U.S. Stocks Higher Ahead of Earnings Season; Oil Rebounds

Bikram Pandey
13 Apr, 2011
New York City

U.S. indexes gained and oil rebounded on economic optimism a day after the IMF lowered the world economic assessment. Industrial production accelerated in Europe. Markets in Japan and Asia gained ground.

[R]4:40 PM New York – U.S. indexes gained and oil rebounded on economic optimism a day after the IMF lowered the world economic assessment. Industrial production accelerated in Europe. Markets in Japan and Asia gained ground.[/R]

U.S. indexes gained after retail sales rose and mortgage activity declined. Silgan agreed to buy Graham Packaging for $4.1 billion. JPMorgan net surged on a strong performance by its investment banking unit and a drop in losses in its credit card portfolio.

Adtran first quarter net income surged 88%. Energy Rock agreed to acquire Crow Creek Energy for $525 Million. JPMorgan first quarter net income soared 67% to $5.56 billion. Silgan Holdings agreed to acquire Graham Packaging for $4.1 billion.

The European indexes rebounded after the biggest drop in four weeks as industrial production accelerated in February. Schneider denied $30 billion bid for Tyco. ASML net surges on strong sales.

Euro-zone industrial output accelerated 7.3% in February. French annual inflation soared and German wholesale price inflation increased for the second consecutive month in March. Spain’s leading index rose in February.

The UK indexes rose led by miners. The UK jobless claims rose unexpectedly in March. Irish consumer sentiment improved in March. WS Atkins surged after forecasting better-than-estimated results for fiscal year 2011.

Mumbai benchmark soared 2.4% and wiped out last four days of losses on the day after a holiday. The fall in crude oil prices contributed to the sentiment. Rupee edged higher. ONGC acquired a 25% stake in an oil block in Kazakhstan.

Stocks in Japan rebounded but on a weak volume. Electric utilities declined on the worries that the industry may be asked to contribute for the losses linked to the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. J. Front Retailing Co. dropped 5% after the department store operator indicated weak outlook.

Commodities, Bonds and Currencies

The 10-year bond yield decreased to 3.46% and 30-year bond fell to 4.54%.

The U.S. dollar decreased to $1.444 to a euro and rose against the Japanese yen to 83.78 yen.

Immediate delivery futures of Texas crude oil increased $0.73 to $106.98 a barrel, of natural gas increased 0.04 cents to $4.13 per mbtu and gasoline prices increased 7.38 cents to 323.79 cents a gallon.

In metals trading, copper prices decreased 8.1 cents to $4.30 per pound, gold increased $4.40 to $1,458.00 per ounce and silver increased $0.52 to $40.59.