,069.61, in Paris CAC 40 Index increased 0.19 or 0.01% to close at 3,430.93, in Frankfurt DAX index lower 23.57 or 0.4% to close at 5,805.68. Markets in Switzerland were closed today.

Asian Markets Review

The Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo closed lower 26.14 or 0.27% to 9,758.40, Hang Seng index in Hong Kong increased 121.93 or 0.62% to 19,667.76 and CSI 300 index in China higher 104.68 or 3.78% to 2,873.47. ASX 200 index in Australia increased 90.00 or 2.09% to 4,395.40. The FTSE Bursa KL Composite index in Malaysia closed lower 12.04 or 0.94% to 1,273.69.

The Kospi Index in South Korea increased 4.75 or 0.30% to close at 1,604.93. SET index in Thailand closed lower 21.23 or 2.77% to 744.31 and JSE Index in Indonesia decreased 13.61 or 0.52% to 2,609.61. The Sensex index in India increased 23.94 or 0.15% to 16,469.55.

Commodities, Metals, and Currencies

Crude oil increased $0.04 to $70.08 a barrel for a front month contract, natural gas edged up 1 cent to $4.04 per mBtu and gasoline increased 0.18 cents to 196.30 cents.

Soybean future closed down 0.50 cent to $9.40 a bushel. Wheat futures decreased 4.5 cents in Chicago trading to $4.90 a bushel. Sugar closed down 0.46 cents at 15.19 cents a pound.

Gold increased $16.00 in New York trading to close at $1,192.30 an ounce, silver closed up $0.27 to $17.92 per ounce and copper for the front month delivery increased 5.90 cent to $3.12 per pound.

Dollar edged higher against euro to $1.235 and increased against the Japanese yen to 90.35.

Yield on 10-year U.S. bonds decreased to 3.21% and with 30-year maturities closed unchanged to 4.10%.