The Dow, S&P Reach mid-2008 Highs; Nasdaq Nears 10-year Peak

Bikram Pandey
30 Mar, 2011
New York City

U.S. stocks advanced for the sixth day in last seven days of trading and crude oil eased. The Dow and the S&P 500 indexes are hovering near the highs last seen in mid-2008 and the tech heavy Nasdaq rose to the high last seen in November 207. China based Qihoo 360 doubled on the first day of trading.

[R]4:00 PM New York – U.S. stocks advanced for the sixth day in last seven days of trading and crude oil eased. The Dow and the S&P 500 indexes are hovering near the highs last seen in mid-2008 and the tech heavy Nasdaq rose to the high last seen in November 207. China based Qihoo 360 Technology doubled on the first day of trading.[/R]

U.S. indexes gained after private sector added 201,000 jobs in March and U.S. mortgage and refinancing activity fell.

In the deal news, Canada-based Valeant proposed to acquire Cephalon for $5.7 billion and Salesforce.com agreed to buy social media site Radian6 for $326 million.

U.S. Treasury completed the sale of $29 billion of 7-year bonds that yielded 2.895%. The yield rose on the speculation that the Federal Reserve may end sooner than expected the bond buying program.

Qihoo 360 Technology soared on the first day of its trading in New York after it prices 12.1 million shares at $14.50 each. The stock soared as high as $31.36 or 116% from its offer price. The second largest Internet browser company in China has 300 million users and reported revenues of $57.7 million and earnings of $5.5 million in 2010.

In the economic news in Europe, euro-zone economic sentiment dipped in March. Dutch factory price inflation accelerated in February. The Bank of Spain forecasted 0.8% GDP growth in 2011 and Spanish retail sales fell in February. Portuguese retail sales decreased and factory output rose in February.

The yield on Portugal bonds rose 25 basis points to 9.19% on the speculation that slower economic growth may increase the budget deficit and raise the prospect of EU led bailout.

The European indexes soared after better-than-estimated global economic data. Sovereign debt worries were in focus but stocks in the region traded higher. Bilfinger Berger reported fiscal year 2010 net surged.

The UK indexes edged higher after retail sales rose in March and services index climbed in January. Tullow sold one-third interest in Uganda oil field for $2.9 billion. Dixons plunged after lowering its earnings estimate for fiscal 2011.

The benchmark index in Tokyo soared 2.6% after the yen declined and more companies make a progress in resuming production. Hitachi, Nissan and IHI were among the leading companies that resumed partial operations. Tepco dropped another 18%.

Mumbai stocks surged for the seventh day in a row after foreign investors increased net stock purchase in the last one week and crude oil price eased. Silver hit another high and gold near recent highs. Reliance Industries won two oil exploration blocks and ONGC won ten.

The Australian benchmark index increased 1.4% on the back of a rise in commodities prices. BHP Billiton resumed drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico and Rio Tinto struggles with Riversdale acquisition.

Commodities, Bonds and Currencies

Yield on 10-year bond decreased to 3.47% and on 30-year bond fell to 4.53%.

The U.S. dollar decreased to $1.41 to a euro and rose against the Japanese yen to 82.86 yen.

Immediate delivery futures of Texas crude oil decreased $0.50 to $104.29 a barrel, of natural gas increased 0.06 cents to $4.33 per mbtu and gasoline prices increased 1.81 cents to 306.39 cents a gallon.

In metals trading, copper prices decreased 7.50 cents to $4.27 per pound, gold increased $5.90 to $1,423.40 per ounce and silver increased $0.53 to $37.53.