Wall Street Leads Global Advance, Square and Match IPO Soar

Nichole Harper
19 Nov, 2015
New York City

Wall Street indexes advanced at a slower pace and jobless claims declined at the end of last week supporting rate hike scenario at the next Fed meeting. Square Inc and Match Group soared on the first day on trading in New York.

[R][1:10 PM New York City, New York – Wall Street indexes advanced at a slower pace and jobless claims declined at the end of last week supporting rate hike scenario at the next Fed meeting. Square Inc and Match Group soared on the first day on trading in New York.[/R]

Stocks on Wall Street traded higher for the second day in a row and jobless claims at the end of last week fell more than expected.

Seasonally adjusted weekly jobless claims fell 5,000 to 271,000 from the previous week’s unrevised claims of 276,000.

The preliminary insured unemployment rate in the week ending November 7 was 1.6% unchanged from the prior week''s unrevised rate, the Department of Labor said.

On Wall Street, Tollbooth Strategy Index rose 8.99 to 10,968.12.

S&P 500 index edged up 0.84 to 2,084.42 and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 10.70 or 0.2% to 5,085.90.

Crude oil in New York fell 56 cents to $40.19 a barrel and gold jumped $10.72 to $1,081.46 an ounce.

U.S. Movers

J M Smucker Co ((SJM)) advanced 5.8% or $6.62 to $120 after the consumer food, beverage and pet food maker stated revenues in the second-quarter ending in October increased 40.5% from a year ago to $2.08 billion.

Net income in the quarter rose 33.2% to $176 million or $1.47 per diluted share compared to $158.3 million or $1.55 per share from the same quarter last year.

J M Smucker said net sales contribution of Big Heart Pet Brands, acquired in the year soared 40% to $595.9 million and growth within the U.S. retail coffee segment.

The company forecasted revenues for the year of about $7.9 billion and diluted earnings per share

Square Inc, the privately held mobile payments company surged 64% in its market debut and raised $243 million and in early trading stock reached to $14.78.

Stock was priced at $9 per share and in offerings of 25.7 million class A shares.

The company reported revenue in the first nine-month period jumped 49% to $892.8 million while net loss in the period widened to $131.5 million compared to $117 million in the same period a year ago.

Match Group Inc priced its shares at $12 in a public offering and the stock jumped as much as 17% in the early hours of trading.

The online dating sites operator reported revenues increased 10.6% to $888.3 million in 2014 and net earnings rose 17% to $148.4 million.

European Markets

Stock markets in Europe gained ground, backed by positive economic indications for the U.S. economy and Sodexo soared 10% after the catering services provider announced a stock buyback program and lifted its dividend.

The U.K. retail sales fell in October due to a slump in food retail, department stores and clothing.

The Office for National Statistics said retail sales fell 0.6% in October after recording a 1.7% increase in September.

Compared to the same period a year ago, retail sales volumes rose 3.8%, while average shop prices were 3.3% lower than a year earlier.

Online sales in the month increased 11.2% compared with the same period in the previous year.

In London trading, FTSE 100 index jumped 61.63 or 0.9% to 6,339.35 and in Frankfurt the DAX index increased 144.04 or 1.3% to 11,103.29.

In Paris, CAC 40 index gained 24.47 or 0.5% to 4,931.39.

Asian Markets

Stocks in Tokyo traded higher following an Asia-wide rally and the Bank of Japan left its rate and stimulus program on hold.

The widely expected rate decision by the market was overshadowed by the expected rate increase in the U.S. after more Fed officials supported the rate-hike scenario at the next policy meeting in December.

The Bank of Japan left its monetary stimulus unchanged after the governor Haruhiko Kuroda said the capital expenditures was slightly weaker than estimated.

The central bank kept its unprecedented easing program unchanged to an annual pace of 80 trillion yen.

However, the bank said although “some indicators are relatively weak” but “inflation expectations appear to be rising.”

On the economic front, trade balance in October swung to 111.47 billion yen from the deficit of 741.76 billion yen in a year ago period, the Ministry of Finance reported today.

The ministry said Export in the month declined 2.1% to 6.54 trillion yen from 6.69 trillion yen in a year ago month.

Import in October tumbled 13.4% to 6.43 trillion yen compared to 7.43 trillion yen in the same month a year ago.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average jumped 210.63 or 1.1% to 19,859.81 and the broader Topix index increased 13.85 to 1,600.38.

The yen weakened to 123.14 against a dollar.

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation increased 1.3% to 1,335.50 yen after the electrical and electronic equipment maker plans to increase its sales in North America for about 100 billion yen in the next five-years.

Stocks in Mumbai closed higher following an Asia-wide rally after more U.S. officials joined the chorus supporting the case for a rate increase for the first time after a decade.

The rate increase talk also supported the case that the U.S. economy is strong enough to withstand rising rates, but rates are expected to rise gradually.

Automotive stocks jumped on the expectations that the domestic auto sales are running ahead of expectations on lower interest rates and a sharp decline in fuel prices.

October auto sales jumped 20% to 327,225 units and sales in November so far are running ahead of expectations across the industry.

Rupee strengthened 12 paisa to 66.17 against one U.S. dollar.

The Sensex Index jumped 359.80 or 1.4% to close at 25,841.92. The CNX Nifty advanced 110.95 or 1.4% to 7,842.7.