U.S. Stocks Edge Higher, Gold at Record

123jump.com Staff
06 Nov, 2007
New York City

U.S. stocks in early trading traded higher on the strenght in tech and resource stocks. Markets in Asia closed higher and in Europe edged higher on rising metal prices. Sun Micosystems fell 5% after reporting lower than expected earnings and sales increase of 1%. ADM reported 9.4% increase in earings on 36% rise in sales. Asian markets closed higher and European markers edged higher at mid-day trading. Gold edged to a record high.

[R]10:30 AM New York – The U.S. stocks edged higher in the early trading.[/R]

U.S. stocks edged higher in the morning after thirty minutes of trading. Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 28 to 13,574, Nasdaq increased 3.5 to 2,798, and S&P 500 gained 4.84 to 1,507.

Sun Microsystems fell 5% after reporting lower than expected earnings and 1% decline in sales. Archer Daniels Midlands lost 1% after reporting 9.5% rise in third quarter earnings. ADM reported earnings of $411 million or 68 cents compared to $403 million or 61 cents on revenue increase of 36% to $12.38 billion.

Asian markets recovered after a day of weak trading on the worries related to the U.S. sub-prime crisis.

South Korea led the gainers in the region with a rise of 1.9% followed by increases in Hong Kong of 1.71%, in Thailand of 1.54%, in Pakistan and Indonesia of 1.1%, and in Singapore of 0.35%. India led the decliners with a fall of 1% followed by fractional declines in Taiwan, Japan, and Sri Lanka.

European markets edged higher led by mining and energy stocks. Norway le the gainers in the region with a rise of 1.9% followed by increases in Spain and Switzerland of 0.8%, in U.K. and France of 0.7%, and in Germany and Italy of 0.6%.

RTP led the sector with a rise of 4%, followed by increases in BHP Billiton of 3% followed by increases in Xastra of 1.9%, and Vedanta Resources of 1.5%.

Marks & Spencer increased 3.0% after the earnings report and it said that it will buy back 1 billion pounds of stocks.

Swiss Re rose 2% after reporting third quarter earnings after it reported earnings of Sfr1.47 billion compared to Sfr1.55 billion from a year ago.

BMW reported third quarter profit of 803 million euros compared to 452 million euros a year ago on 19% rise in revenue to 13.78 billion euros. BMW fell 3% after the news.

Crude Oil rose $2.06 to $96.04, gold increased $13.60 to $824.40, and natural gas increased 7 cents to $8.07.