S&P 500 Rebounds from 0.7% Loss, Euro Advances

Nichole Harper
02 Jun, 2015
New York City

Market indexes on Wall Street gyrated and the euro advanced against the dollar and investors awaited outcome of the protracted Greek negotiations. Auto industry sales increased in May was led by Chrysler with 4% increase followed by 3% sales gain at GM.

[R]4:30 PM – Market indexes on Wall Street gyrated and the euro advanced against the dollar and investors awaited outcome of the protracted Greek negotiations. Auto industry sales increased in May was led by Chrysler with 4% increase followed by 3% sales gain at GM.[/R]

Market indexes on Wall Street gyrated in volatile trading and the euro gained after the core rate of inflation accelerated to the fastest pace in nine months.

U.S. new orders for manufactured goods in April declined by $1.8 billion or 0.4% to $476.7 billion, followed by 2.2% increase in March. Excluding transportation, new orders rose 0.2%, the Department of Commerce reported.

On Wall Street, Tollbooth Strategy Index jumped 0.5% or 52.77 to 10,803.64.

S&P 500 index rose 0.2% or 2.58 to 2,114.33 and the Nasdaq Composite Index edged up 3.99 to 5,087.09.

Crude oil in New York added 81 cents to $61.01 a barrel and gold gained $3.70 to $1,192.40 an ounce.

U.S. Movers

Dollar General Corp ((DG)) jumped 3.6% or $2.59 to $75.40 after the discount retailer reported net sales in the first-quarter ending on May 1 climbed 8.8% to $4.92 billion from a year ago period.

Same-store sales in the quarter improved 3.7%.

Net income in the quarter surged 13.9% to $253.2 million or 84 cents per diluted share compared to $222.4 million or 72 cents from the same quarter last year.

Dollar General forecasted earnings per share for the year in the range of $3.85 to $3.95 per share and estimated total sales between 8% and 9% and same-store sales growth in the range of 3% to 3.5%.

Delta Air Lines, Inc ((DAL)) dropped 2.6% or $1.16 to $43.19 after the air transportation company reported total system-wide traffic in May 2015 jumped 2.7% to 18.22 billion from 17.74 billion in a year ago period.

The airline company said total system load factor slipped 1.1 percentage points to 85.4%.

Ford Motor Company ((F)) slid 3 cents to $15.33 after the auto maker reported total U.S. sales in May dropped 1.3% to 250,813 units from a year ago.

Retail sales in the month decreased 2% to 171,535 units. Fleet sales were flat at 79,278 units from a year ago month.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV ((FCAU)) fell 8 cents to $16.21 after the auto maker said U.S. sales in May jumped 4% to 202,227 vehicles, the group''s best May sales since 2005.

Total car sales surged 27% to 50,762 vehicles while total truck sales slipped 2% to 151,465 vehicles from the year ago month.

Chrysler brand sales surged 32% to 29,802 vehicles while Jeep deliveries soared 13% to 79,652 vehicles and Ram pickup sales jumped 7.6% to 39,952 vehicles.

General Motors Company ((GM)) rose 14 cents to $36.32 after the auto maker reported sales in May jumped 3% to 293,097 vehicles, the best May sales since 2007 and its best month since August 2008.

Chevrolet sales in the month increased 1.4% to 207,970 units and commercial deliveries jumped 5%. GMC total vehicles sales soared 12.5% to 50,657 vehicles from a year ago month.

GM''s average transaction price was up 1.6% to $34,000 and jumped about $1,300 calendar year-to-date.

European Markets

Industrial producer price index fell 0.1% in April in the euro area and the index was stable in the wider region of the EU28 nations.

In March prices increased 0.2% in the euro area and gained 0.3% in the EU28 region.

Compared to year ago industrial producer prices in April dropped 2.2% in euro area and 2.8% in the EU28, the Statistical Office of the European Communities said today.

In a separate report the department said in a preliminary estimate the annual inflation in the euro area increased to 0.3% in May compared to break even in April.

Core rate of inflation accelerated to 0.9%, the fastest in nine months.

In London trading, FTSE 100 index edged down 0.61 to 6,952.97 and in Frankfurt the DAX index slipped 0.7% or 82.82 to 11,353.23.

In Paris, CAC 40 index fell 0.2% or 9.01 to 5,016.29.

British American Tobacco Plc dropped 2.2% to 3,511.50 pence after the U.K.-based tobacco products maker’s Canadian subsidiary was ordered to pay £5.5 billion or C$10.4 billion after a ruling in two class-action lawsuits filed by two smokers groups in Canada.

Elekta publ AB plunged 7.6% to 55.60 kronor after the Sweden-based radio-surgery provider reported net sales in the year ending in March increased 1% to 10.84 billion kronor from 10.69 billion kronor in a year ago period.

Net income in the year tumbled 51.5% from a year ago to 558 million kronor compared to 1.15 billion kronor and diluted earnings per share declined to 1.45 kronor from 3 kronor.

The company said decline in profit mainly due to heavy decline in order book during the last quarter and even during the year from America, Europe and facing small loss from Asia Pacific regions.

The company forecasted negative growth in net sales to continue during the first-half of the next fiscal year but estimated for positive growth during the second-half for the year.

Wolseley Plc jumped 1.9% to 4,094.23 pence after the U.K.-based building materials provider reported revenues in the third-quarter ending in climbed 16.6% to £3.30 billion from £2.83 billion in a year ago period.

Profit in the quarter soared 29.1% from a year ago to £195 million compared to £151 million.

The company said net debt in the quarter jumped to £1.13 billion from £914 million a year ago period and edged down from £1.22 billion in second-quarter.

Asian Markets

Nikkei in Tokyo traded lower and halted a 12-day rally and yen traded sideways.

On the economic front, the monetary base in May surged 35.6% to 307.38 trillion yen followed by 35.2% to climb in April, the Bank of Japan said today.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 26.68 to 20,543.19 and the broader Topix index slid 4.35 to 1,674.21.

The yen closed at 124.50 against a dollar.

Reserve Bank of India lowered interest rate by 25 basis points however citied rising inflation risks and oil price in international markets.

Reserve Bank of India cut interest rates by 25 basis points to 7.25%. The rates have been cut for the third time this year.

Governor Raghuram Rajan also said inflation risks are rising on the back of rising crude oil prices, weaker-than-normal monsoon and weak global economic environment.

The central bank also lowered its fiscal year annual economic growth rate to 7.6% from the previous outlook to 7.8%.

Rupee weakened 13 paisa to 63.83 against one U.S. dollar.

The Sensex Index plunged 660.61 or 2.4% to close at 27,188.38. The CNX Nifty decreased 196.95 or 2.3% to 8,236.45.

Hero MotoCorp Limited declined 3.2% to ₹2,621.80 after the largest motorcycle maker said May total sales decreased 5.4% to 569,876 units compared to 602,481 units in the same month last year.

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd declined 2.6% to ₹1,223.30 after the tractor maker reported total sales in May fell 3% to 36,706 units compared to 37,869 units in the same period last year.

The domestic sales in the month fell 6% to 33,369 units compared to 35,499 units but exports sales in the month soared 41% to 3,337 units compared to 2,370 units in the same month year ago.

Tata Motors Limited fell 0.6% to ₹469.50 after the vehicles maker reported total sales in May including exports rose 5% to 39,496 units compared to 37,538 units in the same period last year.