U.S. Stocks Higher, Weak Housing Data

123jump.com Staff
20 Jul, 2010
New York City

U.S. stocks struggled but stayed positive in the session despite the sharp fall in earnings at Goldman Sachs and continued weakness in the housing market. Yields on 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds hovered near 2.9%. European markets fell for the fifth day in a row.

[R]400 PM New York – U.S. stocks struggled but stayed positive in the session despite the sharp fall in earnings at Goldman Sachs and continued weakness in the housing market. Yields on 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds hovered near 2.9%. European markets fell for the fifth day in a row.[/R]

U.S. stocks struggled after Goldman Sachs reported 82% decline in earnings and housing starts fell in June.

Housing start fell at the lowest level since October. Construction of single-family homes declined 0.7% in the month to 454,000 annual rate and multifamily homes dropped 22% to 95,000 annual rate.

President Obama presses the U.S. Senate for extension of unemployment benefits. Goodrich and Mubadala Aerospace sign agreement to form landing gear joint venture in Abu Dhabi. Toyota and Paice reach settlement on patent disputes.

Tupperware Brands Corporation led the decliners in the S&P 500 index with a loss of 15.2%. Harley-Davidson net income more than triples. Tupperware second quarter profit jumps 75%. IBM net rises 10% on slight sales increase. Zion Bancorp quarterly loss widens. TI shares rise almost 3% ahead of earnings. Marshall & Ilsley narrows loss.

The European markets extended their fifth consecutive session of losses after Goldman Sachs reported quarterly earnings dropped 82%. The Bank of France Governor Christian Noyer urges EU members for drastic budget deficit cuts. German PPI rises in June. Spain completed €5.97 billion Treasury bills.

The UK indexes trade lower after telecommunications stocks and banks led the decline. British Chancellor George Osborne aims at simplifying the UK tax system. The BoE reported net lending contracted in May. The UK public sector net borrowing declined but gross mortgage lending rose in June.

The benchmark index in Tokyo fell more than 1% on the weakness in the U.S. housing market. Toyota faces a patent suit in the U.S. for its hybrid car engine technology. Nissan resumes production at two plants in the U.S. Fast-Retailing and Toray sign a five-year agreement.

Stocks in China region rallied more than 2% for the second day in a row. China’s consumption of energy from all sources exceeds that of the U.S. Banking industry net profit surges in Shanghai. China should use more flexible measures to fight inflation says a government official.

Stocks in Mumbai declined on mixed earnings. HDFC Bank first quarter net surges. Sesa Goa gains on strong first quarter result. Steel Authority plans to develop a deep water port on the east coast. Cropscience surges on the talks of property sale.

Stocks in Australia rallied and traded higher. Aberdeen plans to start a real estate-focused fund. Asia Iron gets regulator approvals to sell stake to China based CCMDIL. Iluka Resources’ zircon production surges. AngloGold’s Tropicana gold project gets environmental approval.

Commodities, Bonds and Currencies

Yields on 10-year bond declined to 2.93% and on 30-year bonds fell to 3.97%.

The U.S. dollar increased to $1.289 to a euro and against the Japanese yen rose to 87.25 yen.

Immediate futures prices of Texas crude oil increased $0.90 to $77.44 a barrel, for natural gas increased 0.09 cents to $4.60 per mbtu and gasoline prices increased 2.00 cents to 207.90 cents a gallon.

In metals trading, copper prices rose 7.00 cents to $3.00 per pound, gold increased $10.10 to $1,192.00 per ounce and silver increased 15.2 cents to $17.69.