U.S. Stocks Rise, Ralph Lauren Up 12%

123jump.com Staff
28 May, 2008
New York City

U.S. stocks edged higher at close after trading volatile in the morning session. Crude oil rebouded after Morgan Stanley followed several brokers in raising its price estimates. Polo Ralph Lauren led the gainers in S&P 500 index with a surge of 12% after it reported better than expected earnings. Durable goods orders in April fell from a year ago but rose when transportation orders were excluded. Brazil led the world market indexes with a rise of 3% on the hopes of higher earnings at banks.

10:00PM Frankfurt, 4:00PM New York, 8:00AM Sydney[R]– Crude oil rebounded from its low of $128 a barrel as Morgan Stanley followed several large brokers in raising its estimate of crude oil prices. Ralph Lauren surged 12%. Brazil market index soared 3% and led the global markets rise.[/R]

Global Markets Update

U.S. stocks struggled in the morning trading but managed to close higher. Crude oil, natural gas and precious metals fell. Crude oil dipped below $128 a barrel and natural gas declined to $11.75 a thermal unit, but crude oil managed to rebound after Morgan Stanley forecasted higher crude oil prices. Durable goods orders declined from March and from a year ago but rose excluding transportation orders.

Apparel retailers American Eagle Outfitters, Polo Ralph Lauren and Chico''s rose after the earnings release. American Eagle Outfitters’ first quarter sales increased 5% to $640.3 million and net income decreased to 40% to $43.90. Chico''s revenue first quarter decreased 9.6% to $409.60 and net income fell 73% to $12.70 million or 7 cents per share. Polo Ralph Lauren fourth quarter revenue increased 20% to $1.24 billion and net income in the quarter rose to 47% to $104 million and to $1.00 per share.

European stocks closed higher despite weak consumer sentiment in France and a rise in inflation in Germany. Consumer sentiment in France was recorded at a two-decade low as rising fuel prices eat in the disposable income. Rising fuel prices is expected to lift inflation in May in Germany. SAP led the gainers in the DAX 30 stocks and Deutsche Post led the decliners in the index. In Cac-40 index CAP Gemini led the gainers and BNP Paribas led the decliners in the index.

In Shanghai trading, CSI 300 Index rose 2.80% or 100.03 at 3, 676.23. Daily turnover on main-board was HK$60.21 billion compared with HK$54.49 billion yesterday. Wing Lung Bank lost 3.5% to HK$144.40, the most in two months. The former vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress Cheng Siwei said at a three-day forum on economic globalization in Shanghai today that China economy can maintain a steady growth above 8% for a relatively long period.

In Japan trading, the Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 1.3% to close at 13,709.44 in Tokyo. The broader Topix index declined 1.4% to 1,348.69. Trading companies accounted for large decline in Topix index. The Topix Mining Index saw the steepest decline among industry groups on the index. Aeon Mall Co. climbed 6.2% to 3,450 yen. NEC Electronics added 3% to 2,370 yen, after announcing plans to spend 10 billion yen to double its production capacity for 300-millimeter wafers.

European Markets indexes

In London FTSE 100 Index closed higher 11.10 or 0.18% to 6,069.60, in Paris CAC 40 Index increased 64.55 or 1.32% to close at 4,971.11 and in Frankfurt DAX index higher 75.18 or 1.08% to close at 7,033.84. In Zurich trading SMI increased 56.53 or 0.76% to close at 7,474.50.

North American Markets indexes

Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 45.68 or 0.36% to a close of 12,594.03, S&P 500 closed up 5.49 or 0.40% to 1,390.84, and Nasdaq Composite Index increased 5.46 or 0.22% to close at 2,486.70. In Toronto TSX Composite closed up 167.76 or 1.16% to 14,689.89.

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 Industrial Average with a rise of 2.90% followed by increases in Hewlett Packard of 1.8%, in AT&T of 1.8% and in AT&T and IBM of 1.7%. AIG led the decliners in the Dow Jones Index with a fall of 4.6% followed by losses in Coca Cola of 1.8%, in General Motors of 1.6%, in Bank of America of 1.05% and in Microsoft of 0.84%.

Of the stocks in S&P 500 index, 313 stocks increased, 181 declined, and 6 were unchanged. Of the stocks in the index, 17 stocks fell more than 3% and 40 gained more than 3%.

Polo Ralph Lauren led the gainers in the S&P 500 index with a rise of 12 followed by gains in Countrywide Financial of 8.1%, in Cummins of 5.1%, in Allegheny Technology of 5%, in Monsanto of 5%, and in Ashland Inc of 4.86%. Key Corp led the decliners in the S&P 500 index with a fall of 11% followed by losses in Ambac Financial of 8.4%, in CIT Group of 5.7% and in Coca Cola Enterprises if 5.7%. Huntington Bancorp, Regions Financial and Viacom fell 5%.

South American Markets Indexes

Brazil led the gainers in the Latin American markets with a rise of 3.1% followed by increases in Argentina of 0.84%, in Mexico of 0.74% and in Colombia of 0.32%. Peru closed up 0.09%. Venezuela led the decliners in the region with a loss of 0.8% followed by losses in Costa Rica of 0.14%.


Asian markets

In Tokyo Nikkei 225 Index closed lower 183.87 or 1.32% to 13,709.44, in Hong Kong Hang Seng index decreased 32.53 or 0.13% closed to 24,249.51. In Australia ASX 200 index lower 66.30 or 1.16% to close 5,648.10. In Malaysia KL Composite index decreased 13.66 or 1.07% closed to 1,260.58.

In South Korea Kospi Index decreased 19.59 or 1.07% to close at 1,805.64, in Thailand SET index closed lower 22.61 or 2.64% to 832.99 and Indonesia JSE Index edged increased 36.77 or 1.53% to 2,433.77. Sensex index in India increased 249.78 or 1.53% to 16,525.37.


Commodities, Metals, and Currencies

Crude oil increased $1.86 to close at $130.71 a barrel for a front month contract, natural gas increased 12 cents to $11.92 per mBtu, and gasoline futures increased 5.7 cents to close at 344.00 cents per gallon.

Gold decreased $7.80 in New York trading to close at $905.00 per ounce, silver closed down 5 cents to $17.41 per ounce, and copper for front month delivery decreased 2.10 cents to $3.69 per pound.

Wheat futures increased 1 cent in Chicago trading and closed at $7.59 per bushel. Sugar increased 40 cent to $10.11 per pound. Soybean future closed up 25.00 cents to $13.72 a bushel.

Dollar edged higher and traded near record low against euro to $1.5646 and rose against yen to 104.68.

Yields on U.S. bonds increased to 4.02% with 10 years of maturities and decreased to 4.71% with 30-year of maturities.