Dow Leads Market to Higher Opening

Elena
13 Feb, 2007
New York City

U.S. stock futures advanced on Tuesday, boosted by reports of a possible buyout bid for aluminum producer Alcoa, a buyback program announced by 3M and an upgrade of General Motors. Alcoa jumped 7% on news that BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto are considering separate bids. 3M gained 1.2% after the company said it plans to buy back up to $7 billion in shares over the next two years, its biggest buyback plan ever. GM gained 3.5% after Merrill Lynch upgraded the automaker to buy from sell.

[R]9:00 AM Alcoa, General Motors and 3M led market to higher opening.[/R]
U.S. stock futures advanced on Tuesday, boosted by reports of a possible buyout bid for aluminum producer Alcoa, a buyback program announced by 3M and an upgrade of General Motors. Alcoa ((AA)) jumped 7% on news that BHP Billiton ((BHP)) and Rio Tinto ((RTP)) are considering separate bids. 3M ((MMM)) gained 1.2% after the company said it plans to buy back up to $7 billion in shares over the next two years, its biggest buyback plan ever. GM ((GM)) gained 3.5% after Merrill Lynch upgraded the automaker to buy from sell. At the same time, Merrill downgraded auto maker Ford Motor ((F)) to sell from neutral, citing valuation. The stock fell 2% in the pre-open.

On the earnings news front, Priceline.com shares ((PCLN)) surged 6.4% in pre-open trading after the online travel bookings provider said quarterly earnings more than doubled. Marsh & McLennan ((MMC)) reported better-than-expected Q4 earnings increase. In economic news, the U.S. Commerce Department said the trade deficit widened 5.3% to $61.2 billion, above the average economist estimate of $59.5 billion, as imports rose faster than exports. S&P 500 futures rose 2.10 points to 1,440.00 and Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 3.25 points 1,788.75. Dow industrial futures climbed 34 points to 12,618.

[R]U.S. trade deficit widened 5.3% in December.[/R]
Tuesday morning, the Department of Commerce released its report on U.S. international trade in goods and services in the month of December, showing that the U.S. trade deficit widened more than economists had been expecting. The report showed that the trade deficit widened to $61.2 billion in December from $58.1 billion in November. Economists had expected the surplus to widen to $59.5 billion compared to the $58.2 billion deficit originally reported for the previous month. The wider trade deficit came as an increase in the value of imports outpaced an increase in the value of exports. The Commerce Department said that the value of imports rose 2.1 percent to $186.7 billion, while the value of exports rose 0.6 percent to $125.5 billion. An increase in the price of oil contributed to the rise in the value of imports, as the average price of a barrel of oil rose 3 percent to $53.84 in December. The price increase more than offset a 2 percent decline in the volume of imported oil and petroleum products. The report also showed that the trade deficit for the full year rose to a record $763.6 billion, representing a 6.5 percent increase from the previous record of $716.7 billion set in 2005.


[R]8:30AM Asian markets closed mixed with Japan ending up, while HK down.[/R]
Asian markets ended mixed Tuesday. The Nikkei Index ended 0.7% higher at 17,621, after Japanese markets were closed on Monday. Mitsubishi Estate advanced 3.9%, Sumitomo Realty & Development gained 6.4% and Mitsui Fudosan, which Friday revised its profit outlook upwards for the fiscal year to March, surged 6.8%. The Hong Kong Hang Seng Index shed 2.2% to 20,132. Declines were led by China-related firms and property developers. Hang Lung Properties dipped 4.9%, Sino Land lost 3.9% and Cheung Kong also declined 3.9%.

South Korean Kospi Index gained 0.3% to 1,418. The benchmark index was given a boost following news of an agreement on the six-nation talks with North Korea on its nuclear disarmament. Hyundai Merchant Marine advanced 3.3% and Hyundai Elevator jumped 3.5%. The Shanghai Composite Index in China added 0.9% to end at 2,832. Airline, railway and taxi companies advanced on expectations of strong earnings from holiday traffic. Air China gained 6.3%, Daqin Railway rose 4.8% and bus and taxi operator Shanghai Bashi Industrial advanced 3.8%. Australia S&P/ASX 200 ended 0.2% up at 5,937. Merger and acquisition activities lifted the market. Alumina rose 5.9% after the Times of London reported that BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto separately had plans to buy Alcoa.


[R]8:00 AM Shares in Alcoa rose 7% in pre-market trading on new it’s a bid target.[/R]
Alcoa ((AA)) climbed 7% in pre-market trading following news that mining giants BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto are separately considering bids for the aluminum producer, but haven''t approached Alcoa''s board yet. According to the report, the metals giants want to boost production with aluminum prices hitting records. Shares in the Dow component rose 10% in Frankfurt trading to $36.32. Shares of BHP Billiton ((BHP)) and Rio Tinto ((RTP)) each advanced 1.3% in midmorning London trading. It was also reported that BHP executives feature prominently on Alcoa''s own wish-list for a new chief executive, including departing BHP Billiton CEO Chip Goodyear. Alcoa''s own Helmut Wieser also is a candidate for Alcoa''s CEO. Alcoa''s current CEO is due to retire next year.


