Tollbooth and S&P 500 Extend Weekly Losses, World Markets Struggle

Nichole Harper
07 Aug, 2015
New York City

Market indexes extended losses in the week and broader indexes have lost more than 2% in the week. Latest jobs report may support the rate hike at the next meeting of policy makers. Volatile Shanghai market index jumped 2.3% and India accelerates road construction projects.

[R]3:20 PM New York City, New York – Market indexes extended losses in the week and broader indexes have lost more than 2% in the week. Latest jobs report may support the rate hike at the next meeting of policy makers. Volatile Shanghai market index jumped 2.3% and India accelerates road construction projects.[/R]

Market indexes on Wall Street extended losses in the week and latest jobs report suggested healthy employment market

U.S. non-farm payroll employment in July rose 215,000 and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.3% from June, the Department of Labor said today.

The net new job addition was below some estimates but still showed healthy gains on a monthly basis and a separate survey showed jobless rate was unchanged.

On Wall Street, Tollbooth Strategy Index slipped 59.88 or 0.6% to 10,713.51.

S&P 500 index slid 12.27 or 0.6% to 2,071.30 and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 36.95 or 0.7% to 5,019.56.

Crude oil in New York decreased 42 cents to $44.24 a barrel and gold added $3.90 to $1,094 an ounce.

U.S. Movers

Groupon Inc ((GRPN)) slumped 5.3% or 25 cents to $4.43 after the online flash sales operator said revenues in the second-quarter ending in June jumped 3.1% to $738.4 million form a year ago period.

Net in the quarter swung to profit $109.1 million or 16 cents per diluted share compared to a loss of $22.9 million or 3 cents from the same quarter last year.

Groupon forecasted revenues for the third-quarter between $700 million and $750 million and earnings per share in the range of breakeven to 2 cents.

For the year, the online flash sales operator estimated revenues in the range of $3.15 billion to $3.3 billion.

Viacom, Inc ((VIAB)) jumped 3% or $1.34 to $45.44 after the entertainment services provider reported total revenues in the third-quarter ending in June plunged 11% to $3.06 billion form a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter slumped 3.1% to $591 million or $1.47 per diluted share compared to $610 million or $1.40 from the same quarter last year.

European Markets

The seasonally adjusted UK trade deficit in goods and services in second-quarter narrowed to £4.8 billion from £2.7 billion in first-quarter.

Export prices in the quarter rose 0.3% and import prices fell 0.4%, Office of the National Statistics said.

In London trading, FTSE 100 index slipped 13.74 or 0.2% to 6,733.48 and in Frankfurt the DAX index slid 45.57 or 0.4% to 11,538.19.

In Paris, CAC 40 index fell 17.98 or 0.4% to 5,174.13.

For the week, FTSE 100 index gained 0.5% and the DAX index jumped 2% and the CAC 40 index increased 1.8%.

Allianz SE fell 0.6% to €154.15 after the Germany-based financial services provider reported total revenues in the first-half ending in June jumped 7.1% to €67.94 billion or €63.42 billion in a year ago period.

Net profit in the period surged 13.1% from a year ago to €3.84 billion compared to €3.40 billion and diluted earnings per share climbed to €8.45 from €7.41.

The bank affirmed operating profit for the year of about €10.8 billion.

Erste Group Bank AG gained 1.8% to €154.15 after the Austria-based banking services provider reported net interest income in the first-half ending in June rose 1.4% to €2.24 billion or €2.21 billion in a year ago period.

Net in the period swung to a loss of €929.7 million compared to profit of €487.2 million from a year ago and diluted net per share swung to a loss of €2.17 from diluted earnings per share of €1.14.

Asian Markets

Nikkei 225 Average extended weekly gain and trading companies and camera makers were in focus after earnings results. Konica Minolta quarterly net declined 30% and Nikon net dropped 10%. Yokogawa Electric quarterly net jumped nearly four-fold.

Stocks in Tokyo closed lower and for the week the Nikkei average closed up as technology companies, banks and trading companies report earnings in the week.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average increased 60.12 or 0.3% to 20,724.56 and the broader Topix index rose 5.61 to 1,679.19.

For the week, Nikkei 225 gained 0.7%.

The yen eased to 124.74 against a dollar.

Konica Minolta Inc plunged 8.5% to 1,439 yen after the electronic products maker reported net sales in the first-quarter ending in June climbed 9.7% to 248.64 billion yen from 226.63 billion yen in a year ago period.

Net income in the quarter tumbled 29.6% to 6.59 billion yen compared to 9.37 billion yen and diluted earnings per share slumped to 13.15 yen from 18.29 yen in the same period a year ago.

Konica estimated net sales for the year ending in March 2016 to jump 9.7% to 1.10 trillion yen and net income to surge 22.1% to 50 billion yen.

Stocks in Mumbai trading reacted to earnings release and road construction stocks extended weekly gains.

Transportation Ministry said it plans to accelerate the road construction pace to 30 kilometers a day from the current rate of 13 kilometers a day.

The road construction has picked up steam after Modi government took over administration from 3 kilometers a day in 2014. The ministry said it plans to complete 8,000 kilometers in the current fiscal year ending in March 2016 and plans to finish 20,000 kilometers in three years.

India has the second largest road network with 4.8 million kilometres of roads, trailing the U.S. network of 6.6 million but slightly ahead of 4.6 million in China.

Rupee weakened 5 paisa to 63.81 against one U.S. dollar.

The Sensex Index fell 61.74 to close at 28,236.39. The CNX Nifty slid 24.08 to 8,564.60.

For the week, Sensex Index and CNX Nifty rose 0.5%.

Infrastructure builders led by road contractors power India stocks rally.

Tata Motors, the parent of Jaguar and Land Rover, said quarterly profit plunged 48% and the largest tractor maker in India, M&M said quarterly profit fell 3%.

Future Retail, the owner of largest grocery retail store network said net plunged 93% but revenues surged 23%.