Stocks Lack Cheer on Wall Street, Oil in 4-Day Advance

Nichole Harper
24 Dec, 2015
New York City

Stocks on Wall Street lacked cheer and market indexes rested ahead of early closure. Crude oil gained for the fourth session in a row and jobless claims in the previous week dropped to a 42-year low. European markets were little changed and energy prices were in focus.

[R]11:55 AM New York City, New York – Stocks on Wall Street lacked cheer and market indexes rested ahead of early closure. Crude oil gained for the fourth session in a row and jobless claims in the previous week dropped to a 42-year low. European markets were little changed and energy prices were in focus.[/R]

Stocks lacked vigor in trading on shortened session as most traders appeared in holiday mood.

Crude oil prices rose modestly and are expected to close higher for the fourth session in a row and jobless claims declined to a 42-year low in the previous week as labor market face tightening conditions in most sectors.

Seasonally adjusted weekly jobless claims dropped 5,000 to 267,000 from the previous week’s revised claims of 272,000, the Department of Labor said.

On Wall Street, Tollbooth Strategy Index fell 19.85 or 0.2% to 10,817.94.

S&P 500 index slid 2.46 to 2,061.73 and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 7.11 to 5,052.46.

Crude oil in New York added 29 cents to $37.79 a barrel and gold gained $4.91 to $1,075.41 an ounce.

U.S. Movers

KaloBios Pharmaceuticals Inc ((KBIO)) closed at $23.59 and the pharmaceutical company received a delisting notice from the Nasdaq exchange and if it does not respond by December 28, trading of its shares will be suspended on December 30.

Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc ((NXST)) gained 45 cents to $58.95 after the broadcasting and media group is in talks to acquire Media General for $17.50 per share or above $2 billion.

Salesforce.com, Inc ((CRM)) fell 14 cents to $77.96 after the cloud computing solution provider stated plans to buy SteelBrick Inc, a provider of billing service to small- and medium-size companies for about $360 million.

European Markets

European markets in subdued trading gained after resource stocks heavy reference index in London led the gainers in the region.

In London trading, FTSE 100 index rose 8.29 to 6,249.27 and in Paris trading CAC 40 index slid 11.35 or 0.2% to 4,663.18.

For the week, FTSE 100 index soared 5.1%, the DAX index advanced 3.8% and the CAC 40 index jumped 2.5%.

Anglo American Plc gained 1.5% to 328.05 pence after the U.K.-based mining company agreed to sell its 83.3% stake in Australia-based Dartbrook coal mine in New South Wales to Australian Pacific Coal for upfront cash payment of £12 million or A$25 million and royalty payments on future coal production for up to A$50 million.

The mining company had already disposed its assets of $2 billion and also plans to raise £2.7 billion or $4 billion from divesting of assets.

The transaction is expected to complete in mid-2016.

Segro Plc rose 0.4% to 431.70 pence after the U.K.-based warehouse and industrial property developer agreed to sell its large portfolio of offices on Bath Road in Slough for £325 million, represents a net initial yield of 5.6%.

The real estate developer said it expects the disposal to reduce adjusted post-tax profit by £9.5 million in its full financial year.

The transaction is expected to complete in January.

Asian Markets

Nikkei 225 average slipped and the yen eased in thin trading as markets in Europe and in New York wind down ahead of Christmas Holiday.

Fujitsu Ltd decided to separate its mobile phone and computing businesses. Monex Group reported November revenues edged.

Stocks in Tokyo declined and the yen eased in quiet trading as markets in Europe and New York wind down ahead of Christmas Holiday.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average slipped 97.01 or 0.5% to 18,789.69 and the broader Topix index slid 9.98 to 1,523.62.

The yen edged dropped against the dollar to 120.45.

Kao Corporation gained 0.9% to 6,124 yen after the Nikkei news said consumer products maker’s sales for the year ending in December are expected to jump 5% to 1.47 trillion yen and operating profit to soar 16% to 155 billion yen.

Stocks on Dalal Street lacked direction but in thin trading closed higher and investors focused on DLF and Reliance Defense developments.

World markets are winding down ahead of holiday period and quieter trading next week as commodities remain depressed and traders look for more decline in crude oil price in 2016.

Rupee closed unchanged at ₹66.20 against one U.S. dollar.

The Sensex Index fell 11.59 to close at 25,838.71. The CNX Nifty slid 4.90 to 7,861.05.

In the shortened trading week, Sensex Index and CNX Nifty rose 0.2%.

Reliance Defence and Russia-based AlmazAntey for manufacture the four frigates for the Indian Navy worth $4.8 billion.

Singapore controlled fund invested $300 million in two housing projects developed by DLF in New Delhi.

ONGC plans to invest $530 million in three coal-bed methane blocks in eastern India.