U.S. Leads Global Markets Rally

123jump.com Staff
26 Mar, 2009
New York City

U.S. stocks traded higher on better than expected earnings and optimistic interpretation of latest economic data. The positive sentiment lifted stocks in energy, metals, consumer driven sectors and technology stocks. U.S. sold 7-year Treasury note at 2.38% yield sparking relief in the debt market.

5:00PM New York, 11:00PM Frankfurt, 8:00AM Sydney[R]– U.S. stocks traded higher on better than expected earnings and optimistic interpretation of latest economic data.[/R]

Global Markets

The final read on the U.S. GDP for the fourth quarter was revised downwards to 6.3%. The fourth quarter decline in economy was the weakest since 1982 and separately, more than five million people are collecting unemployment benefits in the U.S. according to the Labor Department.

U.S. stocks traded higher on better than expected earnings and a string of latest economic reports. Market however overlooked rising unemployment and a lower revision in GDP in the fourth quarter.

Best Buy gained 13% on revenue increase of 10% and net decline of 23% but forecasted better than expected annual earnings. Dr Pepper Snapple estimated higher than expected annual earnings. GameStop gained as much as 22% on earnings but closed lower. Red Hat surged 10% after net fell less than expected.

Stocks in Tokyo trading closed higher on a rally in export driven companies. Markets in Japan have rallied with the global markets rallying since hitting the low on March 9. Market indexes in Tokyo are up 22%. Morgan Stanley and Mitsubishi UFJ merge their brokerage operations.

Stocks in Hong Kong and Shanghai gained on better than expected economic data in the U.S. and better than expected earnings from Hutchison Whampoa and Cheung Kong Holdings. ICBC surged 15% after Goldman Sachs agreed to hold 80% stake for another year.

Stocks in Mumbai surged on a sharp fall in inflation. The latest wholesale price index in the week of March 14 dropped to the lowest level in the last two decades. Reliance Industries is expected to start the natural gas shipment in April.

North American Markets

Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 174.75 or 2.3% to a close of 7,924.56, S&P 500 Index added 18.98 or 2.3% to 832.86, and Nasdaq Composite Index increased 58.05 or 3.8% to close at 1,587.00.

Of the stocks in S&P 500 index, 433 increased, 61 declined and 6 were unchanged.

AIG led decliners in the S&P 500 index with a loss of 6.7% followed by losses in Citigroup of 4.4%, in Healthcare REIT of 3.8%, in Northern Trust of 3.6%, in Regions Financial of 3.2% and in GameStop Corp of 2.8%.

SLM Corp led gainers in the S&P 500 index with a rise of 17% followed by gains in Dr Pepper Snapple of 15.2%, in Leucadia National of 9.6%, in CIT Group Inc of 13.5% and in General Motors of 13.4%.

South American Markets Indexes

Mexico Bolsa Index increased 269.48 or 1.33% to 20,542.25. Brazil Bovespa Stock Index added 822.10 or 1.97% to 42,621.40.

Argentina markets gained 3.5%, Chile added 0.2% and Peru surged 5.8%. Venezuela added 1.4% and Colombia decreased 0.5%.

Europe Markets Review

In London FTSE 100 Index closed higher 24.95 or 0.64% to 3,925.20, in Paris CAC 40 Index decreased 1.38 or 0.05% to close at 2,892.07 and in Frankfurt DAX index higher 36.08 or 0.85% to close at 4,259.37. In Zurich trading SMI decreased 3.64 or 0.07% to close at 4,966.74.

Asian Markets Review

The Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo closed higher 156.34 or 1.84% to 8,636.33, Hang Seng index in Hong Kong increased 486.87 or 3.57% closed to 14,108.98, CSI 300 index in China higher 78.46 or 3.27% closed to 2,479.79. ASX 200 index in Australia increased 37.30 or 1.03% closed to 3,646.60. The KL Composite index in Malaysia higher 6.66 or 0.76% closed to 885.47.

The Kospi Index in South Korea increased 14.78 or 1.20% to close at 1,243.80. SET index in Thailand closed higher 2.48 or 0.57% to 439.40.The Sensex index in India increased 335.20 or 3.47% closed to 10,003.10. The Markets of Indonesia were closed today.

Commodities, Metals, and Currencies

Crude oil increased $1.41 to close at $54.18 a barrel for a front month contract, natural gas decreased 40 cents to $3.93 per mBtu and gasoline futures decreased 3 cents to close at 152.50 cents per gallon.

Wheat futures closed up 6.50 cents in Chicago trading and closed at $5.14 a bushel. Sugar decreased 7 cents in trading at 12.75 cents a pound. Soybean future closed down 7 cent to $9.44 a bushel.

Gold increased $1.70 in New York trading to close at $939.70 per ounce, silver closed up $0.143 to $13.58 per ounce and copper for the front month delivery increased 5.80 cents to $1.861 per pound.

Dollar edged higher against euro to $1.3509 and gained against yen to 98.84.

Yields on 10-year U.S. bonds decreased to 2.74% and with 30-year maturities declined to 3.65%.