Nasdaq Leads Q2 Gains With 20% Rise

123jump.com Staff
01 Jul, 2009
New York City

U.S. stocks closed lower after consumer confidence declined. Foreclosures rate surged on prime and all loans in the first quarter. Home price index decreased 18.1% in April across the top 20 cities. Dow rose 11%, S&P 500 added 15% and Nasdaq increaesed 20% in the second quarter.

[R]4:00 PM New York, 9:00 PM London, 6:00 AM Sydney – U.S. stocks closed lower after consumer confidence declined. Foreclosures rate surged on prime loans and across loan types despite a rise in loan modifications in the first quarter. Home price index in metropolitan areas decreased 18.1% in April across the top 20 cities.[/R]

The U.S. government reported that foreclosures in process jumped sharply among prime borrowers despite a rise in loan modification program. Prime loan foreclosure rate jumped to 2.9%. Consumer confidence declined in June. Home price index in metro area dropped 18.1% in April.

AIG falls after it warned that a decline in derivatives sold to European investors may be material. Apollo Group surged after it reported better than expected earnings. China based online reservation agent Ctrip.com gained on rating revision.

European markets edged lower after unemployment in Germany increased and French producer prices declined. Porsche will seek alternative sources of funding to refinance its €9 billion debts. Carrefour is looking to cut €4.5 billion in costs by 2012 and close six stores in southern Italy.

UK benchmark indexes fell after the downward revision of the first quarter GDP. The revision raised the speculation that the annual GDP may decline more than the government estimate despite the large economic stimulus. The GDP decline from a year ago was the sharpest in five decades. The pound fell.

Mumbai stocks fell ahead of budget announcements. Infrastructure stocks plunged after GMR shelved its plan to raise capital and Unitech was forced to sell warrants to founding investors group.

North American Markets

Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 82.38 or 1% to a close of 8,447.00, S&P 500 Index fell 7.91 or 0.9% to 919.32, and Nasdaq Composite Index edged lower 9.02 or 0.5% to close at 1,835.04. Toronto TSX Composite Index closed down 101.86 or 1% to 10,374.91.

Of the stocks in S&P 500 index, 355 increased, 136 declined and 8 were unchanged.

American International Group, Inc led the decliners in the S&P 500 index with a loss of 12.8% followed by losses in MetroPCS Communications of 6.6%, in CIT Group of 6.5%, in Zions Bancorp of 5.6% and in Deer & Company and Starbucks Corp of 5.1%.

H&R Block Inc led gainers in the S&P 500 index with a rise of 10% followed by gains in Apollo Group 7.7%, in Ford Motor Company of 5% and International Paper Company of 4.9%.

South American Markets Indexes

Mexico Bolsa Index decreased 105.15 or 0.4% to 24,368.38. Brazil Bovespa Stock Index decreased 672.12 or 1.3% to 51,465.46.

Argentina Merval Index decreased 0.1%. Chile Stock Market Select index edged lower 0.5%, Peru Lima General Index decreased 1% and Colombia IGBC General Index added 0.8%.

Europe Markets Review

In London FTSE 100 Index closed lower 44.82 or 1.04% to 4,249.21, in Paris CAC 40 Index decreased 53.24 or 1.67% to close at 3,140.44 and in Frankfurt DAX index lower 76.45 or 1.56% to close at 4,808.64. In Zurich trading SMI decreased 39.48 or 0.73% to close at 5,403.97.

Asian Markets Review

The Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo closed higher 174.97 or 1.79% to 9,958.44, Hang Seng index in Hong Kong decreased 149.78 or 0.81% to 18,378.73, CSI 300 index in China lower 13.50 or 0.42% to 3,166.47. ASX 200 index in Australia increased 68.00 or 1.75% to 3,954.90.The KL Composite index in Malaysia closed lower 0.60 or0.06% to 1,075.24.

The Kospi Index in South Korea increased 1.62 or 0.12% to close at 1,390.07.SET index in Thailand closed lower 4.12 or 0.68% to 597.48 and JSE Index in Indonesia decreased 6.94 or 0.34% to 2,026.78. The Sensex index in India decreased 291.90 or 1.97% to 14,493.84.

Commodities, Metals, and Currencies

Crude oil decreased $1.03 to close at $70.46 a barrel for a front month contract, natural gas decreased 9 cents to $3.85 per mBtu and gasoline decreased 3.54 cents to 190.00 cents.

Wheat futures closed down 17.25 cents in Chicago trading to $5.11 a bushel. Sugar decreased 0.05 cent in trading at 17.85 cents a pound. Soybean future closed down 2.50 cents to $9.81 a bushel.

Gold decreased $13.70 in New York trading to close at $927.20 per ounce, silver closed down $0.38 to $13.59 per ounce and copper for the front month delivery decreased 4.60 cents to $2.28 per pound.

Dollar edged higher against euro to $1.4038 and closed down against the Japanese yen to 96.34.

Yield on 10-year U.S. bond increased to 3.53% and with 30-year maturities closed up at 4.33%.