Stocks on Wall Street Look for Fed Support

Nichole Harper
20 Aug, 2014
New York City

Stocks on Wall Street advanced after lackluster morning trading ahead of Fed minutes of meeting release. Central bankers are scheduled to meet at the annual gathering organized by the Fed tomorrow. Target lowered its annual outlook. Hertz withdrew its forecast.

[R]12:00 PM New York – Stocks on Wall Street advanced after lackluster morning trading ahead of Fed minutes of meeting release. Central bankers are scheduled to meet at the annual gathering organized by the Fed tomorrow. Target lowered its annual outlook. Hertz withdrew its forecast.[/R]

U.S. stocks recovered from morning doldrums and advanced ahead of Fed minutes of meeting later today and central bankers gathering tomorrow.

Fed is scheduled to release minutes of a two-day meeting ending on July 30. At the meeting the policy makers voted to trim bond purchase by $10 billion for the sixth time and ending the program by the end of October.

Central bankers are scheduled to meet tomorrow at the annual symposium organized by the Fed in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Fed Chair Janet Yellen and ECB President Mario Draghi are scheduled to discuss their outlook on Aug 22.

S&P 500 index increased 2.04 to 1,983.64 and the Nasdaq Composite decreased 0.66 to 4,526.77.

U.S. Movers

Target ((TGT)) shared gained 1% but the company lowered its annual profit outlook as the retailer struggles with the rising costs of data breach and struggling inventory management in Canada.

Second quarter earnings declined to $234 million from $611 million a year ago and earnings per share fell to 37 cents from 95 cents.

Sales in the quarter increased 1.7% from a year ago to $17.4 billion.

Data breach related expenses in the last quarter were $111 million before taxes and for the year-so-far expenses were $146 million.

The retailer lowered earnings outlook for the year in the range of $3.10 to $3.30 a share, lower from the previous outlook between $3.60 and $3.90 a share.

Hertz Global Holdings, Inc ((HTZ)) plunged 10% to $28.37 after the largest car rental services provider withdrew its out outlook and cited operating costs challenges and rising auditing costs of previous years dating back to 2011.

The rental services provider said it expects earnings to be “well below” the low of its previous outlook.

European Markets

In London trading, FTSE 100 index slumped 0.6% or 38.94 to 6,740.37 and in Frankfurt the DAX index dropped 0.8% or 72.03 to 9,262.25.

In Paris, CAC 40 index declined 0.9% or 37.22 to 4,217.23.

Balfour Beatty rejected third revised takeover offer from Carillion. Carlsberg profit climbed 7% to 2.2 billion kronor. Glencore net swung to profit of $1.7 billion. Heineken net fell 1% to €631 million.

Asian Markets

Stocks in Japan advanced for the fifth day and Topix declined for the first time after seven days after exports rose for the first time in three months in July.

The Ministry of Finance said trade deficit in July jumped to 964 billion yen (or $9.4 billion) from 823.2 billion yen dropped in June.

Exports in the month jumped 3.9% following the 1.9% decrease in the previous month. Imports in July increased 2.3% compared to 8.4% surge a month earlier.

Exports improved after shipments to the U.S. rose 2.1%, to Europe surged 10% and to Asia soared 3.4%.

Despite the weak consumption, imports are still rising.

The economy is forecasted to expand 2.9% in the current quarter ending in September after contracting 6.8% in the June quarter.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 4.66 to 15,454.45 and the broader Topix index slid 0.65 to 1,279.64.

The yen closed at 103.15 against one U.S. dollar.

The Sensex Index slipped 106.38 or 0.4% to close at 26,314.29 The CNX Nifty fell 22.20 to 7,875.30.