World Markets Struggle; U.S. Jobless Claims at 40-Year Low, Metals Down

Nichole Harper
23 Jul, 2015
New York City

Indexes on Wall Street hovered near highs after jobless claims dropped to the lowest in last four years and lowest since 1973. Crude oil prices eased and metal prices declined after a weak price outlook for the rest of the year.

[R]2:20 PM – Indexes on Wall Street hovered near highs after jobless claims dropped to the lowest in last four years and lowest since 1973. Crude oil prices eased and metal prices declined after a weak price outlook for the rest of the year.[/R]

U.S. stocks extended gains and market indexes hovering near record highs after jobless claims in the last week were lowest since 1973.

Seasonally adjusted weekly jobless claims declined 26,000 to 255,000 from the unrevised claims of 281,000 in the previous week, the Department of Labor said.

On Wall Street, Tollbooth Strategy Index decreased 0.4% or 42.62 to 10,819.14.

S&P 500 index fell 9.48 or 0.4% to 2,104.77 and the Nasdaq Composite Index slid 13.43 or 0.3% to 5,158.31.

Crude oil in New York slipped 39 cents to $48.80 a barrel and gold rose $3.30 to $1,094.80 an ounce.

Commodities prices declined after a report from World Bank estimated metal prices to fall as much as 17% and iron ore prices to plunge as much as 46% in the rest of the year as China slowdown continues and production remains high in Brazil and Australia.

U.S. Movers

Comcast Corporation ((CMCSA)) dropped 2.5% or $1.60 to $62.92 after the media and cable services provider reported revenues in the second-quarter ending in June climbed 11.3% to $18.2 billion from a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter jumped 7.5% to $2.14 billion or 84 cents per diluted share compared to $1.99 billion or 76 cents from the same quarter last year.

Dow Chemical Co ((DOW)) declined 3.8% or $1.90 to $48.10 after the diversified chemicals reported revenues in the second-quarter ending in June soared 13.7% to $12.88 billion from a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter surged 28.1% to $1.13 billion or 97 cents per diluted share compared to $882 million or 73 cents from the same quarter last year.

Chief Executive Officer Andrew Liveris said that the company is interested in acquiring Switzerland-based pesticide business of Syngenta AG.

Syngenta has already rejected Monsanto’s “unsolicited” offer worth $45 billion and refused to negotiate.

Qualcomm, Inc ((QCOM)) slumped 4.1% or $2.66 to $61.53 after the digital communications products provider reported revenue in the third-quarter ending in June plunged 14% to $5.83 billion from a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter tumbled 47.3% to $1.18 billion or 73 cents per diluted share compared to $2.24 billion or $1.31 from the same quarter last year.

The company forecasted revenues for the fourth-quarter in the range of $4.7 billion to $5.7 billion and earnings per share between 75 cents and 95 cents.

For the year, Qualcomm lowered revenues forecast to between $24.5 billion and $25.5 billion and earnings per share in the range of $4.50 to $4.70 from earlier estimated revenues range of $25 billion to $27 billion and earnings per share between $4.60 and $5.

European Markets

U.K. retail sales volume in June fell 0.2% from May. Retail sales jumped to £35.6 billion and online sales soared 11.4% from a year ago month, the Office for National Statistics said.

In London trading, FTSE 100 index edged down 2.69 to 6,664.78 and in Frankfurt the DAX index slid 0.2% or 21.24 to 11,499.91.

In Paris, CAC 40 index edged up 1.51 to 5,084.08.

Credit Suisse Group AG soared 7.3% to 28.81 Swiss francs after the Switzerland-based financial services provider reported net revenues in the second-quarter ending in June climbed 8% to 6.94 billion francs from 6.43 billion francs in a year ago period.

Net in the quarter swung to profit from a year ago to 1.05 billion francs compared to a loss of 700 million francs and diluted earnings per share swung to 0.61 francs from diluted loss per share of a 45 francs.

The bank added pre-tax income in private banking & wealth management was 937 million francs compared to a loss of 749 million francs in a year ago period while pre-tax income in investment banking declined 18% to 615 million francs.

Daimler AG fell 0.6% to €83.76 after the Germany-based auto maker said revenues in the second-quarter ending in June soared 19% to €37.53 billion from €31.54 billion in a year ago period.

Net profit in the quarter climbed 8% from a year ago to €2.27 billion compared to €2.10 billion and diluted earnings per share jumped to €2.12 from €1.97.

Daimler said revenues in Mercedes-Benz division climbed 19% to €21.1 billion and revenues in Trucks'''' segment jumped 19% to €9.4 billion.

Mercedes-Benz Vans revenues surged 13% to €2.8 billion while Daimler Buses revenue unchanged at €1 billion.

The company added unit sales in China soared 34% and unit sales in the U.S jumped 10%

As of June, the auto maker said free cash flow of the industrial business jumped to €3.4 billion from €1.4 billion a year ago period.

Unilever N.V rose 0.2% to €40.83 after the Switzerland-based consumer goods products maker reported revenues in the first-half ending in June soared 12% to €26.99 billion from €24.10 billion in a year ago period.

Profit in the period climbed 11% from a year ago to €2.66 billion compared to €2.99 billion and diluted earnings per share dropped to €0.87 from €0.97.

Asian Markets

Nikkei Inc agreed to acquire Financial Times group from the U.K. based Pearson Plc for $1.3 billion. The deal includes the publishing properties only and does not cover the real estate and the stake in the Economist publication.

CyberAgent quarterly net doubled and Chugai Pharmaceuticals half-year net rose.

Nikkei index gained despite the weakness in Asian markets and the yen held up near its recent low.

On the economy front, trade deficit in June tumbled 91.7% to 69 billion yen compared to 834.06 billion yen in a year ago month, the Ministry of Finance reported today.

Exports in the month climbed 9.5% to 6.51 trillion yen from 5.94 trillion yen while import dropped 2.9% to 6.57 trillion yen compared to 6.77 trillion yen.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 90.28 or 0.4% to 20,683.95 and the broader Topix index rose 9.51 to 1,664.88.

The yen closed at 123.86 against a dollar.

The media group Nikkei agreed to acquire the Financial Times from the U.K. based Pearson for $1.3 billion.

The deal does not include the Pearson’s 50% stake in Economist group and the London-based headquarter.

Pearson has been planning to sell Financial Times for a while and a media report earlier today suggested that the Germany-based Axel Springer may acquire the newspaper.

However, later Axel clarified that the publishing group is not interested in acquiring Financial Times.

Market indexes in Mumbai edged lower following weak markets in Asia after a decline in indexes in Europe and New York in overnight trading.

Rupee weakened 18 paisa to 63.76 against one U.S. dollar.

The Sensex Index slipped 134.09 or 0.5% to close at 28,370.84. The CNX Nifty decreased 43.70 or 0.5% to 8,589.80.

Alstom India quarterly profit tumbled 46%. Bajaj Auto, the largest two-wheeler maker said net soared 37% on 11% increase in revenues.