Core Inflation Declines

Elena
19 Sep, 2006
New York City

Stock futures were flat following an unexpected decline in core wholesale level inflation. U.S. producer prices rose by a smaller-than-expected 0.1% in August, while the core rate of the producer price index fell 0.4%, the largest drop since April 2003. Economists had expected a 0.3% gain in the August PPI and 0.2% rise in the core rate.

[R]09:00AM Stock futures turned flat on tame wholesale inflation data.[/R]
Stock futures were flat following an unexpected decline in core wholesale level inflation. The Labor Department said that U.S. producer prices rose by a smaller-than-expected 0.1% in August, while the core rate of the producer price index fell 0.4%, the largest drop since April 2003. Economists had expected a 0.3% gain in the August PPI and 0.2% rise in the core rate.

Among companies in focus, Napster ((NAPS)) jumped 17% in pre-open trade after hiring UBS to study third-party interest in the company. Motorola ((MOT)) agreed to pay $3.9 billion, or $15 a share for Symbol Technologies. Shares of Motorola gained 0.4%, while Symbol’s climbed 15%. Business software giant Oracle ((ORCL)) is due to report its Q2 results after trading closes. S&P 500 futures dropped 1.6 points at 1,332.60 while Nasdaq 100 futures edged up 3 points at 1,655.50. Dow industrial futures rose 4 points.

[R]Housing construction dropped in August.[/R]
The Department of Commerce released its report on housing starts and building permits in the month of August on Tuesday, showing that housing starts fell more than economists had been expecting while building permits also fell. The report showed that housing starts fell 6.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.665 million units in August from a revised rate of 1.772 million units in July. Economists had expected housing starts to fall to a 1.750 million unit rate from the 1.795 million unit rate originally reported for the previous month. The decrease in housing starts was partly due to a 12.2 percent drop in housing starts in the Midwest. Housing starts in the West and South also fell, while housing starts in the Northeast increased by 5.4 percent. The Commerce Department also said that building permits fell 2.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.722 million units in August from a revised July rate of 1.763 million units.

[R]Producer prices rose less than expected in August.[/R]
Tuesday morning, the Department of Labor released its report on producer prices in the month of August, showing that prices rose less than economists had expected. The report also showed an unexpected drop in core prices. The Labor Department said that its producer price index rose 0.1 percent in August, matching the increase that was seen in the previous month. Economists had been expecting the index to increase by about 0.3 percent. The modest increase in producer prices was due in large part to a rebound by food prices, which rose 1.4 percent in August after falling 0.3 percent in July. A surge in prices for fresh and dry vegetables contributed to the increase in food prices. At the same time, the pace of growth in energy prices slowed significantly compared to the previous month, with energy prices edging up 0.3 percent in August after rising 1.3 percent in July. The report also showed that the core producer price index, which excludes food and energy prices, fell 0.4 percent in August after falling 0.3 percent in July. The decrease came as a surprise to economists, who had expected core prices to increase by 0.2 percent.


[R]8:00AM Motorola agreed to acquire Symbol.[/R]
Motorola Inc. ((MOT)) agreed to acquire Symbol Technologies Inc. ((SBL)) in a cash deal of about $3.9 billion, or $15 per each outstanding Symbol share. The deal is expected to complete late this year or early in 2007, pending regulatory clearance and the approval of Symbol stockholders.

The transaction which combines two well-known names in wireless technology will considerably advance Motorola''s enterprise mobility strategy. Pending completion of the deal, Motorola will gain in Symbol a company well established in mobile-data computing and radio-frequency identification, or RFID, technology. Symbol is also known for having a leading role in the development of barcode-scanning technology.

Motorola said the deal will contribute to earnings per share on an adjusted basis in the first year after closing. The company also said it will take certain unspecified non-cash charges relating to amortization associated with acquired intangibles and other one-time accounting and transaction-related costs. Symbol jumped 15.4% in pre-market trading, while Motorola rose 0.4%.


[R]7:30AM Asian stocks witness lackluster session.[/R]
Asian markets ended flat. The Nikkei 225 Average finished the day 0.05% higher at 15874.28. Stocks ended mixed, while the weaker yen benefited exporter stocks such as Toyota Motor and Matsushita Electric Industrial. Toyota rose 0.5% and Matsushita Electric Industrial added 0.8%. Toshiba Corp. fell 2.3% after saying it will recall 340,000 batteries in its laptop computers. Sony Corp fell 0.8%. In August, Sony shares were hit by a larger-scale recall of its batteries by Dell Inc and Apple Computer.

Hong Kong Hang Seng Index fell 0.23% to 17346.70. Shares closed lower on concerns a U.S.-led slowdown in the global economy would hurt corporate earnings. HSBC Holdings fell 0.4% and China Mobile dropped 0.6%. South Korea''s Kospi Index closed 0.03% lower at 1373.95. stocks closed flat as foreign buying limited losses brought on by institutional selling. Heavyweight technology shares fell after their recent rise, while transport stocks rose on easing oil prices. Samsung Electronics fell 0.2% while Hynix Semiconductor lost 0.5%.

Taipei lost 0.01% to 6881.87, and Australia S&P/ASX 200 decreased 0.32% to close at 5056.80. Stocks in Taiwan finished unchanged, as profit-taking in technology and financial firms after their gains Monday offset increases in mainland China-focused companies on yuan-appreciation hopes. In Australia, BHP Billiton fell 0.2%, and Westpac declined 1.4% in a continued negative reaction to its disappointing earnings update last week.

The Shanghai Composite Index bucked the trend and advanced 0.1% to end at 1735.24. Shares ended mixed, with foreign currency-denominated Class B shares declining on profit-taking after local media rejected speculation of an imminent merger between the Class B-share and yuan-denominated Class A-share markets.


[R]6:30AM European markets make dull start on Tuesday in spite of gains.[/R]
European markets were trading flat by mid-morning on Tuesday. The U.K. FTSE 100 index was firm at 5,892, the German DAX Xetra 30 index edged down 0.1% at 5,922 and the French CAC-40 index was flat at 5,147. Attention is expected to focus on the macro-economic data with the ZEW survey of German economic sentiment due for release later in the session. On the corporate front, the emphasis is still on the proposed merger deal from MAN, after Scania rejected the German conglomerate bid.

Advancers

Copper miner Kazakhmys led the advancers as ots shares rose 1.1% after its first-half net profit nearly tripled MAN traded 1.5% higher as advisers hope that resistance by the leading shareholders, Investor and Volkswagem, to the deal is mainly over price and that a sweetened offer could win them over as neither rejected the bid on principle. TeliaSonera rose 1.8%, continuing its strong performance from the previous session.

Bank of Ireland advanced 1.5% following its statement it is expecting to deliver an excellent performance in the current half-year. Newspaper publisher Independent News & Media gained 3.1% after it said its adjusted first-half profit rose 9%.

Decliners

Telecom Italia lost 1.3% after the Morgan Stanley cut its rating to underweight from equal-weight. Scania was 0.3% lower after rejecting the takeover bid from MAN.

Economic news

Diplomatic relations between Japan and Russia could be seriously hurt by the revocation of Russia for the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project on environmental issues, Japan government spokesman warned on Tuesday. Ferenc Gyurcsany has resisted calls to step down as Hungarian prime minister and vowed to restore public order after an anti-government demonstration turned into a riot.