Wall Street Indexes Extend Gains, IBM in Focus

Nichole Harper
20 Oct, 2014
New York City

Market indexes on Wall Street continued steady advance and tech stocks led the gainers. IBM finalized the deal to sell its loss making chip manufacturing unit and pay $1.5 billion, which accounted for less than 3% of its sales.

[R]3:20 PM New York – Market indexes on Wall Street continued steady advance and tech stocks led the gainers. IBM finalized the deal to sell its loss making chip manufacturing unit and pay $1.5 billion, which accounted for less than 3% of its sales.[/R]

Stocks on Wall Street traded higher after weak early trading. Market indexes advanced in the afternoon trading as investors digested the latest weaker than expected earnings and sales from IBM.

IBM finalized the deal to sell chip making unit that generated less than 3% of revenues and also lost money to a company controlled by Abu Dhabi government, Globalfoundries.

IBM agreed to pay $1.5 billion to sell the unit but the company will continue to invest in the new chip design and rely on Globalfoundries for manufacturing.

S&P 500 index increased 12.45 or 0.7% to 1,899.21 and the Nasdaq Composite Index soared 1% or 44.04 to 4,302.48.

Tollbooth Index increased 0.6% or 50.80 to 8,962.42.

Market indexes in Europe extended losses for the fifth week in a row as the price of crude oil declined in the region and commodities eased.

U.S. Movers

International Business Machines Corp ((IBM)) plunged 6.8% or $12.33 to $169.72 after the information technology company reported total revenue in the third-quarter ending in September declined 4% to $22.40 billion from a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter tumbled 99.6% to $18 million or 2 cents a diluted share compared to $4.04 billion or $3.68 from a same quarter last year.

The company said software revenue in the quarter slipped 2% to $5.7 billion

Macquarie Infrastructure Company LLC ((MIC)) rose 11 cents to $67.37 after the diversified infrastructure developer agreed to acquire Cleco Corporation, an electric utility for $4.7 billion, including $1.3 billion of assumed debt.

The Australian investment’s cash offer of $55.37 represents 14.7% premium on Cleco''s closing price of October 17.

The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2015.

European Markets

In London trading, FTSE 100 index slipped 0.8% or 48.77 to 6,261.52 and in Frankfurt the DAX index declined 1.7% or 146.26 to 8,704.01.

In Paris, CAC 40 index dropped 1.3% or 53.94 to 3,979.24.

adidas AG climbed 4.3% to €56.97 after the Germany-based sports footwear, apparel and accessories maker received offer to acquire its subsidiary Reebok International Ltd from a group of investor including Jynwel Capital, Abu Dhabi for about €1.7 billion or $2.2 billion.

SAP SE declined 4.6% to €51.50 after the Germany-based enterprise applications provider said total revenue in the third-quarter ending in September climbed 5% to €4.25 billion from €4.05 billion a year ago period.

Profit in the quarter surged 16% from a year ago to €881 million compared to €762 million and earnings per share jumped to €0.74 from €0.64.

Asian Markets

Stocks in Tokyo surged on the speculation that the nation’s pension fund of $1.2 trillion is set to double its allocation to stocks to 25%.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average soared 578.72 or 4% to 15,111.23 and the broader Topix index climbed 47.12 or 4% to 1,224.34.

The yen closed at 107.11 against one dollar.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries rolled out its region jet, the first plane made in Japan.

Resona Holdings and consortium reached the second stage of bidding for consumer banking business of Citigroup.

The Sensex Index climbed 321.32 or 1.2% to close at 26,429.85 The CNX Nifty jumped 99.70 or 1.3% to 7,879.40.

UltraTech Cement Limited, the largest cement maker in India gained 5.5% to Rs 2,450.55 after net in the second-quarter surged 48% to Rs 414.24 crore and sales soared 18.5% to Rs 5,821.48 crore.