U.S. Stocks Lower; Banks Raise Capital

123jump.com Staff
19 May, 2009
New York City

U.S. stocks closed lower on weak housing data. Home Depot reported better than expected earnings and Saks sales fell more than expected. Tenet Healthcare surged after it reported better than expected earnings. Invesco, Morgan Stanley and Marshall & Ilsley join others in raising capital.

[R]5:00 PM New York, 10:00 PM London, 8:00AM Sydney – U.S. stocks closed lower on weak housing data. Home Depot reported better than expected earnings and Saks sales fell more than expected. Tenet Healthcare surged after it reported better than expected earnings.[/R]

U.S. stocks closed lower after trading sideways for the most of the session. The weak housing starts in April and weaker building permits for new construction overshadowed better than expected earnings from Home Depot.

In addition, Moody’s reported a 21% decline in commercial real estate prices in March also affected the sentiment.

The U.S. stocks edged sideways in the early trading after the release of weak housing data. Invesco plans to raise $400 million in stock offering and Morgan Stanley sold its remaining stake in the MSCI Inc. Marshall & Ilsley led the decliners in the S&P 500 index after it planned to raise $350 million to meet the regulatory capital requirements.

Amex plans to cut 6% of its staff. Home builders edged lower after the housing data.

European markets lost most of the day’s gain after the release of weak U.S. housing data.

UK stocks closed higher. Marks & Spencer declined after it cut its dividend by one third. ICAP, the interbank broker reported higher profit. Vodafone net declined and Tate & Lyle replaced in chief executive. Burberry reported a net loss for the year.

Stocks in Japan tracked gains in New York. Metals and energy prices increased in Asian trading. T&D Holding Inc increased 3% after it reported less than expected annual loss.

Trading in Mumbai was volatile but volume and number of trades surged to a new high. The heavy volume reflected renewed interests from institutional and retail investors. Infrastructure, power and construction companies led the gainers.

Australian benchmark index closed higher on a rise in metals and energy prices. Canada based Viterra offered A$1.6 billion for ABB Grains Ltd in cash and stock. AWB Ltd first half net declined 62%. Lion Nathan reported first half profit increased 7%.

North American Markets

Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 29.23 or 0.4% to a close of 8,474.85, S&P 500 Index declined 1.58 or 0.2% to 908.13, and Nasdaq Composite Index edged higher 2.18 or 0.1% to close at 1,734.54. Toronto TSX Composite Index closed up 338.10 or 3.5% to 10,100.95.

Of the stocks in S&P 500 index, 265 increased, 230 declined and 5 were unchanged.

Mashall & Ilsley led decliners in the S&P 500 index with a loss of 16.4% followed by losses in Zions Bancorp of 14.3%, in Invesco Ltd of 10.2%, in Huntington Bancorp of 7.6% and in Medtronic Inc of 6.5%.

Tenet Healthcare led gainers in the S&P 500 index with a surge of 23.1% followed by gains in Titanium Metals of 7.8%, in Ciena Corp of 7.6%, in General Motors of 7.6%, in Tellabs Inc of 6.3% and in Advanced Micro Devices of 6.1%.

South American Markets Indexes

Mexico Bolsa Index increased 409.13 or 1.7% to 24,344.62. Brazil Bovespa Stock Index declined 116.41 or 0.2% to 51,346.61.

Argentina Merval Index added 0.3%, Chile Stock Market Select index decreased 0.3% and Peru Lima General Index increased 2.4%. Colombia IGBC General Index edged higher 1.7% and Venezuela Stock Market Index edged down 0.5%.

Europe Markets Review

In London FTSE 100 Index closed higher 35.80 or 0.81% to 4,482.25, in Paris CAC 40 Index increased 29.57 or 0.91% to close at 3,274.96 and in Frankfurt DAX index higher 107.66 or 2.22% to close at 4,959.62. In Zurich trading SMI increased 63.68 or 1.17% to close at 5,498.80.

Asian Markets Review

The Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo closed higher 251.60 or 2.78% to 9,290.29, Hang Seng index in Hong Kong increased 521.12 or 3.06% closed to 17,544.03, CSI 300 index in China higher 29.51 or 1.05% closed to 2,840.08. ASX 200 index in Australia increased 81.70 or 2.19 % closed to 3,817.30. The KL Composite index in Malaysia higher 11.48 or 1.13% closed to 1,023.49.

The Kospi Index in South Korea increased 41.53 or 2.99% to close at 1,428.21. SET index in Thailand closed higher 16.25 or 3.01% to 556.47 and JSE Index in Indonesia increased 82.45 or 4.57% closed to 1,886.02. The Sensex index in India increased 17.82 or 0.12% closed to 14,302.03.

Commodities, Metals, and Currencies

Crude oil increased $0.74 to close at $60.33 a barrel for a front month contract, natural gas decreased 20 cent to $3.94 per mBtu and gasoline futures increased 4.59 cents to close at 180.40 cents per gallon.

Wheat futures closed down 1.75 cents in Chicago trading and closed at $5.88 a bushel. Sugar increased 0.02 cent in trading at 15.63 cents a pound. Soybean future closed up 15.50 cent to $11.62 a bushel.

Gold decreased $3.70 in New York trading to close at $925.40 per ounce, silver closed up $0.36 to $14.185 per ounce and copper for the front month delivery increased 0.40 cents to $2.076 per pound.

Dollar edged lower against euro to $1.3630 and closed up against the Japanese yen to 95.95.

Yields on 10-year U.S. bonds increased to 3.24% and with 30-year maturities closed up at 4.21%.