Ericsson, Financials Lift Stocks

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

European markets edged higher on rising commodities, energy and financial stocks. UK reported its first quarter 2008 GDP growth of 0.4% after rising at 0.6% in fourth quarter of 2007. Crude oil futures rebounded on continued supply disruptions from Nigeria, new troules in the Middle East and BP action ahead of strike. Ericsson surged after it reported rise in sales and better than expected earnings. Valeo SA, auto parts maker rose after earnings rise on cost cutting.

[R]10:00PM Frankfurt, 4:00PM New York, 8:00AM Sydney – European stock market averages traded higher. Higher commodities prices lifted energy and mining stocks.[/R]

Global Markets Update

Crude oil futures rebounded $2 a barrel on continued disruptions of more than 1 million barrels of oil in Nigeria from Exxon Mobil and Shell, warnings shots from the U.S. ships to Iranian boats and closure of pipeline in anticipation of strike at a refinery in the UK.

UK economy grew at 0.4% in the first quarter ending in March on continued turmoil in credit market, sluggish home sales, declining retail sales and falling industrial production. Financial and business services that account for 28% of the economy rose at 0.4%.

Ericsson closed up 14% to Skr14.50 after it reported 4.7% rise in sales to Skr44.2 billion and net income fell 55% to Skr2.65. Ericsson gross margin fell to 38.6% from 43% and sales in North America rose 39%.

Auto parts maker Valeo SA reported first quarter sales decline of 1% to 2.47 billion euros and earnings rise of 30% to 43 million euros or 57 euro cents from 33 million euros or 42 cents per share. Valeo stock rose 5% to 26.50 euros after the earnings news.

Group SEB SA surged 8% to 117.29 euros after it reported operating earnings rise of 73% to 73.5 million euros on 18% rise in sales to 725 million euros.

U.S. tech stocks fell after a cautious outlook from Microsoft. Microsoft earnings declined 11% to $4.39 billion on nearly flat revenue of $14.45 billion. Weak guidance for the current quarter dragged the stock lower 6%. However, American Express surged 4% after it reported 11% decline in revenue and earnings. Baidu.com revenue soars 108% from a year ago.

Stocks in India closed higher on earnings and despite rising inflation. Bharti Airtel gained 9% to 920.10 rupees and led gainers in the Sensex index. The company reported 39.3% rise in net profit to 1,792.30 crore rupees on 41.8% increase net revenues to 7,446.82 crore rupees in the fourth quarter. Ideal Cellular rose 4.7% to 107.80 rupees. The company posted 44.6% rise in net profit to 278.20 crore rupees on 50.7% increase in net sales to 1,972.40 crore rupees in the fourth quarter.

Stocks in Hong Kong edged lower today but surged 5.5% for the week. In Shanghai trading stocks rose 0.8% and for the week soared 16%. The reduction in stamp duty on trading in China lifted stocks for the second day in a row. Citic Securities, Haitong Securities and China Vanke led gainers in the CSI 300 index. Air China gained 4% after it reported 147% rise in earnings. Yunnan Copper full year profit declined 47% in 2007. Bao Steel is looking to raise $8.5 in international offering.

Nomura Holdings reported first quarter loss of 154 billion yen compared to a profit of 33 billion yen from a year ago. The largest brokerage firm in Japan set aside $1.5 billion to cover bond insurance losses. Nomura fell 12% and dragged Daiwa Securities 9% as well. Quarterly trading revenue declined 80%. For the year 2007 Nomura reported a loss of 68 billion yen compared to a gain of 176 billion yen in 2006.


European Markets indexes

In London FTSE 100 Index closed higher 40.70 or 0.67% to 6,091.40, in Paris CAC 40 Index increased 48.66 or 0.99% to close at 4,978.21 and in Frankfurt DAX index higher 75.26 or 1.10% to close at 6,896.58. In Zurich trading SMI increased 48.96 or 0.66% to close at 7,509.48.

North American Markets indexes

Dow Jones Industrial Average added 42.91 or 0.33% to a close of 12,891.86, S&P 500 closed up 9.02 or 0.65% to 1,397.84, and Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 5.99 or 0.25% to close at 2,422.93. In Toronto TSX Composite closed up 137.54 or 0.98% to 14,103.87.

Of the 30 stocks in Dow Jones Industrial Average, 18 closed higher, 12 closed lower, and none was unchanged.

Microsoft led decliners in the Dow Jones index with a loss of 6.2% followed by losses in General Motors of 3.3%, in Hewlett Packard of 1.86%, and in 3M of 1.66%.

American Express led gainers in the Dow Jones index with a rise of 5.7% followed by gains in Citigroup of 3.3%, in Home Depot of 2.97%, in Alcoa of 2.5%, and n Boeing of 2.22%.

Of the stocks in S&P 500 index, 354 stocks increased, 144 declined, and 2 were unchanged. Of the stocks in the index, 11 stocks fell more than 3% and 65 gained more than 3%.

Ford Motor led decliners in the S&P 500 index with a loss of 11% followed by losses in First Horizon of 7.9%, in MEMC Electric Materials of 6.4%, in Microsoft of 6.2%, in Fidelity National of 5.33%, in Genworth Financial of 5%.


Tenet Healthcare led gainers in the S&P 500 index with a rise of 13.4% followed by increases in Fannie Mae of 10.4%, in Perkin Elmer of 9.8%, in Eastman chemical of 7.7%, and in Freddie Mac of 7.4%.

South American Markets Indexes

Mexico led decliners in the South American trading with a fall of 2.32% followed by decreases in Argentina of 1.32%, in Peru of 0.84%, and in Chile of 0.06%.

Brazil led gainers in the region with a rise of 0.95% followed by increases in Venezuela of 0.74% and in Colombia of 0.46%.

Asian Markets

In Tokyo Nikkei 225 Index closed higher 322.60 or 2.38% to 13,863.47, in Hong Kong Hang Seng index decreased 164.54 or 0.64% closed to 25,516.78. In Australia ASX 200 index closed lower on Thursday by 65.60 or 1.16% to close 5,587.30. In Malaysia KL Composite index decreased 5.00 or 0.39% closed to 1,288.08.

In South Korea Kospi Index increased 25.34 or 1.41% to close at 1,824.68, in Thailand SET index closed lower 1.90 or 0.32% to 598.33 and Indonesia JSE Index edged lower 29.40 or 1.30% to 2,240.98. Sensex index in India increased 404.90 or 2.42% to 17,125.98.

Commodities, Metals, and Currencies

Crude oil increased $2.57 to close at $118.63 a barrel for a front month contract, natural gas increased 17 cent to $10.96 per mBtu, and gasoline futures increased 3.19 cents to close at 305.05 cents per gallon.

Gold increased $0.30 in New York trading to close at $889.70 per ounce, silver closed up $0.19 cents to $16.78 per ounce, and copper for front month delivery decreased 2.55 cents to $3.87 per pound.

Wheat futures decreased 8.50 cents in Chicago trading and closed at $8.15 per bushel. Sugar decreased 4 cent to $12.25 per pound. Soybean future closed down 24.00 cents to $13.37 a bushel.

Dollar edged higher but traded near record low against euro to $1.5594 and edged higher against yen to 104.45.

Yields on U.S. bonds increased to 3.86% with 10 years of maturities and decreased 4.59% with 30-year of maturities.