Earnings Lift U.S. Stocks, Oil Falls

123jump.com Staff
27 Jan, 2009
New York City

U.S. stocks closed higher after a day of listless trading. Earnings dominated the trading sentiment. General Electric and its finance division may face ratings downgrade as analysts believe profit target may be hard to reach. Crude falls but gold traded near $900 price.

[R]5:00PM New York – 11:00PM Frankfurt, 4:00AM Sydney – Stocks in New York trading rebounded in later afternoon. Crude oil declined and gold traded near $900 an ounce.[/R]

U.S. stocks closed higher and crude oil fell. Earnings dominated trading sentiment.

In New York trading, Valero dropped after the crude oil refiner posted a loss. American Express declined but recovered in the afternoon trading after its earnings dropped 79%. Netflix surged on a sharp increase in revenue and earnings. Waddell & Reed declined on one-time charges and a fall in asset under management.

General Electric finance unit may suffer ratings downgrade as more questions arise on the valuations of the illiquid securities held by the insurance unit. The unit is also not likely to meet its profit estimate of $5 billion according to Moody’s Investors Services.

In European trading, stocks edged lower. Banco Santander SA said it will close seven hedge funds after rising withdrawals. The bank also offered to settle claims from investments in Madoff fraud.

Japan launches emergency aid for struggling companies. Coca-Cola seeks 50% stake in Kikkoman Corp. but the Japanese company is still not sure how much stake it plans to sell. International tourist arrivals dropped sharply in December. Japanese tourist traveling to foreign destinations declined too.

The fiscal deficit in India at the end of the current year is expected to rise to 5.9% of the GDP. The RBI holds rates and reserve ratios for banks and lowers the estimate of the economic growth rate to 7%. Stocks surged on the global mega mergers in pharmaceutical industries.

Stocks in Australia rebounded sharply on the rise in business confidence. Producer price index rose 1.3% in December from November and 6.5% from a year ago. A rise in commodities and crude oil prices lifted trading sentiment. Macquarie Countrywide led gainers in the ASX 200 index shares.

American Markets Reviews

Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 58.70 or 0.7% to a close of 8,174.73, S&P 500 rose 9.14 or 1.1% to 845.71, and Nasdaq Composite Index increased 15.44 or 1.1% to a close of 1,504.90. In Toronto TSX Composite increased 103.12 or 1.2% to close at 8,759.63.

In Latin American trading Brazil Bovespa Index increased 0.5% or 189.47 to 38,698.92 and Mexico Bolsa Index edged higher 0.2% or 33.07 to 19,616.15.

Argentina rose 1.1%, Chile increased 1.1%, Peru fell 1.2% and Colombia edged higher 0.4%. Venezuela edged up 0.1%.

U.S. Stock Movers

Of the stocks in S&P 500 index, 366 increased, 127 declined and 7 were unchanged.

AK Steel led decliners in the S&P 500 index with a loss of 8% followed by losses in Avery Dennison of 7.6%, in Southwest Air of 6.9%, in Valero Energy of 6.2%, in Abercrombie & Fitch of 6.1%, Flir Systems of 5.8%, and KB Home of 5%.

Convergys Corp led gainers in the index with a rise of 18.7% followed by increases in Zions Bancorp of 15.5%, in Aflac Inc of 12.8%, in Peabody Energy of 12%, in McKesson Corp of 11.9% and in St Jude Medical of 11%.

Asian Markets Review

The Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo closed higher 378.93 or 4.93% to 8,061.07. ASX 200 index in Australia increased 101.30 or 3.03% closed to 3,444.00. Markets of Hong Kong, China and Malaysia were closed today.

SET index in Thailand closed higher 8.06 or 1.85% to 444.79 and JSE Index in Indonesia increased 21.05 or 1.60% closed to 1,336.63. The Sensex index in India increased 329.73 or 3.80% closed to 9,004.08. Markets of South Korea were closed today.

Europe Markets Review

In London FTSE 100 Index closed lower 14.60 or 0.35% to 4,194.41, in Paris CAC 40 Index decreased 0.84 or 0.03% to close at 2,954.53 and in Frankfurt DAX index lower 3.45 or 0.08% to close at 4,323.42. In Zurich trading SMI decreased 68.16 or 1.26% to close at 5,348.91.

Commodities, Bonds and Currencies

Yields on 10-year bond decreased to 2.53% and on 30-year bonds decreased to 3.24%.

The U.S. dollar rose to $1.3170 to a euro and against the Japanese yen fell to 88.96 yen.

Immediate futures prices of Texas crude oil decreased to $0.77 to $42.02 a barrel, for natural gas increase 2 cents to $4.51 per mbtu and gasoline prices decreased 4.06 cents to 111.25 cents a gallon.

Futures of corn decreased 16.25 cent to $3.77, soybean declined 33 cents to $9.76, sugar decreased 0.01 cents to 12.91 a pound and wheat decreased 7.75 cent to $5.84 a bushel.

In metals trading, copper prices fell 10.15 cents to $1.4850 a pound, gold decreased $10.50 to $893.30 per ounce and silver decreased 5 cents to $12.05.



Asian Markets Review

The Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo closed higher 378.93 or 4.93% to 8,061.07. ASX 200 index in Australia increased 101.30 or 3.03% closed to 3,444.00. Markets of Hong Kong, China and Malaysia were closed today.

SET index in Thailand closed higher 8.06 or 1.85% to 444.79 and JSE Index in Indonesia increased 21.05 or 1.60% closed to 1,336.63. The Sensex index in India increased 329.73 or 3.80% closed to 9,004.08. Markets of South Korea were closed today.

Europe Markets Review

In London FTSE 100 Index closed lower 14.60 or 0.35% to 4,194.41, in Paris CAC 40 Index decreased 0.84 or 0.03% to close at 2,954.53 and in Frankfurt DAX index lower 3.45 or 0.08% to close at 4,323.42. In Zurich trading SMI decreased 68.16 or 1.26% to close at 5,348.91.