U.S. Stocks Lackluster; BP, Apollo Group in Focus

Bikram Pandey
29 Mar, 2011
New York City

U.S. stocks traded sideways and crude oil eased for the third day in a row. Residential prices index in metropolitan areas declined in January 3.1% from a year ago led by 9.1% drop in Phoenix. Apollo Group dropped as much as 10% after it estimated lower than expected annual revenues.

[R]10:10 AM New York – U.S. stocks traded lower and crude oil eased for the third day in a row. Residential prices index in metropolitan areas declined in January 3.1% from a year ago led by 9.1% drop in Phoenix. Apollo Group dropped as much as 10% after it estimated lower than expected annual revenues.[/R]

Stocks in New York edged lower after rallying for a week and crude oil declined as the prospects of oil supply from Libya increased after rebels regain control of a key city.

U.S. prosecutors are considering manslaughter charges against BP Plc after an off shore oil rig collapsed in Gulf of Mexico last week that killed 11 people.

If pressed, these charged will set a new precedent as the U.S. criticized similar charges when India sought the extradition of Union Carbide chief executive Warren M. Anderson in relation to Bhopal chemical leak that killed more than 25,000.

Residential real estate price in metropolitan areas declined in January according to the latest read on the S&P/Case-Shiller index.

The index declined 3.1% in January compared to a year ago, the largest fall since December 2009 as foreclosures swelled. The prices in the month declined 0.2% from December when the prices decreased 0.4%.

Eighteen cities tracked of the 20 in the index declined from a year ago led by the 9.1% fall in Phoenix.

European markets were under pressure after Italian banks led the decliners in the region.

Investors are also worried that Portugal may face higher interest cost as the nation without the government prepares to rollover debts of 9 billion euros in the next three months.

Stocks in Tokyo trading fell sharply after radiation leak worries mounted and several nations in Asia and America cited higher levels of radiation but said they were not harmful.

Tokyo Electric Power Company said that higher level of toxic plutonium was found in the compound of Fukushima nuclear reactor.

Stock Movers

Apollo Group Inc ((APOL)) dropped nearly 7% to $39.38 after the for-profit online education provider estimated fiscal 2012 revenues between $4 billion and $4.25 billion.

BP Plc ((BP)) dropped 2.3% to $44.99 after the UK based company may be charged with manslaughter charges by the U.S. authorities according to several media reports.

Hertz Global Holdings Inc ((HTZ)) dropped 5% to $15.42 after the car rental company estimated first quarter net loss between $17.3 million to $22.2 million.

Home Depot Inc ((HD)) rose 3% to $37.75 after it completed the sale of $2 billion bonds to roll over the debt and buy back stocks.

Progress Software Corp ((PRGS)) declined more than 2% to $28.50 after the business software developer estimated second quarter profit between 41 cents a share to 43 cents a share.