U.S. Import Prices Climb, Apple Release Awaited

Arthi Gupta
12 Sep, 2012
New York City

U.S. indexes gained after Germany ratified the European Stability Mechanism. U.S. import prices rose less than estimated in August. The IEA revised global oil demand forecast for 2012 and 2013. Texas Instruments narrowed third quarter revenue outlook.

[R]9:35 AM New York – U.S. indexes gained after Germany ratified the European Stability Mechanism. U.S. import prices rose less than estimated in August. The IEA revised global oil demand forecast for 2012 and 2013. Texas Instruments narrowed third quarter revenue outlook.[/R]

U.S. and European indexes edged higher after the highest and the most respected court in Germany ratified the European Stability Mechanism and attached two conditions.

The court said that the bailout fund must limit the German liability to €190 billion and any increase must get parliamentary approval. In addition, the court also required the bailout fund to consult both the lower and upper houses of the parliament for all confidential decisions.

With the setting up of the permanent bailout fund, the euro zone is one step closer in providing a second line of defense after the European Central Bank announced a policy to buy unlimited amount of euro bonds last week.

Asian markets extended gains on speculation of quantitative easing from the U.S. Federal Reserve at the end of 2-day meeting tomorrow.

Japan''s core machinery orders surged 4.6% from the previous month and annually core machinery orders increased 1.7% in July,

India''s industrial production rose 0.1% on an annual basis in July after falling 1.8% in June, according to the Central Statistics Office today.

U.S. Import Prices Climb

U.S. import prices rose less than estimated in August, according to a report released by the U.S. Labor Department today.

Import prices rose 0.7% in August following a revised 0.7% fall in July. U.S. export prices increased 0.9% in August after rising by a revised 0.4% in July.

IEA Revises Global Oil Demand Forecast

The International Energy Agency raised global oil demand projections for 2012 and 2013 by 100,000 barrels.

The demand forecast for both the years has been revised up to 89.8 million barrels per day and 90.6 mbd respectively.

Earnings Review

Apple Inc ((AAPL)) was in focus ahead of the product release meeting scheduled today at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time. Expectations are high that the company will announce iPhone 5 with larger screen, more memory and operate on 4G network.

Steel Dynamics, Inc. ((STLD)), the steel maker and metals recycler estimated third quarter earnings in a range of 1 cent to 5 cents per share.

Texas Instruments Incorporated ((TXN)), the analog chips maker narrowed its third quarter revenue guidance to a range of $3.27 billion to $3.41 billion from the prior range of $3.21 billion to $3.47 billion.