IG Metall Won 5.2% Pay Rise

123jump.com Staff
20 Feb, 2008
New York City

IG Metall, largest labor union in Germany secured 5.2% pay rise for its nearly 85,000 members from March of 2008 for the next 13 months. Separately, producer price index in Germany increased 3.3% from a year ago in January. RWE AG, second largest electric utility plans to buyback stocks worth 2.5 billion euros and EDF in France fell after it reported that annual profit may be flat on rising costs. BNP Paribas reported 42% decline in fourth quarter but for the year profit rose 7%.

[R]10:00PM Frankfurt, 4:00PM New York, 8:00AM Sydney – German IG Metall, the largest German labor union with 85,000 members won 5.2% rise in pay for the next 13 months.

The U.S. Federal Reserve in a statement cautioned that rising inflation may need rate policy to be reversed. Separately January inflation rose 0.4% from December or 4.3% from a year ago.[/R]

European Markets

In London FTSE 100 Index closed lower 73.30 or 0.23% to 5,893.60, in Paris CAC 40 Index decreased 73.02 or 1.49% to close at 4,812.81 and in Frankfurt DAX index lower 102.61 or 1.47% to close at 6,899.68. In Zurich trading SMI decreased 81.15 or 1.09% to close at 7,381.58.

North American Markets indexes

Dow Jones Industrial Average regained 90.04 or 0.60% to a close of 12,427.26, S&P 500 closed up 11.24 or 0.70% to 1,360.02, and Nasdaq Composite Index traded up 20.91 or 0.78% to a close of 2,327.10. In Toronto TSX Composite closed higher 108.89 or 0.81% to close at 13,556.63.

Of the 30 stocks in Dow Jones Industrial Average, 21 closed higher, 8 closed lower, and one was unchanged.

AT&T led the decliners in the index with a fall of 3.3% followed by losses in Boeing of 1.9%, in General Motors of 1.6%, and in Johnson & Johnson of 0.6%. Hewlett Packard led the gainers in the Dow Jones index with a rise of 8% followed by increases in IBM of 2.7%, in Chevron of 2%, and in AIG of 1.8%.

Of the stocks in S&P 500, 373 closed higher, 119 fell, and 8 were unchanged. Of the index stocks, 52 rose more than 3% and 2 stocks fell more than 3%.

Sprint Nextel led the decliners in the index with a loss of 5.1% followed by losses in AT&T of 3.3%, in AMBAC of 2.8%, in Unisys of 2.8%, and in Schering Plough of 2.7%. Hewlett Packard led the gainers in the index with a rise of 8% followed by increases in DR Horton of 7.3%, in KLA-Tencor of 6.3%, in TJX of 6.1%, and in Transocean of 6%.

South American Markets Indexes

In Latin Markets Brazil led the gainers in the region with a rise of 1.91% followed by increases in Chile of 1.29%, in Mexico and Peru of 1.02%, and in Argentina of 0.6%. Venezuela fell 0.45% and Colombia declined 0.2%.


Asian Markets

In Tokyo Nikkei 225 Index closed lower 447.54 or 3.25% to 13,310.37, in Hong Kong Hang Seng index decreased 532.59 or 2.21% closed to 23,590.58. Australia ASX 200 index decreased 122.60 or 2.18% to close 5,496.50.

In South Korea Kospi Index decreased 32.61 or 1.90% to close at 1,687.91, in Thailand SET index closed lower 8.49 or 1.02% to 827.13 and Indonesia JSE Index edged decreased 22.62 or 0.83% to 2,689.26. Sensex index in India decreased 458.06 or 2.53% to 17,617.60.

Bond Yields increased on 10-year U.S. bonds to 3.90% and on 30-year bonds were unchaged at 4.62%.

[R]Commodities, Metals, and Currencies[/R]

Crude oil added $0.73 to close at $100.74 per barrel for a front month contract, natural gas decreased 4 cents to $8.94 per mBtu, and gasoline futures decreased 1.760 cents to close at 258.55 cents per gallon.

Gold increased $8.00 in New York trading to close at $937.80 per ounce, silver closed up 27 cents to $17.78 per ounce, and copper for front month delivery decreased 1.30 cents to 372.00 per pound and in London copper futures increased $230.00 to $8,238.00.

Wheat futures fell 14.00 cents in Chicago trading and closed at $10.33 per bushel. Sugar increased 0.15 cents to 14.26 cents per pound. Soybean future closed down 0.75 cents to $14.17 per bushel.

Dollar edged lower but traded near record lows against euro to $1.4709 and edged higher against yen to 108.19.