Nasdaq Revisits Watermark 15 Years Later, Deutsche Settles Libor Probe

Nichole Harper
23 Apr, 2015
New York City

Nasdaq index passed the high set 15 years ago after the latest earnings from eBay and other tech companies. 10-year German bond yield declined from the record high. Deutsche Bank agreed to settle Libor rate manipulation investigation. Corporate finance activities heat up in India.

[R]2:00 PM – Nasdaq index passed the high set 15 years ago after the latest earnings from eBay and other tech companies. 10-year German bond yield declined from the record high. Deutsche Bank agreed to settle Libor rate manipulation investigation. Corporate finance activities heat up in India.[/R]

Stocks on Wall Street traded higher and the tech-heavy Nasdaq index surpassed for the first time the high it reached 15 years ago.

The Nasdaq index crossed 5,000 on March 2 for the first time in fifteen years and finally reached 5,048.62 level reached on March 10, 2010. The index is still below the intra-day high of 5,132.52 reached fifteen years ago.

Seasonally adjusted new home sales in March declined 11.4% to a four-month low annual rate of 481,000, Commerce Department reported today in Washington.

New home sales in February was revised to 543,000, the highest since February 2008.

Seasonally adjusted weekly jobless claims increased 1,000 to 295,000 from the previous week unrevised claims of 294,000, the Department of Labor said.

On Wall Street, Tollbooth Strategy Index increased 0.7% or 79.84 to 10,804.72.

S&P 500 index increased 10.30 or 0.5% to 2,118.27 and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 23.26 or 0.5% to 5,058.38.

Crude oil in New York jumped $1.72 to $57.88 a barrel and gold jumped $3.60 to $1,190.50 an ounce.

Deutsche Bank Agreed to $2.5 B Fine

Deutsche Bank agreed to pay $2.5 billion in fines and fire six employees in London and one in Frankfurt as a part of settlement with the U.S. and U.K. regulators to end investigations into its role in rigging Libor.

Deutsche Bank traders and managers regularly asked rate submitting banks to file rate that would benefit their trading positions, according to the data released by the U.S. Justice Department.

The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority said in a separate statement that the bank gave an “unacceptably slow and ineffective response” to investing agency and misled regulators to slow down the investigation.

U.S. Movers

eBay Inc ((EBAY)) climbed 3.7% or $2.10 to $58.77 after the online market place operator stated net revenues in the first-quarter ending in March jumped 4% to $4.45 billion from a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter swung to profit $626 million or 51 cents per diluted share compared to a loss of $2.33 billion or $1.82 from the same quarter last year.

Facebook Inc ((FB)) slid 66 cents to $83.79 after the social networking website operator said revenues in the first-quarter ending in March increased 1% to $3.54 billion from a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter plunged 20.3% to $509 million or 18 cents per diluted share compared to $639 million or 25 cents from the same quarter last year.

General Motors Company ((GM)) slumped 3.8% or $1.41 to $35.75 after the automobiles company said revenues in the first-quarter ending in March declined 4.5% to $35.7 billion from a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter surged eight-fold to $0.9 billion or 56 cents per diluted share compared to $0.1 billion or 6 cents from the same quarter last year.

PepsiCo, Inc ((PEP)) slipped 1.1% or $1.10 to $96.18 after the food and beverage company reported net revenues in the first-quarter ending in March dropped 3% to $12.22 billion from a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter was flat at $1.22 billion or 81 cents per diluted share compared to 79 cents from the same quarter last year.

Procter & Gamble Co ((PG)) decreased 1.2% or $1.01 to $81.42 after the consumer packaged goods maker reported net sales in the third-quarter ending in March declined 8% to $18.14 billion from a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter slumped 5% to $3.13 billion or 85 cents per diluted share compared to $3.31 billion or 87 cents from the same quarter last year.

European Markets

European markets traded lower after a private survey showed slowing growth in manufacturing sector and ongoing concerns over the future of Greece in the euro zone.

The composite purchasing managers index tracking activities in manufacturing and services sector in the euro zone declined to 53.5 in April from 54.0 in March, according to index provider Markit.

