U.S. Stocks Mixed, Auto Sales Drop 32%

123jump.com Staff
03 Nov, 2008
New York City

U.S. stocks traded sideways ahead of the U.S. presidential election. Manufacturing index showed a sharp deceleration in activites and a drop in exports in October. Auto sales in the month fell 32% to the level last seen in January 1991. The sales at GM dropped 45% at Toyota declined 23%.

4:30PM New York, 10:30AM Frankfurt, 6:30AM Sydney[R]– U.S. stocks traded up and down ahead of the presidential election. Auto sales in October fell to the lowest monthly level, last seen in 1991.[/R]

Global Markets

U.S. stocks traded sideways ahead of presidential election and worries of the economic direction with the new administration. The manufacturing index showed a sharp slowdown in October on weak exports and employment index dropped as well. Auto sales in October fell 32% with General Motors sales fell 45%, Ford sales declined 30%,

Toyota sales dropped 23% and Chrysler sales fell 35%. American Honda sales declined 25% and Nissan North America Inc sales fell 33%.

For the months auto sales fell to 838,156 from 1.23 million in prior year month matching the sales in January of 1991 according to the industry researcher Autodata. The auto sales for the year are likely to be lower than 14 million units and may decline further to 12 million in 2009.

Interbank lending though tight, loan rates are on the decline for euro and dollar loans. The Libor rate for dollar loans declined to 2.86% and for euro loans fell to 4.74%.

Merger of two Sao Paolo, Brazil based banks Itau and Unibanco will create the largest financial group in Latin America and sixth largest in the Americas. The newly merged bank is named Itau Unibanco Holding will be controlled 66% by the shareholders of Itau.

Circuit City plans to close 155 stores and lay off staff to preserve capital. The battered electronic retailer same store sales declined for two years in a row. Hartford Financial Services surged 45% after it said that it has $2 billion excess capital.

Stocks in London trading rose 1.5% after metal and commodities prices gained. Of the FTSE 100 index stocks, 80 rose, 19 declined and 3 were unchanged. Rising pound and weak demand in international markets dragged manufacturing index lower in October. The sixth monthly decline in a row.

Hong Kong stocks surged 2.7% after Peoples Bank of China spokesperson said that banks are no longer constrained by monthly loan quotas. The relaxed lending environment is expected to provide liquidity to small and medium businesses. China Unicom fell 7% on the merger worries with China Netcom.

The surprise rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India this weekend lifted stocks in Mumbai trading. Autos, financials and realty stocks rallied. Rupee rose to 49 from 49.44 against a dollar. International mutual funds linked to invest in India faced withdrawals of $120 million in the last week in Oct.

Australian stocks surged on the hopes that the Reserve Bank of Australia will lower rates tomorrow. The listing for new jobs placement declined in October, home prices fell 1.8% and manufacturing declined in the month. Australian dollar gained to close at 66.02 cents to a dollar.

North American Markets

Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 5.18 or 0.06% to a close of 9,319.83, S&P 500 Index closed down 2.45 or 0.25% to 966.30, and Nasdaq Composite Index increased 5.38 or 0.31% to close at 1,726.33. In Toronto, TSX Composite Index fell 41.50 or 0.43% to 9,721.26.

Of the 30 stocks in Dow Jones Industrial Average 14 closed higher, 16 fell and none was unchanged.

Home Depot Inc led the decliners in the Dow with a loss of 5.8% followed by losses in Walt Disney Company of 3.4%, in Merck & Company of 3.2% and in Intel Corp of 2.5%.

AT&T Inc led gainers in the Dow Jones Industrial Average with a rise of 3.9% followed by gains in Verizon Communication of 3.6%, in Alcoa Inc of 3.3%, in Coca-Cola Company of 3.2%, in American Express of 3% and in Citigroup Inc of 2.5%.

Of the stocks in S&P 500 index, 235 increased, 262 declined and three were unchanged. Of the index stocks, 76 rose more than 3% and 110 fell more than 3%.

Office Depot Inc led decliners in the S&P 500 index with a plunge of 20% followed by losses in Dynegy Inc of 13.5%, in Weatherford International of 11%, in General Growth Properties of 9.9%, in DR Horton Inc of 9.5% and in Nordstrom of 9.2%.

Hartford Financial Services Group led the gainers in the S&P 500 index with a surge of 58% followed by gains in Sprint Nextel Company of 28%, in Principal Financial of 18%, in Cigna Corp of 17.7%, Frontier Communication of 16%, in Prudential Financial of 15%, in Lincoln National Corp of 14.5% and in Humana Inc of 14%.

South American Markets Indexes

Peru led gainers in the region with a rise of 10.5% followed by increase in Argentina of 4.6%, in Chile of 2.8%, in Brazil of 2.7%, in Mexico of 0.8% and in Colombia of 0.7%. Venezuela fell 0.8%.

Europe Markets Review

In London FTSE 100 Index closed higher 65.94 or 1.51% to 4,443.28, in Paris CAC 40 Index increased 40.90 or 1.17% to close at 3,527.97 and in Frankfurt DAX index higher 38.87 or 0.78% to close at 5,026.84. In Zurich trading SMI increased 80.67 or 1.31% to close at 6,233.88.

Asian Markets Review

Hang Seng index in Hong Kong increased 375.70 or 2.69% closed to 14,344.37. CSI 300 index in China lower 10.12 or 0.61% closed to 1,653.54. ASX 200 index in Australia increased 203.50 or 5.06% to close 4,221.50. The KL Composite index in Malaysia closed higher 35.74 or 4.14% closed to 899.35. Markets in Tokyo were closed today.

The Kospi Index in South Korea increased 16.02 or 1.44% to close at 1,129.08. SET index in Thailand closed higher 32.66 or 7.84% to 449.19 and JSE Index in Indonesia increased 96.01 or 7.64% to 1,352.72. The Sensex index in India increased 549.62 or 5.62% closed to 10,337.68.

Commodities, Metals, and Currencies

Crude oil increased $1.77 to close at $67.73 a barrel for a front month contract, natural gas increased 6 cent to $6.88 per mBtu and gasoline futures decreased 13.09 cents to close at 136.00 cents per gallon.

Wheat futures closed up 25.75 cents in Chicago trading and closed at $5.62 a bushel. Sugar increased 0.16 cent to 12.18 cents a pound. Soybean future closed up 4.5 cents to $9.37 a bushel.

Gold increased $6.00 in New York trading to close at $724.20 per ounce, silver closed up 9.50 cents to $9.82 per ounce and copper for the front month delivery increased 0.45 cent to $1.8335 per pound.

Dollar edged lower against euro to $1.2620 and rose against yen to 99.200.

Yields on 10-year U.S. bonds decreased to 3.91% and with 30-year maturities decreased to 4.32%.