Stocks on Wall Street Trade Higher, Personal Spending and Income Rise

Nichole Harper
29 Apr, 2013
New York City

Stocks in New York traded higher after consumer increased spending and income rose in March. European markets advanced after Italy appointed prime minister removing uncertainty for now. Chrysler said earnings declined on retooling costs and Conceptus soared on $1.1 billion buyout from Bayer.

[R]10:20 AM New York – Stocks in New York traded higher after consumer increased spending and income rose in March. European markets advanced after Italy appointed prime minister removing uncertainty for now. Chrysler said earnings declined on retooling costs and Conceptus soared on $1.1 billion buyout from Bayer.[/R]

Consumer increased continued to increase spending in March as the income rose in the month.

Consumer spending increased 0.2% in March from the revised 0.7% rise in February and the revised 0.3% increase in January.

The Commerce Department said today income increased 0.2% in March, following an increase of 1.1% in February.

The 2% increase in tax failed to dampen the consumer spending as consumers focus on lowering debt and rising home values and retirement stock account portfolios and lower gasoline prices.

Market indexes in New York traded higher after the release of consumer spending and income data.

The S&P 500 index increased 0.5% to 1,590.31 and the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.7% to 3,302.37.

European Markets

European markets traded higher after Italy appointed a new prime minister overcoming deep divide among lawmakers for two months and bond yields fell across the currency zone.

Economic confidence index across the euro zone declined for the second month in a row April after the financial crisis in Cyprus and ongoing political instability in Italy weighed on the sentiment.

In London trading, FTSE 100 index increased 0.1% to 6,435 and in Frankfurt the DAX index gained 0.4% to 7,844. In Paris, CAC 40 index soared 1% to 3,849 after bond yields dropped.

The yield on Italian bonds declined to the lowest in 2-1/2 years after lawmakers elected Enrico Letta as the next prime minister of Italy.

Asian Markets

Asian markets traded higher in a cautious trading and markets in mainland China and Japan were closed for holidays.

The benchmark indexes in Korea edged up 0.3% and in India gained 0.5% and smaller markets in Taiwan, Indonesia and New Zealand also gained.

Australian indexes advanced for the third day in a row but volume fell sharply near the low of the year.

Stocks in Review

BHP Billiton agreed to sell its Pinto Valley mining operations and San Miguel Arizona Railroad Company to Vancouver based Capstone Mining for $650 million in cash.

Conceptus soared 20% to $30.95 after the maker of permanent birth control solutions agreed to be acquired by Germany based Bayer for $1.1 billion.

Medidata Solutions Inc ((MDSO)) surged 15% to $62.69 after the clinical data management software solutions provider reported better than expected quarterly results. The fist-quarter non-GAAP earnings per share increased to 35 cents compared to 22 cents a year ago.

Moody’s Corp ((MCO)) increased 10% to $61.01 in heavy trading volume.

Volkswagen AG gained 2.4% to €145.65 after the Germany based automobile company revenue in the first quarter slipped 1.6% to €46.6 billion from €47.3 billion. Profit for the quarter tumbled 35.2% to €2.03 billion compared to €3.13 billion. Diluted earnings per share plunged €4.18 from €6.70.