Mixed Close on Wall Street; Europeans Worry Global Inflation

Bikram Pandey
10 Feb, 2011
New York City

U.S. stocks decline and the dollar gained. Indexes were under pressure and tech stocks declined after Cisco fell 14%. Broader index S&P 500 barely closed higher. European markets declined on weak commodities and markets in Asia declined.

[R]4:00 PM New York – U.S. stocks decline and the dollar gained. Indexes were under pressure and tech stocks declined after Cisco fell 14%. Broader index S&P 500 barely closed higher. European markets declined on weak commodities and markets in Asia declined.[/R]

U.S. stocks traded lower after Cisco Systems reported lower earnings on a rise in sales. Margins declined. U.S. jobless claims at the end of last week fell by 36,000 to 383,000. Foreclosure filings in January declined 17%, fourth monthly decline in a row.

Bunge fourth quarter net income increased to $292 million. Cisco second quarter net income declined 17.9% to $1.5 billion. MetLife fourth quarter net income plunged 82% to $51 million. PepsiCo quarterly net income slumped 5% to $1.36 billion. Thomson Reuters fourth quarter net income decreased 11% to $307 million.

European markets edged lower after world markets fell on the fears of rising inflation worldwide. European markets also declined after Cisco Systems earnings fell and Credit Suisse lowered its target rate of return to 15% form 18%. Air France reported quarterly loss.

UK stocks closed lower and the Bank of England held rates and left bond buying program unchanged. Rolls Royce net was nearly wiped on costs related Qantas engine failure charges. Rio Tinto net soared and said it is focused on lowering its debt and will spend $12 billion in capital expenditure this year.

Stocks in Japan declined ahead of three day weekend and GDP and inflation data next week. Asahi Glass fell on cautious outlook but Nissan rose as automakers report rising sales and earnings. Shipping companies rose after freight rate index gained.

Stocks in Hong Kong closed sharply lower as investors pull money out of Asia. Hong Stock Exchange declined 5% on heavy volume on the worries that trading volume will fall further. The benchmark index in Hong Kong fell 2% but in Shanghai rose 1.6%.

Stocks in Australia were firm ahead of Rio Tinto earnings. After the close iron ore miner said annual net soared to $14.32 billion and increased full year dividend 20%. Transurban underlying earnings increased 9.5% to $362.8 million. Telstra net dropped 36%.

Commodities, Bonds and Currencies

Yields on 10-year bond increased to 3.70% and on 30-year bonds gained to 4.78%.

The U.S. dollar decreased to $1.359 to a euro and rose against the Japanese yen to 83.28 yen.

Immediate futures prices of Texas crude oil increased $0.39 to $87.10 a barrel, for natural gas fell 0.06 cents to $3.98 per mbtu and gasoline prices decreased 4.10 cents to 217.72 cents a gallon.

In metals trading, copper prices increased 2.20 cents to $4.54 per pound, gold decreased $3.10 to $1,362.20 per ounce and silver fell 12 cents to $30.15.