U.S. Stocks Rally Nearing in Record Highs, Jobless Claims at 15-Year Low

Nichole Harper
14 May, 2015
New York City

Market indexes on Wall Street advanced and broader indexes traded near record highs and yield on 10-year U.S. treasury bond edged down to 2.25%. Wholesale prices fell in April and weekly jobless claims hovered near 15-year lows.

[R]12:20 PM – Market indexes on Wall Street advanced and broader indexes traded near record highs and yield on 10-year U.S. treasury bond edged down to 2.25%. Wholesale prices fell in April and weekly jobless claims hovered near 15-year lows.[/R]

Stocks on Wall Street traded higher after three days of declines in a row and bond yield edged down after a recent sell-off.

Market indexes traded higher and the Nasdaq index rose 1% and the S&P 500 index jumped 0.8%.

Seasonally adjusted weekly jobless claims decreased 1,000 to 264,000 from the previous week unrevised claims of 265,000, the Department of Labor said.

In a separate report, the department said the producer price index decreased 0.4% in April on a seasonally adjusted basis followed by increase of 0.2% in March and fall of 0.5% in February.

On Wall Street, Tollbooth Strategy Index increased 0.6% or 67.24 to 10,717.38.

S&P 500 index rose 0.07% or 14.44 to 2,112.95 and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.9% or 45.88 to 5,027.61.

Crude oil in New York fell 54 cents to $59.96 a barrel and gold increased $2.80 to $1,221 an ounce.

U.S. Movers

Cisco Systems, Inc ((CSCO)) rose 8 cents to $29.44 after the networking products and services provider reported total revenues in the third-quarter ending in March jumped 5.2% to $12.17 billion from a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter soared 11.9% to $2.44 billion or 47 cents per diluted share compared to $2.18 million or 42 cents from the same quarter last year.

For the fourth-quarter, Cisco forecasted revenue to increase between 3% and 5% and adjusted earnings per share in the range of 55 cents to 57 cents.

J C Penney Company Inc ((JCP)) plunged 5.7% or 51 cents to $8.20 after the department stores operator said sales in the first-quarter ending on May 2 increased 2% to $2.86 billion from a year ago period.

Same store sales in the quarter climbed 3.4%.

Net loss in the quarter narrowed to $167 million or 55 cents per diluted share compared to $352 million or $1.15 from the same quarter last year.

The retailer lifted its same-store sales forecast for the year to increase between 4% and 5% compared to earlier guidance of 3% to 5%.

Kohl''s Corporation ((KSS)) tumbled 11.4% or $8.47 to $66.05 after the merchandise retailer reported sales in the first-quarter ending on May 2 rose 1.2% to $4.12 billion from a year ago period.

Comparable store sales in the quarter increased 1.4%.

Net income in the quarter jumped 1.6% to $127 million or 63 cents per diluted share compared to $125 million or 60 cents from the same quarter last year.

Owens-Illinois Inc ((OI)) fell 30 cents to $25.68 after the glass manufacturer agreed to acquire food and beverage glass container business of Mexico-based Vitro S.A.B. de C.V. for about $2.15 billion in cash.

The transaction is expected to close within a year.

European Markets

In London trading, FTSE 100 index gained 0.3% or 20.66 to 6,970.23 and in Frankfurt the DAX index jumped 0.9% or 111.35 to 11,463.02.

In Paris, CAC 40 index increased 0.8% or 40.89 to 5,001.79.

Aegon NV gained 1.2% to €7 after the Netherlands-based insurance and financial services provider reported sales in the first-quarter ending in March soared 32% to €2.75 billion from €2.09 billion in a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter declined 19.4% from a year ago to €316 million compared to €392 million.

At the end of quarter, gross deposits were €18.7 billion and net deposits increased to €7.3 billion and life insurance sales climbed 20% to €551 million.

Telefonica SA decreased 1.8% to €13.06 after the Spain-based mobile company in the first-quarter ending in March climbed 12.6% to €11.54 billion from €10.25 billion in a year ago period.

Net profit in the quarter soared 162% from a year ago to €1.80 billion compared to €688 million and earnings per share jumped to €0.38 from €0.14.

Asian Markets

Rising bond market yields hovered stock market sentiment in Tokyo and 10-year Japanese government bond yield jumped to a two-month high of 0.47%.

Railroad company stocks declined. Konica Minolta announced stock buyback and dividend hike. Toshiba plans to write down earnings in last three years.

Stocks and market indexes in Japan continued to trade sideways on the volatile global bond market.

10-year yield on Japanese bonds rose to 0.47%, matching a two-month high as financial markets around the world are re-pricing stocks in the face of rising interest rate environment.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average slumped 194.48 or 0.9% to 19,570.24 and the broader Topix index dropped 12.72 to 1,591.49.

The yen closed at 118.90 against a dollar.

Sharp Corporation slipped 1% to 200 yen after the electric and electronic equipment maker reported revenues in the year ending in March dropped 4.8% to 2.79 trillion yen from 2.93 trillion yen in a year ago period.

Net in the year swung to a loss of 222.35 billion yen compared to profit of 11.56 billion yen and diluted loss per share swung to a 131.51 yen from diluted earnings per share of 7.87 yen in the same period a year ago.

Sharp secured a $1.7 billion bailout from banks, as Mizuho Bank and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ will jointly inject 200 billion yen in a debt-for-equity swap, the company said in a statement.

Toshiba Corp gained 0.8% to 426.30 yen after the power and infrastructure developer estimated that it may have to write down income for past three years by 50 billion yen or $420 million.

Sensex index recovered in late afternoon and trimmed losses and rupee regained some of the lost ground in the last week of trading but still hovered near the four-month low.

Stocks opened lower and market indexes quickly dropped 1% despite the decline in wholesale price index.

The wholesale price index in April declined to 2.65% compared to 5.55% in the same period a year ago, reported by Ministry of Commerce.

Rupee strengthened 39 paisa to 63.61 against one U.S. dollar.

The Sensex Index fell 45.04 to close at 27,206.06. The CNX Nifty slid 11.25 to 8,224.20.

Pantaloons Fashion & Retail Limited decreased 0.5% to ₹168.10 after the apparel retailer said net loss in the fourth-quarter narrowed to ₹63.74 crore.

Net sales in the quarter climbed 12.5% to ₹450.51 crore.