Weekly Gain of 1% in S&P 500 and 2.2% in Nasdaq

Bikram Pandey
06 Jan, 2012
New York City

U.S. stocks traded sideways and banks and home builders were in focus. For the week the S&P 500 index added 1% and the Nasdaq increased 2.2%. European markets generally closed higher in the week and bond yields rose ahead of Italian and Spanish debt auctions. Crude oil traded near $102 a barrel.

[R]4:10 PM New York – U.S. stocks traded sideways and banks and home builders were in focus. For the week the S&P 500 index added 1% and the Nasdaq increased 2.2%. European markets generally closed higher in the week and bond yields rose ahead of Italian and Spanish debt auctions. Crude oil traded near $102 a barrel.[/R]

The U.S. indexes traded sideways after the economy added 200,000 net new jobs and the unemployment rate declined to 8.5% in December. However, the market sentiment was not swayed much after the release of the data as investors looked at the details of the new jobs additions. Much of the job additions were seasonal and are expected to be trimmed in the current month.

Banks were in focus on the speculation that the White House may propose a new plan to refinance mortgages.

Japan-based Marubeni acquired 35% stake in Eagle Ford Shale. The euro faced more headwinds after the yields on Spanish and Italian bonds rose.

European indexes climbed the wall of worries after Spain estimated €50 billion bank reserves for bad property assets, significantly higher than estimated by analysts.

The European Financial Stability Facility sold €3 billion of 3-year bonds yesterday but that failed to lift market sentiment after German industrial orders fell 4.8% in November, the largest decline in three years but the monthly reading has been volatile in the last six months. Also, euro area economic confidence weakened and Swiss consumer prices slid in December.

Hungarian benchmark index declined 0.7% and for the week lost 5.1% after Fitch lowered its view on the sovereign bond to below investment grade as the government worked with the lender to restructure its debt. Hungarian bond yield increased to 10.1%.

The UK indexes gained but home prices and new car registration fell in December. The UK home prices declined 0.9% and new car registrations declined 4.4% in 2011. The LSE Group reported a fall in trading in December.

Stocks in Tokyo trading declined as volume rebounded ahead of three-day weekend. The Nikkei declined 1.2% and the Topix index fell 0.9%. For the week, the Nikkei fell 0.9% and Topic gained a fraction. Panasonic plans to sell its stake in JVC Kenwood. Japan Bridge soared 19%.

Australian stocks edged lower after material prices declined on the rising worries in the euro zone after yields rose in the latest French debt auction. Suncorp declined after it reported higher than estimated natural disaster cost in the six month period to December.

Commodities, Bonds and Currencies

The yield on 10-year U.S. bond decreased to 1.96% and 30-year bond closed down to 3.02%.

The U.S. dollar edged up 0.5% to $1.272 to one euro and traded lower against the Japanese yen to 77.02.

Immediate delivery futures of Texas crude oil decreased $0.20 to $101.62 a barrel and futures of natural gas rose 0.08 cent to $3.06 per mbtu and gasoline price added 1.7 cents to 275.30 cents a gallon.

In metals trading, copper increased 0.5 cents to $3.43 per pound, gold decreased $2.90 to $1,617.20 per ounce and silver decreased $0.66 to $28.63.