Semis Rally, Nasdaq Up 1.3%, Citi Warns

123jump.com Staff
19 Jun, 2008
New York City

Weekly jobless claims at the end of the last week fell. U.S. stocks rose at close after a drop in crude oil prices lifted stocks in transportation sector. Tech stocks rallied on a rise of more than 2% in semiconductor stocks. Broadcom led the sector after an analyst recommendation. Coventry Health Care plunged 22% after it lowered earnings forecast. European stocks closed lower on higher loss estimates at UBS, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank. Brazil and Colombia fell for the second day.

4:30PM New York, 10:30PM Frankfurt, 4:00AM Sydney[R]– A rise in tech stocks lifted broader averages. Crude oil fell after China raised prices on fuel.[/R]

Global Markets Update

U.S. stocks opened with a negative bias after the release of weekly jobless claims. The claims at the end of last week fell 5,000 to 381,000 and unemployment rate fell to 2.3%. Oil traded at elevated level and European markets edge lower at mid-day trading. Protests from union workers across Europe are on the rise as workers demand higher wages. Food and energy prices are on the rise in the region reflecting worldwide trends. Stocks in Japan, Hong Kong and India closed sharply lower.

European stocks declined in the late afternoon trading. Italy reported a slight decline in current account deficit but the foreign reserves remain stable at the end of April. A rise in retail sales in May in the UK surprised most observers. Rising non-food stores contributed to gains. Dollar trades lower and oil trades at elevated level. Vallourec falls 4% in Paris and E.On AG in Frankfurt gained 2%.

European stocks closed lower on the rising worries on the losses in credit market. Goldman Sachs estimated higher losses at UBS than at Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank. UBS is likely to report $4 billion asset write downs linked to the risky loans. In addition, BASF decided to cancel its 3 billion euros program to repurchase shares. France Telecom is likely to walk away from its bid for TeliaSonera if it fails to raise funds.

UK stocks fell after May retail sales rose. The surprise rise in the monthly sales on non-food sales increase helped retailers. However, stocks in London trading declined after a gloomy outlook from the Bank of England governor. UK government proposed to give additional powers to FSA and the BOE to improve speed of response in the times of financial crisis. Anglo America led advancers in the FTSE 100 index shares with a rise of 3.50%.

Indian stocks fell on Thursday for the second day in a row on political concerns and weak Asian markets. The division in the ruling coalition on a deal with the U.S. for the nuclear energy continues to put parties on a collision course. The key meeting on the agreement was delayed two one more week again. Stocks declined on the worries that lack of stability in the ruling coalition may hurt the economic agenda. However, income tax collection for the first two months of this fiscal year surged.

North American Markets indexes

Dow Jones Industrial Average added 34.03 or 0.28% to a close of 12,063.06, S&P 500 closed up 5.02 or 0.38% to 1,342.83, and Nasdaq Composite Index increased 32.36 or 1.33% to close at 2,462.07. In Toronto TSX Composite closed down 278.49 or 1.85% to 14,794.85.

Of the 30 stocks in Dow Jones Industrial Average 19 gained and 11 declined.

Exxon Mobil led the decliners in the Dow Jones Industrial Average with a loss of 2.2% followed by losses in Chevron of 2.1%, in Citigroup of 1.3%, in Bank of America of 1.06% and in General Electric of 0.96%.

AIG led the gainers in the Dow Jones index with a rise of 5.4% followed by gains in Boeing Company of 3.07%, in Home Depot of 2.5%, in Intel Corp of 2.47% and in Merck & Company of 2.44%.

Of the stocks in S&P 500 index, 366 increased, 127 declined, and 7 were unchanged. Of the index stocks 49 increased more than 3% and 23 declined more than 3%.

Coventry Health Care led the decliners in the S&P 500 index with a loss of 20.2% followed by losses in Range Resources of 7%, in Cigna Corp of 6.8%, in UnitedHealth Group of 6.7%, in Consol Energy of 6.2% and in Huntington Bancorp of 6.2%.

Broadcom Corp led the gainers in the S&P 500 index with a rise of 7.8% followed by increases in International Continental Exchange 6.45%, in National City Corp of 6.4%, in Tyson Foods of 5.9% and in Carnival Corp of 5.7%.

European Markets indexes

European stocks traded mixed in today’s trading session, the key indices in Germany closed higher while for France the indices closed lower.

The CAC 40 fell 0.11% to 4,613.78. In Germany the DAX 30-index gained 6.31 points or 0.09% to 6,735.22. Shares in Switzerland dropped as the Swiss Market index slipped 19.81 points or 0.28% to 7,162.75. The FTSE 100 slipped 19 points or 0.33% to 5,737.90. The Brent Crude Oil Futures lost $2.29 or 1.68% to $134.15 a barrel.

South American Markets Indexes

Chile led advancers in the Latin American markets with a rise of 1.02% followed by rises in Mexico of 0.78%, in Argentina of 0.74% and in Venezuela of 0.05%.

Colombia led the decliners in the region with a loss of 3.3% followed by Brazil with a fall of 0.62% and Peru of 0.57%.

Asian markets

In Tokyo Nikkei 225 Index closed lower 322.65 or 2.23% to 14,130.17, in Hong Kong Hang Seng index decreased 528.19 or 2.26% closed to 22,797.61. In Australia ASX 200 index lower 76.60 or 1.41% to close 5,366.60. In Malaysia KL Composite index decreased 16.20 or 1.34% closed to 1,196.39.

In South Korea Kospi Index decreased 33.41 or 1.88% to close at 1,740.72, in Thailand SET index closed lower 23.28 or 3.04% to 742.46 and Indonesia JSE Index edged increased 8.48 or 0.36% to 2,373.06. Sensex index in India decreased 334.32 or 2.17% to 15,087.99.

Commodities, Metals, and Currencies

Crude oil decreased $4.53 to close at $132.15 a barrel for a front month contract, natural gas decreased 38 cents to $12.83 per mBtu, and gasoline futures decreased 11.26 cents to close at 335.41 cents per gallon.

Gold increased $10.70 in New York trading to close at $904.20 per ounce, silver closed up 13.5 cents to $17.47 per ounce, and copper for front month delivery increased 3.05 cent to $3.77 per pound.

Wheat futures decreased 23.25 cent in Chicago trading and closed at $8.98 per bushel. Sugar decreased 18 cent to $12.71 per pound. Soybean future closed down 21.50 cents to $15.21 a bushel.

Dollar edged higher and traded near record low against euro to $1.5501 and fell against yen to 107.95.

Yields on U.S. bonds increased to 4.21% with 10 years of maturities and decreased to 4.76% with 30-year of maturities.