U.S. Consumer Confidence at 5-Month High, Indexes Struggle on Wall Street

Nichole Harper
26 Jun, 2015
New York City

Market indexes on Wall Street struggled to advance in slow trading on Friday and a private measure of consumer confidence index increased to a five-month high. European markets advanced ahead of weekend talks to push Greece in a last ditch effort to an agreement.

[R]3:00 PM – Market indexes on Wall Street struggled to advance in slow trading on Friday and a private measure of consumer confidence index increased to a five-month high. European markets advanced ahead of weekend talks to push Greece in a last ditch effort to an agreement.[/R]

Stocks on Wall Street struggled as investors looked ahead to weekend and digested the latest consumer confidence index at a five-month high.

The private measure of consumer confidence tracked by the University of Michigan increased to 96.1% in June, 16.5% higher than a year ago month.

On Wall Street, Tollbooth Strategy Index rose 0.2% or 18.23 to 10,825.52.

S&P 500 index gained 0.2% or 3.41 to 2,105.72 and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.3% or 17.58 to 5,094.75.

Crude oil in New York slipped 71 cents to $58.99 a barrel and gold fell $1.30 cents to $1,170.50 an ounce.

U.S. Movers

Finish Line Inc ((FINL)) increased 3.9% or $1.05 to $28.05 after the specialty retailer said net sales in the first-quarter ending in May climbed 9.1% to $443.4 million from a year ago period.

Comparable store sales in the quarter jumped 5.5%.

Net income in the quarter soared 11.3% to $13.8 million or 30 cents per diluted share compared to $12.4 million or 25 cents from the same quarter last year.

Nike Inc ((NIKE)) gained 4.4% or $4.64 to $109.86 after the athletic footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories developer reported revenues in the fourth-quarter ending in May jumped 5% to $7.78 billion from a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter surged 23.9% to $865 million or 98 cents per diluted share compared to $698 million or 78 cents from the same quarter last year.

Nike added revenues in footwear segment in the quarter jumped 9% to $4.78 billion while revenue apparel business increased 1% to $2.16 billion.

The company said Nike brand North America revenue climbed 13% to $3.73 billion, but revenues in Western Europe decreased 3% to $1.27 billion and revenue in Central and Eastern Europe fell 3% to $360 million while revenues in Greater China surged 18% to $829 million and Japan revenue rose 2% to $230 million.

European Markets

In London trading, FTSE 100 index slipped 0.5% or 30.81 to 6,782.01 and in Frankfurt the DAX index rose 0.5% or 62.78 to 11,535.91.

In Paris, CAC 40 index gained 0.9% or 43.71 to 5,085.42.

For the week, FTSE 100 index increased 1.1% and in Frankfurt the DAX index jumped 4.5%.

In Paris, CAC 40 index soared 5.7%.

NK Rosneft'' OAO, the Russia-based state oil company reported sales revenues in the first-quarter dropped 6.3% to 1.29 trillion rubles from 1.38 trillion rubles in a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter soared 30.2% from a year ago to 56 billion rubles compared to 43 billion rubles.

Tesco Plc jumped 3.7% to 225.30 pence after the supermarket chain operator said group sales in first-quarter decreased 1% and comparable store sales dropped 1.3% while volumes increased 1.4% and transaction in the quarter gained 1.3% from a year ago period.

Asian Markets

Stocks in Tokyo extended weekly gains and jobless rate was flat in May and household spending increased for the first time in over a year.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in May was 3.3%, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said today.

The number of unemployed persons in May declined 7.4% to 2.24 million, a decrease of 180,000 from a year ago month.

The participation rate increased to 59.8% from 59.4% a month earlier.

In a separate report the Ministry said the average monthly household spending in May jumped 5.5% to 286,433 yen from the same period a year ago.

The average monthly income per household increased 1.5% to 430,325 yen compared to a year ago.

The Ministry also said consumer price index in May rose 0.3% from the previous month and increased 0.5% from a year ago month.

The preliminary estimate of consumer price index for Ku-area of Tokyo in June fell 0.4% from the previous month but rose 0.3% from a year ago.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average slipped 65.25 or 0.3% to 20,706.15 and the broader Topix index slid 3.88 to 1,667.03.

For the week, Nikkei 225 increased 2.7%.

The yen closed at 123.45 against a dollar.

Komatsu Ltd slipped 1.4% to 2,489.50 yen after the construction machinery and vehicles maker plans to invest 20 billion yen to divide power consumption at two major plants to reduce costs by around 30 billion yen up to 2017.

Oracle Corporation Japan fell 0.2% to 5,460 yen after the software developer reported revenues in the year ending in May increased 3.9% to 161.05 billion yen from 154.97 billion yen in a year ago period.

Net income in the year soared 11.3% to 30.25 billion yen compared to 27.17 billion yen and diluted earnings per share increased to 237 yen from 213 yen.

The company forecasted fiscal 2016 revenues to increase between 2% and 5% and net income per share in the range of 245 yen to 254 yen.

In Mumbai trading, banks were in focus after the Reserve Bank of India said asset quality at the state controlled banks are likely to get worse before early signs of improvement appear at the end of current fiscal year.

The central bank released its assessment in the semiannual Financial Stability Report released today and noted that the bank asset quality has suffered in the last two years after the slower economic growth stalled large infrastructure projects.

Investment and demand cycle is expected to accelerate with the pace of public spending rising and the government working to accelerate the approval of large infrastructure projects, but it may take as long as six months.

Earlier in the month, Finance Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi said that the government is likely to provide ₹19,000 crore or $3 billion to troubled banks, an increase from the earlier estimate of ₹8,000 crore or $1.4 billion.

State controlled banks have the largest share of bad loans because nearly two-thirds of assets are held by the banks controlled by central and state governments.

Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd fell 1.8%, Punjab National Bank, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, Yes Bank Ltd declined more than 1%.

Bank of Baroda and Federal Bank declined 0.8%.

Rupee strengthened 2 paisa to 63.60 against one U.S. dollar.

The Sensex Index slipped 84.13 or 0.3% to close at 27,811.84. The CNX Nifty decreased 16.90 or 0.2% to 8,381.10.

For the week, Sensex Index increased 1.5% and CNX Nifty advanced 1.9%.

Jet Airways (India) Limited rose 0.4% to ₹282.80 after the air transportation services provider plans to raise up to $400 million through a non-convertible debenture offering.