Rise in Unemployment Claims

Elena
23 Nov, 2005
New York City

Asian-Pacific benchmarks advanced on exporter issues, led by Seoul''s Kospi, surging 3% and Hong Kong''s Hang Seng, up 1.2%. The Nikkei was closed for a national holiday. European stocks gained at mid-day on earnings and takeover activity. In economic news, the Labor Department reported that new applications for unemployment insurance jumped by a seasonally adjusted 30,000 to 335,000 for the week ending Nov. 19, vs a decline to 303,000 last week.

U.S. MARKET AVERAGES

U.S. stock futures are trading close to the unchanged mark a day before Thanksgiving and after a rally that took the Nasdaq and S&P 500 to fresh multi-year highs. Just ahead of holiday Wednesday’s trading session is expected to be of light volume, especially in the afternoon, though optimism that the Federal Reserve may stop raising rates is likely to provide further support.

Energy prices are expected to play a significant role in today’s trading with the government scheduled to release its weekly petroleum inventory statistics during the mid-morning. On Tuesday oil jumped over $1 on cold weather.

Dow Jones futures were recently down 3 points, S&P 500 futures were up 0.10 of a point, while Nasdaq 100 futures were up 1 point.

In economic news, weekly employment data is due out before the opening bell Wednesday. Economists expect initial jobless claims to come in at 315,000 for the week ended November 19, after a decline in the previous week to 303,000. Right after the session start, the University of Michigan is set to announce its final consumer sentiment index for November, with the measure expected to tick up from the mid-month reading of 79.9.

INTERNATIONAL MARKET NEWS

Asian-Pacific benchmarks advanced across the region on strong exporter-related issues, boosted by U.S. interest rate speculations. The Nikkei was closed for a national holiday. Among other regional markets, the biggest gainer was South Korea’s Kospi, surging 3% after yesterday’s 2% decline, followed by Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, up 1.2% and Singapore Straits Times, rising 0.8%. The only decliner was Australia’s All Ordinaries, down 0.2%.

European markets traded higher at mid-day dealings, supported by Wall Street gains overnight, earnings reports and merger-and-acquisition activity. The German DAX 30 gained 0.3%, the French CAC 40 advanced 0.5%, and London’s FTSE 100 added 0.1%. The euro steadied at $1.1807.

OIL, METALS, CURRENCIES

Crude oil prices eased down but remained above $58 a barrel on cold weather in the northern hemisphere and expectations of higher heating oil demand. Light sweet crude for January delivery lost 33 cents to $58.51 a barrel. London Brent fell 16 cents to $56.25.

European gold prices retreated from 18-year highs on subsiding trading activity before Thanksgiving. In London gold was fixed at $488.85 per troy ounce, down from $491.20. In Zurich gold fell to $488.75 from $490.90. In Hong Kong gold dropped $3.30 to close at $489.95. Silver traded unchanged at $8.13.

The U.S. dollar traded mixed against other major currencies. The euro was quoted at $1.1804, down from $1.1814. The dollar bought 118.54 yen, up from 118.78. The British pound traded at $1.7251, down from $1.7222.

EARNINGS NEWS

Air France-KLM ((AKH)), air transport company, announced that Q2 profit more than tripled to 2.73 euro a share, up from 76 euro cents a share in the year-ago period. Sales rose 10%. Fuel costs increased 29%, reflecting a 3% rise in volumes, a 49% surge in jet fuel prices and a hedging impact of 23%.

Patterson Cos ((PDCO)), equipment distribution company, reported that Q2 net income advanced to 32 cents a share, a penny up from 31 cents share in the same period last year, missing analyst estimate by a penny. The company added that sales advanced 11% in Q2. The company stated that Patterson Dental, its largest business, reported sales growth of 9%.

Nexus Telocation Systems Ltd ((NXUS)), provider of stolen-vehicle-retrieval and roadside-assistance services in Israel, posted a narrow Q3 loss of 14 cents a share, from 37 cents a share in the year-ago period as revenue more than doubled. The company reversed to Q4 operating earnings of $870,000 from an operating loss of $313,000.