Indexes Set Records on Wall Street

Nichole Harper
11 Nov, 2014
New York City

Market indexes on Wall Street struggled to advance after a weak start. Bond market and the federal government were closed on Veterans Day today. European markets traded sideways. The Nikkei and Topix indexes in Japan closed at multi-year highs.

[R]12:55 PM New York – Market indexes on Wall Street struggled to advance after a weak start. Bond market and the federal government were closed on Veterans Day today. European markets traded sideways. The Nikkei and Topix indexes in Japan closed at multi-year highs.[/R]

Market indexes on Wall Street opened lower after indexes advanced for four days in a row and reached new highs.

Broader averages turned higher and may close higher matching a five-day surge registered in the summer.

Tollbooth Index, the index tracking 45 companies with the rising bargaining power, edged up 0.04% or 3.74 to 9,810.44.

S&P 500 index edged up 0.76 or 0.03% to 2,038.74 and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 4.30 or 0.09% to 4,655.82.

For the year, S&P 500 index advanced 10% and the Tollbooth Index has gained 9%.

U.S. Movers

CST Brands Inc ((CST)) fell 13 cents to $39.62 after the retailer of convenience goods and fuel said revenue in the third-quarter ending in September dropped 3% to $3.22 billion from a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter surged 50% to $63 million or 83 cents a diluted share compared to $42 million or 56 cents from a same quarter last year.

D.R. Horton, Inc ((DHI)) climbed 3.2% or 75 cents to $24.19 after the home builder reported net sales in the fourth-quarter ending in September soared 38% to $2.4 billion from a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter climbed 19% to $166.3 million or 45 cents a diluted share compared to $139.5 million or 40 cents from a same quarter last year.

European Markets

In London trading, FTSE 100 index slid 0.07% or 4.41 to 6,606.84 and in Frankfurt the DAX index fell 0.1% or 11.07 to 9,340.80.

In Paris, CAC 40 index rose 0.2% or 9.38 to 4,232.20.

In the European corporate news, Maersk net surged 25% $1.50 billion. BMW October sales soared 11%. Henkel fell 4% to €440 million but kept sales and earnings outlook.

Henkel AG & Co KGaA, the Germany-based consumer goods and laundry products maker reported sales in the third-quarter ending in September rose 1.2% to €4.24 billion from €4.18 billion a year ago period.

Net profit in the quarter declined 3.9% from a year ago to €440 million compared to €458 million and diluted earnings per share slipped to €1 from €1.05.

The company said sales in all three units and emerging markets were stronger than a year ago, despite lower North American sales.

The company lifted its profit margin forecast while maintained sales and earnings per share growth.

UniCredit SpA, the Italy-based financial service provider said revenues in the third-quarter ending in September dropped 3.2% to €5.55 billion from €5.66 billion a year ago period.

Group net profit in the quarter surged 79% from a year ago to €722 million compared to €204 million and earnings per share jumped to 0.42 from €0.22.

Vodafone Group Plc, the U.K.-based mobile company reported group revenue in the first-half ending in September climbed 8.9% to £20.75 billion from £19.06 billion a year ago period.

Profit in the period plunged 69.5% from a year ago to £5.50 billion compared to £18.06 billion and diluted earnings per share dropped to 20.37 pence from 67.23 pence.

Asian Markets

Topix Index, the broader Japanese equity market index closed at a six-year high and the yen deepened losses in the year.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average soared 2.1%, the highest close since 2007. Chiyoda Corp reported quarterly net dropped 20%.

The Bank of Japan said total bank lending in October climbed 2.4% compared to 2.3% increase in September.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 343.58 or 2.1% to 17,124.11 and the broader Topix index jumped 15.10 or 1.1% to 1,375.21.

The yen closed at 115.41 against one dollar.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may call snap election next month and may decide to postpone the planned sale-tax increase to 10% next year.

In Mumbai trading, the Sensex Index rose 35.33 to close at 27,910.06. The CNX Nifty increased 18.40 to 8,362.65.

Apollo Tyres Ltd, the largest tyre maker dropped 1.3% to Rs 232.90 after net in the second-quarter climbed 17.5% to Rs 257.94 crore and net revenues added 3.5% to Rs 3,315.24 crore.