Any reading below 50 indicates declining activities and rising activities above 50.

In London trading, FTSE 100 index rose 0.3% or 18.84 to 7,047.08 and in Frankfurt the DAX index declined 1.2% or 146.95 to 11,720.42.

In Paris, CAC 40 index dropped 0.8% or 39.89 to 5,171.20.

In addition, German 10-year bond yield rose to 0.16% after falling to a low of 0.05% after the European Central Bank started its bond buying program and set off a surge in demand for the popular bond.

The yield on 10-year Greek bonds rose to 12.4% and the yield on 2-year bond traded at 26.3%.

Ericsson plunged 10.1% to 99.45 kronor after the Sweden-based communication services provider reported sales in the first-quarter ending in March climbed 10% to 53.52 billion kronor from 47.51 billion kronor in a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter declined 14% from a year ago to 1.32 billion kronor compared to 2.12 billion kronor and diluted earnings per share declined to 0.40 kronor from 0.65 kronor.

The company said sales from enterprise network business jumped 8.4% to 26.44 billion kronor and global services revenues soared 17.4% to 23.90 billion kronor. North America region sales were nearly flat at 12.25 billion kronor.

Novartis AG gained 0.3% to 100.50 Swiss francs after the Switzerland-based drug-maker reported net sales in the first-quarter ending in March declined 7% to $11.94 billion from $12.77 billion in a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter plunged 6% from a year ago to $2.31 billion compared $2.45 billion and diluted earnings per share slipped to 96 cents from 99 cents.

WPP Plc, the U.K.-based advertising and media investment company said revenues in the first-quarter ending in March climbed 8.3% to £2.78 billion from £2.57 billion in a year ago period.

Net sales in North America grew 10.7% to £915 million and net sales in the U.K. region soared 10.5% to £350 million.

As of March, the company said net debt was £3.18 billion compared to £2.96 billion in 2014, an increase of £218 million.

Asian Markets

With corporate earnings in focus, Nikkei index closed above 20,000 for the second day in a row after fifteen years.

Market indexes in Tokyo edged higher and Nikkei closed above 20,000 mark for the second day in a row after fifteen years.

Investors remained focused on corporate earnings and overlooked the latest weak report on factory activities in China. Also, dollar gained in international trading and European markets generally closed higher in overnight trading.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 53.75 or 0.3% to 20,187.65 and the broader Topix index added 3.08 to 1,624.87.

The yen closed at 119.85 against a dollar.

On the corporate front, CyberAgent said second-quarter revenues rose 29%. JFE Holdings said annual net rose 36%. JSR Corp said net gained 19% on nearly flat revenues.

Market indexes in Mumbai traded lower following the weak trading across Asia after factory activities growth in China was deemed to be lower than expected in a private survey.

Rupee edged lower along with all Asian currencies after the U.S. dollar firmed in international trading.

Rupee weakened 50 paisa to 63.32.

The Sensex Index dropped 155.11 or 0.6% to close at 27,735.02. The CNX Nifty fell 31.40 or 0.4% to 8,398.30.

In the sign of rising corporate activities, Biocon is preparing to raise $600 million in international markets for the public offering of its research arm Syngene.

In addition, Jet Airways is preparing to raise as much as ₹2,500 or $400 million and sell stocks in the company to international investors after the shareholder approval.

Ramco Systems Ltd is in advanced discussions with bankers to raise as much as ₹300 crore and expand its enterprise software activities.

HDFC Bank said net in the quarter jumped 21% on 22% increase in revenues. MRF net soared 95%. L&T Finance net rose 10%.

HDFC Bank Limited slid 0.2% to ₹1,013.50 after the financial services provider said net in the fourth-quarter jumped 20.64% to ₹2,806.91 crore.

Total revenues in the quarter climbed 21.73% to ₹15,570.13 crore.

The ratio of net non-performing assets in the quarter edged down to 0.2% compared to 0.3% in the same period a year ago.

MRF Limited jumped 3.4% to ₹40,077 after the largest tyre maker said net profit in the second-quarter surged 94.66% to ₹332.62 crore.

Net revenues in the quarter rose 0.69% to ₹3,332.77 crore.