S&P 500 Gains 1.7%, Global Markets Struggle

Nichole Harper
22 Aug, 2014
New York City

Stocks on Wall Street advanced and the S&P 500 index is set to gain the most since April. Dynegy agreed to acquire 12,500 megawatts of coal and gas power plants for more than $6 billion.

[R]2:55 PM New York – Stocks on Wall Street advanced and the S&P 500 index is set to gain the most since April. Dynegy agreed to acquire 12,500 megawatts of coal and gas power plants for more than $6 billion.[/R]

Stocks meandered for the most of Friday but market indexes extended gains in the week and comments from Fed Chair Janet Yellen did not break any new ground.

Tensions between Russia and Ukraine flared again after NATO said Russia is building up more troops on the border with Ukraine.

Also, Ukraine said that the Russian aid convoy entering the rebel region is without the consent of the government and did not meet the agreement that required Red to Cross to accompany.

Tollbooth Index slid 0.1% or 13.55 to 9,501.14.

S&P 500 index declined 1.19 to 1,991.16 and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 9.94 or 0.2% to 4,541.96.

S&P 500 index is set for the best weekly advance since April after several companies reported better than expected earnings.

U.S. Movers

Dynegy Inc ((DYN)) surged 9.2% or $2.73 to $32.45 after the power company signed two separate agreements to acquire 12,500 megawatts of coal and gas generation assets from Duke Energy Corp and Energy Capital Partners in deals valued at $6.25 billion.

The company intends to issue new unsecured bonds worth about $5 billion and equity and equity-linked securities for $1.25 billion.

The transactions are expected to close by the end of the first quarter 2015.

Ross Stores, Inc. ((ROST)) soared 5.4% or $3.70 to $72.98 after the off-price apparel and home goods retailer stated net sales in the second-quarter ending on August 2 climbed 7% to $2.73 billion from a year ago period. Comparable store sales in the quarter grew 2%.

Net income in the quarter jumped 12% to $239.6 million or $1.14 a diluted share compared to $213.1 million or 98 cents from a same quarter last year.

Salesforce.com, Inc. ((CRM)) advanced 8.1% or $4.50 to $60.21 after the cloud computing service provider reported revenue in the second-quarter ending in July surged 38% to $1.32 billion from a year ago period.

Net in the quarter swung to a loss $61.1 million or 10 cents a diluted share compared to profit $76.6 million or 12 cents from a same quarter last year.

European Markets

In London trading, FTSE 100 index slid 0.07% or 4.69 to 6,772.97 and in Frankfurt the DAX index fell 0.3% or 32.25 to 9,369.28.

In Paris, CAC 40 index dropped 0.6% or 26.10 to 4,266.83.

On the corporate front, Arcadis agreed to acquire 15.6% stake in Hyder Consulting on a revised offer of £288 million.

LSE, the operator of London Stock Exchange plans to raise £938 million to fund the purchase of U.S. based Frank Russell.

RSA Insurance agreed to sell its Singapore and Hong Kong operations for £130 million and Vodafone agreed to buy 72.7% stake in Hellas Online.

Asian Markets

Stocks in Tokyo faced headwinds after a sustained rise in seven of nine trading days and resource stocks continued to remain in focus.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average slipped 47.01 or 0.3% to 15,539.19 and the broader Topix index slid 5.12 to 1,286.07. For the week, Nikkei 225 jumped 1.5%.

The yen closed at 103.72 against one U.S. dollar and dropped more than 1% in the week.

The Sensex Index rose 59.44 or 0.2% to close at 26,419.55 The CNX Nifty gained 22.10 to 7,913.20. For the week, Sensex increased 1.3%.

Arvind Limited gained 1.2% to Rs 255.90 after the largest denim maker in India signed an agreement with U.S.-based apparel retailer Gap Inc. to open 40 stores in India.