U.S. Jobles Claims Rise, Durable Goods Orders Fall in January

Nichole Harper
26 Feb, 2015
New York City

Market indexes on Wall Street traded higher and weekly jobless claims soared in the last week. Durable goods orders in January increased 2.8% after two monthly declines in a row.

[R]2:00 PM New York – Market indexes on Wall Street traded higher and weekly jobless claims soared in the last week. Durable goods orders in January increased 2.8% after two monthly declines in a row.[/R]

Market indexes in New York traded higher and Federal Communications Commission today approved far reaching regulation sought by President Barack Obama that is likely to face legal hurdles.

The index of consumer prices dropped 0.7% in January from December. For the year, all item index before seasonal adjustment slid 0.1%, the Department of Labor said today.

In a separate report the department said, seasonally adjusted weekly jobless claims soared 31,000 to 313,000 from the revised claims of 282,000 in the previous week.

January durable goods orders climbed 2.8% to $236.1 billion, the increase was followed by two monthly decreases and including 3.7% decline in December.

Orders excluding transportation increased 0.3% and defense jumped 3%, U.S. Commerce Department said.

On Wall Street trading, Tollbooth Strategy Index rose 0.1% or 13.95 to 10,731.14.

S&P 500 index fell 3.66 or 0.2% to 2,110.14 and the Nasdaq Composite Index increased 10.39 or 0.2% to 4,977.54.

Crude oil fell $1.35 a barrel to $48.46 and gold fell $5.90 to $1,199 an ounce.

U.S. Movers

Kohl''s Corporation ((KSS)) gained 1.6% or $1.16 to $72.06 after the department store operator reported total sales in the fourth-quarter ending in January increased 3.9% to $6.34 billion from a year ago period. Comparable store sales in the quarter jumped 3.7%.

Net income in the quarter soared 10% to $369 million or $1.83 per diluted share compared to $334 million or $1.56 from the same quarter last year.

The retailer forecasted earnings per diluted share for the fiscal 2015 of between $4.40 and $4.60.

Salesforce.com, Inc ((CRM)) surged 10.8% or $6.77 to $69.65 after the cloud computing service provider said total revenues in the fourth-quarter ending in January soared 26.3% to $1.44 billion from a year ago period.

Net loss in the quarter narrowed to $65.8 million or 10 cents per diluted share compared to $116.6 million or 19 cents from the same quarter last year.

The company forecasted revenues for the first-quarter between $1.49 billion and $1.51 billion and adjusted earnings per share in the range of 13 cents to 14 cents.

For the fiscal 2016, the company estimated revenues in the range of $6.45 billion to $6.5 billion and adjusted earnings per share between 67 cents to 69 cents.

Sears Holdings Corp ((SHLD)) tumbled 7.2% or $2.72 to $35.18 after the department store chain reported revenues in the fourth-quarter ending in January declined 23.5% to $8.10 billion from a year ago period.

Comparable store sales in the quarter dropped 4.4% and 2% at Kmart.

Net loss in the quarter narrowed to $159 million or $1.50 per diluted share compared to $358 million or $3.37 from the same quarter last year.

European Markets

In London trading, FTSE 100 index slid 0.02% or 1.31 to 6,934.07 and in Frankfurt the DAX index increased 0.7% or 78.73 to 11,289.

In Paris, CAC 40 index rose 0.3% or 16.33 to 4,898.37.

Deutsche Telekom AG fell 0.7% to €131.95 after the Germany-based telecom company said revenues in the year ending in December climbed 4.2% to €62.66 billion from €60.13 billion a year ago period.

Net income in the year surged 214% from a year ago to €2.92 billion compared to €930 million and diluted earnings per share advanced to €0.65 from €0.21.

For the fiscal 2015, the telecom operator forecasted adjusted EBITDA of about €18.3 billion and planned free cash flow of €4.3 billion.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group plunged 5.8% to 379.90 pence after the U.K.-based financial service provider stated revenues in the year ending in December plunged 9.7% to £13.08 billion from £14.49 billion a year ago period.

Net loss in the year narrowed from a year ago to £3.47 billion compared to £8.99 billion and diluted earnings per share decreased to 30.6 pence from 80.3 pence.

Separately, today the bank signed an agreement with Japan-focused Mizuho Bank, Ltd for the sale of a portfolio of U.S. and Canadian loan commitments.

The transaction is expected to close before the end of second-quarter.

Thales SA slipped 1.2% to €50.96 after the France-based radars and electronic-warfare system provider reported revenues in the year ending in December rose 2% to €12.97 billion from €12.70 billion a year ago period.

Net income in the year climbed 25% from a year ago to €714 million compared to €573 million and diluted earnings per share jumped to €3.47 from €2.84.

The company expects orders in the Middle East may jump 50% to €3 billion this year as the company and ASELSAN of Turkey signed a new cooperation agreement in Abu Dhabi to continue joint development of a Missile Launcher System.

Asian Markets

Nikkei average rebounded to a new 15-year high after the yen weakened. Industrial & Infrastructure Fund said first-half revenues declined 2.9%. Sony said it is not planning to sell its TV and mobile phone businesses it plans to spin off.

Stocks in Tokyo closed higher and the Nikkei index advanced to a new 15-year high as the yen weakened.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 200.59 or 1.1% to 18,785.79 and the broader Topix index gained 14.06 to 1,521.68.

The yen traded at 118.95 against one dollar.

Stocks in Mumbai traded lower after the release of railways budget and freight rates were revised higher as much as 10% but passenger rates were held.

Indian rupee strengthened 22 paisa to 61.75 against one dollar.

The Sensex Index dropped 261.34 or 0.9% to close at 28,746.65. The CNX Nifty slipped 83.40 or 0.9% to 8,683.85.

Indian Railways in its latest budget announced investments in track modernization, network expansion and improve passenger comfort and facilities at stations.

The fourth-largest rail network in the world operating 12,000 trains a day has suffered from the chronic underinvestment in the last two decades.

In the current budget, railways minister Prabhu departed from the past practice of making new train announcements and focused on improving existing infrastructure and improve efficiency of the rail network.

Minister Prabhu plans to invest as much as $137 billion and expand the network that will reach far corners of India including sensitive border regions in the North East.

Railways in India have been neglected from decades of underinvestment and neglect and lacked basic facilities at stations.

The recent decline in diesel prices has given the government a rare chance to invest and accelerate the network expansion.