Euro Strength Worries European Markets

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

European Union levied a fine of

10:00PM Frankfurt, 4:00PM New York, 8:00AM Sydney – European Union levied a fine of €899 million for the failure to comply with its 2004 antitrust ruling. With this total fine for Microsoft will be €1.68 billion. Investment Corp of Dubai offered €1.85 per share of Immobiliaria Colonia SA or €2.98 billion for the company.


The Fed Chairman comments to the House Finance Committee were interpreted as economic growth supportive. Stocks in a brief rally failed to sustain earlier gains. Autodesk fell 15% on weak margins.[/R]

European Markets

In London FTSE 100 Index closed lower 13.90 or 0.23% to 6,073.50, in Paris CAC 40 Index decreased 4.25 or 0.09% to close at 4,968.82 and in Frankfurt DAX index higher 11.88 or 0.17% to close at 6,997.85. In Zurich trading SMI increased 39.38 or 0.51% to close at 7,782.55.

North American Markets indexes

Dow Jones Industrial Average added 9.36 or 0.07% to a close of 12,694.28, S&P 500 closed down 1.28 or 0.09% to 1,380.01, and Nasdaq Composite Index traded up 8.79 or 0.37% to a close of 2,353.78. In Toronto TSX Composite closed lower 6.10 or 0.04% to close at 13,790.91.

Of the 30 stocks in Dow Jones Industrial Average, 17 closed higher, 13 closed lower, and none were unchanged.

Merck led the decliners in the index with a fall of 2% followed by losses in McDonlad’s of 1.8%, in 3M Company of 1.01%, and in J&J of 1%. Citigroup led the gainers in the index with a rise of 3.6% followed by increases in IBM of 1.85%, in JP Morgan of 1.5%, in Alcoa of 1.25%, and in General Motors of 1.1%.

Of the stocks in S&P 500, 199 closed higher, 297 fell, and 4 were unchanged. Of the index stocks, 14 rose more than 3% and 15 stocks fell more than 3%.

Autodesk led the decliners in the index with a plunge of 15.6% followed by losses in Dynegy of 8.6%, in Office Depot of 6.8%, and in Range Resources of 5.4%. Juniper Networks led the gainers in the index with a rise of 6.5%, in Goldman Sachs of 4.4%, in Lennar Corp of 3.8%, and in XL Capital of 3.7%.

South American Markets Indexes

In Latin Markets Peru led the gainers in the region with a rise of 2.6% followed by increases in Mexico of 0.94%, in Argentina of 0.69%, and in Brazil of 0.51%. Chile increased 0.08%, but Venezuela fell 0.23% and Colombia declined 0.57%.

Asian Markets

In Tokyo Nikkei 225 Index closed higher 206.58 or 1.49% to 14,031.30, in Hong Kong Hang Seng index increased 769.09 or 3.24% closed to 24,483.84. Australia ASX 200 index increased 101.10 or 1.78% to close 5,767.20.

In South Korea Kospi Index increased 11.76 or 0.69% to close at 1,720.89, in Thailand SET index closed lower 2.63 or 0.32% to 832.04 and Indonesia JSE Index edged increased 1.27 or 0.05% to 2,740.14. Sensex index in India increased 19.80 or 0.11% to 17,825.99.

Bond Yields increased on 10-year U.S. bonds to 3.84% and on 30-year bonds declined to 4.64%.

Commodities, Metals, and Currencies

Crude Oil decreased $1.05 to close at $99.83 per barrel for a front month contract, natural gas decreased 21 cents to $8.99 per mBtu, and gasoline futures decreased 7.15 cents to close at 247.90 cents per gallon.

Gold increased $12.10 in New York trading to close at $961.00 per ounce, silver closed up 49 cents to $19.33 per ounce, and copper for front month delivery increased 5.50 cents to 384.75 per pound and in yesterday’s trading in London copper futures increased $86.00 to $8,315.00.

Wheat futures rose 3.55 cents in Chicago trading and closed at $12.50 per bushel. Sugar decreased 8 cents to 14.46 cents per pound. Soybean future closed down 9 cents to $14.75 per bushel.

Dollar edged lower and traded near record lows against euro to $1.5134 and edged lower against yen to 106.32.