Oil, Agriculture, Metals Drop; P&G Up

123jump.com Staff
05 Aug, 2008
New York City

U.S. stocks edge higher in the morning trading after a drop in crude oil and agriculture commodities. Crude dropped 1% to $119 a barrel and cocoa, corn and soybean lost another 2%. Copper and lead in New York trading lost 4%. In earnings news, Procter & Gamble reported better than expected earnings. Asian markets closed lower and European markets edged higher at mid-day.

[R]10:10AM New York – U.S. stocks edge higher after a drop in crude oil and agriculture commodities fall for the second day.[/R]

U.S. benchmark indexes opened higher after a drop in crude oil price and better than expected earnings from Procter & Gamble and rating revision on select financial stocks.

Nasdaq index, Dow and S&P 500 index added 1% after 45 minutes of trading.

Procter & Gamble reported fourth quarter sales rise of 10% to $21.3 billion and earnings gain of 33% to $3 billon. Earnings per share increased 37% to 92 cents per share. For the year the company sales increased 9% to $83.5 billion and net income rose 17% to $12.1 billion. Earnings per share for the fiscal year rose 17% to $12.1 billion.

D.R. Horton, Inc, home builder reported third quarter revenues declined 40% to $1.4 billion from $2.5 billion a year ago. Net loss in the quarter was $399.3 million or $1.26 per share compared to net loss of $823.8 million or $2.62 per share, a year ago.

D.R. Horton, Inc ((DHI)) in the last one year traded as high as $19.10 in August 2007 and as low as $8.93 in July 2008. Based on the yesterday’s closing price the company has a market cap of $3.54 billion.

Airlines, transportation companies ad railroads edged higher as crude oil futures fell $1.66 a barrel to $119.75. In bond market trading 10-year bond traded at yield of 3.98% and 30-year bond traded at 4.59%.

Copper and lead in the metals trading fell 4% and 6% in the morning in New York. Cocoa, corn and soybean dropped 2%.

Asian Markets Review

The Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo closed lower 18.52 or 01.14% to 12,914.66, Hang Seng index in Hong Kong decreased 565.17 or 2.51% closed to 21,949.75. ASX 200 index in Australia decreased 67.30 or 1.38% to close 4,820.40. The KL Composite index in Malaysia decreased 19.82 or 1.73% closed to 1,128.86.

The Kospi Index in South Korea decreased 7.51 or 0.49% to close at 1,535.54, SET index in Thailand closed lower 7.55 or 1.12% to 667.12 and JSE Index in Indonesia decreased 42.06 or 1.89% to 2,185.62. The Sensex index in India increased 383.20 or 2.63% to 14,961.07.

Europe Markets Review

In London FTSE 100 Index traded higher 90.00 or 1.69% to 5,410.20, in Paris CAC 40 Index increased 73.52 or 1.72% to 4,354.15 and in Frankfurt DAX index traded higher 141.32 or 2.23% to 6,491.13. In Zurich trading SMI increased 97.15 or 1.37% to 7,175.37.

Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, oil and natural gas producer said second quarter revenues declined 39.30% to $2.78 billion from $4.58 billion a year ago. Net income in the quarter dropped 94.34% to $23 million or 5 cents per diluted share compared to net income of $1.3 billion or $2.81 per share, a year ago.

Anadarko Petroleum Corporation ((APC)) in the last one year traded as high as $81.36 in June 2008 and as low as $45.47 in August 2007. Based on the yesterday’s closing price the company has a market cap of $25.80 billion.

Bankrate, Inc, owns and operates an internet-based consumer banking and personal finance network said second quarter revenues increased 73% to $40.2 million from $23.3 million a year ago. Net income in the quarter fell 21.15% to $4.1 million or 21 cents per diluted share compared to net income of $5.2 million or 28 cents per share, a year ago.

Bankrate, Inc ((RATE)) in the last one year traded as high as $57.32 in February 2008 and as low as $24.54 in July 2008. Based on the yesterday’s closing price the company has a market cap of $596.60 million.

Interline Brands, Inc, a distributor and direct marketer of maintenance, repair and operations products said second quarter sales decreased 0.6% to $311.4 million from $313.3 million a year ago. Net income in the quarter fell 7.4% to $11.2 million or 34 cents per diluted share compared to net income of $12.0 million or 37 cents per share, a year ago.

Interline Brands, Inc ((IBI)) in the last one year traded as high as $28.13 in August 2007 and as low as $14.02 in July 2008. Based on the yesterday’s closing price the company has a market cap of $489.33 million.

TNS, Inc, a provider of data communications services for transaction-oriented applications said second quarter revenues increased 13.6% to $90.1 million from $79.4 million a year ago. Net income in the quarter rose 50% to $1.0 million or 4 cents per diluted share compared to net income of $0.5 million or 2 cents per share, a year ago.

TNS, Inc ((TNS)) in the last one year traded as high as $25.39 in June 2008 and as low as $12.00 in August 2007. Based on the yesterday’s closing price the company has a market cap of $580.25 million.