Stocks Gain Despite Rising Jobless Claims

123jump.com Staff
03 Apr, 2008
New York City

Rising jobless claims was one more evidence that economic slowdown is speeding. Sharp decline in housing market has now spread to a slowdown in financial services and consumer spending. In another report from ABA, more consumers fell behind on their loans, lifting delinquencies to 15-year high. Metals, oil, and agricultural commodities remained at elevated levels.

[R]10:00PM Frankfurt, 4:00PM New York, 8:00AM Sydney – Rising jobless claims was one more evidence that the U.S. economy is slipping into recession. The slowdown in construction industry is spreading to financial sector and consumer led markets.[/R]

Global Markets Update

For months economists and Fed regulators have denied that the U.S. economy is in recession, but evidence is mounting that weakness in housing market and in financial services is spreading into the broader economy. Jobless claims at the end of the last week rose by 38,000 and now nearly 3 million people are receiving weekly unemployment benefits according to the Labor Department. Separately ABA quarterly report showed more consumers are falling behind on their loans.

Research in Motion, maker of popular wireless communication device maker, surged after reporting sharply higher sales and earnings. The revenue rose 102% to $1.88 billion and net income increased 120% to $412 million. RiM shipped 4 million devices in the fourth quarter and 14 million in the fiscal year. Wine distributor reported a decline in sales and a loss after paying preferred dividend but forecasted higher than estimated profit for the current year.

UK lenders of home and corporate loans are likely to curtail their lending activities in the near future as credit markets remain tight, according to a report published on the Bank of England Web site. The interbank lending in UK and in the European region still remains tight. International Power led advancers in the FTSE 100 index shares with a rise of 3.73% followed by increases in BG Group Plc of 3.47%, in Severn Trent of 2.76%, in Anglo American Plc of 2.29%, and Lonmin Plc of 2.13%.

Stocks in Japan gained on a rally in commodities and trading companies. Financial and property stocks gained for the second day in a row. Nikkei 225 rose 1.52% or 200.54 to 13,389.90, while the broader Topix Index increased 1.4% or 17.57 at 1,299.64. Nippon Suisan led gainers in the Nikkei 225 index with a rise of 8.8% followed by rises in Sojitz Corp. of 7.40%, in Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group Holdings of 7%, in Obayashi Corp. of 6.8%, and T&D Holdings Inc of 6.6%.

In Hong Kong, rising commodities prices in the region and a second-day rally in financial stocks lifted Hang Seng index 1.6% to 24,264. Stocks in Shanghai rose 3%. ADB, Asian Development Bank estimated Hong Kong growth of 4.5% and inflation of 3.4% in 2008. Apartment sales in shanghai were healthy in March and are expected to remain strong in the first half of the year.

IT stocks in India lifted Sensex in the session. Infosys, Wipro, Satyam and Tata Consultancy gained between 3% and 5%. Bharat Heavy fell after it reported net income for the year rose 17% to 2,815 crore rupees. Indian Oil is expected to issue bonds of 31 billion rupees backed by Indian government to fund the losses generated from selling oil below market price. Separately, Reliance Industries plans to close 1,600 petrol stations.

European Markets indexes

In London FTSE 100 Index closed lower 24.60 or 0.42% to 5,891.30, in Paris CAC 40 Index decreased 24.10 or 0.49% to close at 4,887.87 and in Frankfurt DAX index lower 35.72 or 0.53% to close at 6,741.72. In Zurich trading SMI decreased 80.42 or 1.06% to close at 7,516.23.

North American Markets indexes

Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 20.20 or 0.16% to a close of 12,626.03, S&P 500 closed up 1.78 or 0.13% to 1,369.18, and Nasdaq Composite Index increased 1.90 or 0.08% to a close at 2,363.30. In Toronto TSX Composite closed up 37.15 or 0.27% to 13,551.29.

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

Alcoa led the gainers in the Dow Jones Index with a rise of 5.8% followed by increases in Merck of 3.4%, in General Motors of 2.96%, and in Citigroup of 1.4%. Caterpillar led decliners in the index with a fall of 1.8% followed by losses in Boeing and 3M of 0.9%, and in Pfizer of 0.8%.

Of the stocks in S&P 500 index, 248 stocks increased, 246 declined, and 6 were unchanged. Of the stocks in the index, 1 stock fell more than 3% and 308 gained more than 3%.

Tesoro led the decliners in the S&P 500 index with a loss of 4% followed by declines in Humana of 3.5%, in MEMC of 3.4%, in Dillards of 3.3%, and in Best Buy of 3.2%. Schering Plough led the gainers in the index with a rise of 11% followed by gains in SLM Corp of 9.4%, in SanDisk of 7.5%, in LSI of 7.1%, and in Novellus of 6.8%.


South American Markets Indexes

In Latin Markets Venezuela led gainers in the region with a rise of 4.74% followed by increases in Peru of 1.54%, in Brazil of 1.28%, and in Argentina, Mexico, Chile and Colombia of 0.7%.

Asian Markets

In Tokyo Nikkei 225 Index closed higher 200.54 or 1.52% to 13,.389.90, in Hong Kong Hang Seng index increased 392.20 or 1.64% closed to 24,264.63. In Australia ASX 200 index higher 106.00 or 1.93% to close 5,608.90. In Malaysia KL Composite index decreased 14.07 or 1.14% closed to 1,225.58.

In South Korea Kospi Index increased 21.44 or 1.23% to close at 1,763.63, in Thailand SET index closed higher 0.97 or 0.12% to 826.68 and Indonesia JSE Index edged decreased 104.22 or 4.45% to 2,237.97. Sensex index in India increased 82.15 or 0.52% to 15,832.55.

Commodities, Metals, and Currencies

Crude oil decreased $1.00 to close at $103.83 a barrel for a front month contract, natural gas decreased 42 cent to $9.42 per mBtu, and gasoline futures decreased 4.93 cents to close at 272.43 cents per gallon.

Gold increased $9.40 in New York trading to close at $909.60 per ounce, silver closed up 30 cents to $17.48 per ounce, and copper for front month delivery increased 2.40 cents to 390.15 per pound.

Wheat futures increased 2.00 cents in Chicago trading and closed at $9.52 per bushel. Sugar increased 4 cent to 11.81 cents per pound. Soybean future closed up 14 cents to $12.57 a bushel.

Dollar edged lower and traded near a record low against euro to $1.5682 and edged higher against yen to 102.25.

Bond Yields increased for 10-year U.S. bonds and closed at 3.58% and on 30-year bonds decreased to close at 4.38%.