U.S. Indexes Flirt Near Record Highs Ahead of Earnings Season

Nichole Harper
02 Jul, 2014
New York City

U.S. market indexes traded sideways after small cap index reached an intra-day high yesterday. S&P 500 index traded at a new intra-day high and the tech heavy Nasdaq Composite index traded at a high not seen since 2001.

[R]12:45 PM New York – U.S. market indexes traded sideways after small cap index reached an intra-day high yesterday. S&P 500 index traded at a new intra-day high and the tech heavy Nasdaq Composite index traded at a high not seen since 2001.[/R]

U.S. stocks traded choppy and searched for direction after indexes extended quarterly gains for the sixth quarter in a row and the small company index reached an intra-day high.

S&P 500 index increased 0.78 to 1,974.13 and the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 4.45 to 4,463.10. Dow Jones Industrial Average, the narrow index of 30 large companies, briefly traded at 17,000 yesterday.

Tollbooth Strategy index, tracked by ticker research team gained 5.1% in the first-half after surging nearly 30% in 2013.

European Markets

In London trading, FTSE 100 index rose 0.1% or 9.33 to 6,812.25 and in Frankfurt the DAX index inched up 0.03% or 3.03 to 9,905.44.

In Paris, CAC 40 index fell 0.5% or 21.92 to 4,439.20.

BMW plans to invest $1 billion in a new assembly plant in Mexico as the luxury automaker’s sales in North America grow.

Chr. Hansen net climbed 6% to €37 million.

The U.K. based pregnancy and infant apparel retailer Mothercare surged after the company rejecting two takeover offers from its U.S. rival.

NN Group climbed after ING priced the initial public offering of its insurance subsidiary to raise €1.54 billion. After the offering the ING stake was reduced to 74% and the Dutch bank plans to sell its remaining entire stake in a year.

Asian Markets

Investors in Japan looked to overseas markets and took an optimistic view on the global economy and bid up exporters.

Sony and Toyota Motor gained more than 0.7%. Nippon Yusen and Mitsui OSK Limes soared 2% after freight rate index advanced.

The yen declined and the broader Topix index extended gains from a five-month high after China reported a modest expansion in manufacturing industry in June.

Purchasing managers’ index reported by China was reported at 51 in June, the strongest monthly expansion this year.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 43.77 or 0.3% to 15,369.97 and the broader Topix index rose 4.70 to 1,280.78.

The yen edged up to close at 101.59 against one U.S. dollar.

The Sensex Index gained 102.57 or 0.4% to close at 25,516.35 The CNX Nifty rose 23.35 to 7,634.70.

Ashok Leyland June sales vehicle jumped 7% but industry passenger vehicle sales in the month rose 3.6%. Bajaj Auto total sales of two-wheelers in June rose 3% and Tata Motors sales in the month struggled as the company lagged with quality perceptions and rising discounts from other automakers.

U.S. Stocks in Review

Constellation Brands, Inc ((STZ)) jumped 3.4% or $3.04 to $91.42 after the beer, wine and spirits distributor reported net sales in the first-quarter ending in May surged 119.5% to $1.69 billion.

Net income in the quarter climbed nearly three-fold to $206.7 million or $1.03 a diluted share compared to $52.9 million or 27 cents.

GoPro Inc plunged 10% to $43.77, the first decline in stock price after the action camera maker surged nearly 90% in less than five days of going public.

The Kroger Co ((KR)) slid 11 cents to $49.43 after the food retailer intends to acquire online vitamin seller Vitacost.com Inc. for $280 million or $8 per share in cash to expand online presence and access its shipping network and distribution centers.

Paychex, Inc ((PAYX)) declined 3.2% or $1.33 to $40.80 after the payroll and outsourcing solution provider reported total revenue in the fourth-quarter ending in May climbed 9% to $639 million.

Net income in the quarter soared 18% to $145.9 million or 40 cents a diluted share compared to $123.5 million or 34 cents.

Rackspace soared 7% to $36.21 on a speculation that the cloud computing services provider may go private in a leveraged buyout. The news was first reported by TechCrunch and the article did not cite any source.

The Texas based company hired Morgan Stanley to review its strategic alternatives.