[R]7:30AM NY-6:30PM Mumbai Sensex ends 100 points lower on inflation concerns.[/R]
The Sensex on BSE finished 99.72 points, or 0.70%, lower at 14,090.98. The session was extremely volatile as the market traded within a range of 400 points. The market-breadth was negative, of the 2,605 stocks traded, 1,484 declined, 1,056 advanced and 68 were unchanged. Of the 30 stocks in the Sensex only nine advanced, while the rest 21 declined. The turnover on BSE was Rs 4,875 crore, higher than Rs 3,266 crore on Monday, while on NSE, the turnover was Rs 9,995.7 crore, also higher than Rs 8,908.45 crore on Monday.

Economic news

Petroleum Minister Murli Deora stated on Tuesday that the government is considering a cut in excise duty in gasoline by one rupee to curb the rising inflation. He, however, ruled out any reduction in gasoline and diesel prices till the international prices came down to $50 per barrel. Separately, World Bank expressed confidence that India will be able to control the rising inflation and maintain current growth rate.

Vodafone on Tuesday said its brand new acquisition, Hutch-Essar, would soon become the number one or two mobile operator in India. Hutchinson has agreed in principle to sell its 67% stake in Hutchinson Essar to Vodafone. The regulatory and shareholder approval is expected by the end of the second quarter. Vodafone has paid thirty times operating earnings for its stake, a substantial premium to the market expectations. The company is plans to share its mobile network infrastructure with Bharti Airtel to reduce capital expenditure.

Trading highlights

Akruti Nirman was the most active stock with a turnover of Rs 218 crore followed by Reliance Communications and Global Broadcast.

Advancers

Bajaj Auto, Bharti Airtel and ONGC were leading the gainers in the large-caps.

Bajaj Auto gained 3.5% to Rs 3,046, Bharti Airtel was up 2.3% to Rs 745.65. Bharti Airtel signed an infrastructure sharing agreement with Vodafone, which will allow both operators to share nearly 70,000 mobile towers across the country.

ONGC rose 2.5% to Rs 887.90. ONGC is about to strike the first asset swap deal with Italy’s ENI on Wednesday. ONGC had also initiated talks with Brazilian Petrobras for offering each other a stake in their respective oil & gas blocks.

Reliance Industries gained 1.1% to Rs 1,372 and helped the barometer index to recover in late trading. Ranbaxy advanced 1.8% to Rs 617.70, as it launched a generic form of Lipitor in Denmark and compete with current global market leader Pfizer for cholesterol drug.

Decliners

Hindalco led the decliners, down 4% to Rs 143, continuing the sharp drop on concerns that it will not profit from the $5.9 billion Novelis purchase.

Engineering & construction large-cap L&T lost 3% to Rs 1,609. Tata Steel gave up 2.5% to Rs 432.55. Infosys shed 1.7% to Rs 2,310 in volatile trading and Reliance Communications slipped over 3% to Rs 441.


[R]6:30AM Europe advances Tuesday on strong gains in auto and airline stocks.[/R]
European markets were higher on Tuesday. By mid morning, Frankfurt Xetra Dax gained 0.4% to 6,882.86, the CAC 40 in Paris added 0.4% to 5,664.97 and London FTSE !00 climbed 0.2% to 6,366.4.

Advancers

Automaker Peugeot shares were up 1.1% and airline Ryanair Holdings shares 2.2% higher in the transport segment as crude for March delivery closed down $2.08 at $57.81 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Monday. Norway Renewable Energy Corp gained 4.5% after reporting a better-than-expected 86% jump in Q4 core earnings. French telecoms and construction group Bouygues gained 1.4% after reporting a 10% rise in 2006 revenues, beating expectations, helped by sales growth at its telecoms unit.

Decliners

Sanofi-Aventis, the French drugmaker, fell 1.9% despite beating expectations with its Q4 operating profit and forecasting further growth for 2007. UBS shares lost 0.8% after the banking company reported a 47% drop in Q4 net profit but also said that it would buy back up to 10% of its shares. British Land shares fell 2.1%, Land Securities shares dipped 1.6% and Liberty International shares lost 2.2%.

Oil and gold

Oil slipped below $58 a barrel on Tuesday, extending a $2 drop from the previous day on signs that OPEC will refrain from further oil supply cuts when it meets in March. U.S. crude was off 23 cents at $57.58 a barrel. London Brent crude slipped 12 cents to $56.48 a barrel. Gold traded at $665.90 an ounce on Tuesday, up $1.30 an ounce from its close of $664.60 on Monday.

Currencies

The euro advanced after a report showed German economic growth unexpectedly quickened in Q4, underpinning expectations the European Central Bank will keep raising interest rates. The euro gained to $1.300 in early trade in London from $1.2966 in New York yesterday. It was also at 157.75 yen from 158.13. The yen traded at 121.34 against the dollar from 121.94 late in New York yesterday.