Wall Street Gains as Auto Sales Surge; Oil Above $109

Bikram Pandey
01 Mar, 2012
New York City

U.S. stocks and commodities gained after construction spending and manufacturing indexes fell. Auto sales surged in February and same store sales at select retail chains were ahead of expectations. European ministers approved the rescue fund bond issuance.

[R]4:00 PM New York – U.S. stocks and commodities gained after construction spending and manufacturing indexes fell. Auto sales surged in February and same store sales at select retail chains were ahead of expectations. European ministers approved the rescue fund bond issuance. Manufacturing in China showed an expansion.[/R]

The U.S. indexes edged up after mixed domestic economic data and construction spending and manufacturing index fell but personal income and spending rose less than estimated. U.S. jobless claims were at their lowest level in almost four years.

In addition, auto sales in February were the strongest four years as broad selection of new products, mild winter in most of the nation, and cheap financing brought many customers to showrooms. Annual sales rate in the month was higher than 14 million units.

Chrysler sales soared 40% from a year ago month, GM sales increased 1% and Ford sales rose 14%. Toyota and Honda sales rose 12% and Nissan sales increased 16%. South Korea based Hyundai Motor sales surged 18%.

Retailers also reported stronger than expected same store sales in February. Sales across 21 chains are expected to rise more than 3% according to an estimate released by Ticker.com. Limited Brands Inc same store sales increased 8% and Costco Wholesale Corp sales rose 7% excluding gasoline sales. Gap Inc sales increased 4% and Nordstrom Inc sales surged 10% in the month.

In earnings news, Costco second quarter net increased to $394 million. Dresser-Rand fourth quarter net increased to $68.7 million. Edison International fourth quarter net loss swung to $839 million. Kroger fourth quarter net loss swung to$306.9 million.

European indexes rose after Spain raised €4.5 billion in a bond auction as borrowing costs fell. The euro area inflation rose and jobless rate soared to a record high of 10.1%. The UK home prices increased in February. Vivendi plunged 8% on a quarterly loss.

Stocks in Tokyo edged lower for the second day in a row after the yen softened and capital spending rose 7.6% in the December quarter. Softbank won a new spectrum license to expand data services.

Australian indexes declined 1% after copper and gold prices declined more than 4% in international trading. Woolworths reported the sharpest fall in earnings in two decades and the smallest profit in three years.

Commodities, Bonds and Currencies

The yield on 10-year U.S. bond rose to 2.03% and 30-year bond edged higher to 3.15%.

The U.S. dollar traded up 0.1% to $1.331 to one euro and edged up against the Japanese yen at 81.09.

Immediate delivery futures of Texas crude oil increased $2.11 to $109.18 a barrel and Brent crude rose $3.87 to $126.53.

Futures of natural gas fell 14 cents to $2.47 per mbtu and gasoline price increased 9.4 cent to 335.14 cents a gallon in New York trading.

In metals trading, copper increased 5.40 cents to $3.93 per pound, gold increased $11.10 to $1,722.40 per ounce and silver increased 87 cents to $35.52.