Dollar Weak, Metals Rise; Global Mergers

123jump.com Staff
09 Sep, 2009
New York City

Global merge activity heats up as telecom operators look for acquisitions. Gold and silver trade at elevate levels and crude oil and natural gas rise. Earnings lift Casey

[R]10:30 AM New York – Global merge activity heats up as telecom operators look for acquisitions. Gold and silver trade at elevate levels and crude oil and natural gas rise as dollar drops against the euro, yen and pound. Earnings lift Casey’s. Julius Baer spins off Artio Global Investors.[/R]

U.S. stocks traded sideways in the morning trading as more mergers are announced around the world. Asian markets closed mixed but European markets edged higher in the early afternoon trading.

India based Bharti Airtel and South Africa based MTN are in the advanced stages of their $24 billion merger. Vivendi of France offered $2.9 billion for Brazil based GVT.

China offered low interest loan to oil giant parent company CNPC that controls PetroChina to hunt for more foreign acquisitions.

Crude oil jumped 98 cents in New York trading to $72.08 and natural gas surged 5% to $2.97. Gold traded at $1,001 an ounce and wheat, corn and sugar edged higher in the early morning.

The U.S. dollar drops to a new low for the year against euro and trade lower against the pound and yen. The yields on 10-year bonds hover at 3.5% and 30-year bonds at 4.35%.

Ratings revisions lifted several companies. Citigroup made positive comments on MasterCard and Capital One and JP Morgan Chase lifted rating on Morgan Stanley. eBay increased after Sanford C. Bernstein analysts made positive comments.

Lazard Ltd ((LAZ)) declined more than 5% after certain shareholders decided to sell 5.22 million shares in an underwritten offering according to the company.

Fortress Investment Group ((FIG)) increased 16% to

Earnings Review

The Talbots, Inc, the women''s clothing retailer reported second quarter revenues fell 23% to $304.6 million from $395.2 million a year ago. Net loss for the quarter was $24.5 million or 45 cents per diluted share compared to net loss of $25 million or 47 cents per share a year ago.

Casey’s General Stores, Inc, the operator of convenience stores said first quarter sales fell 24% to $1.19 billion from $1.57 billion a year ago. Net income in the quarter rose 54% to $44.2 million or 87 cents per diluted share compared to net income of $28.8 million or 57 cents per share a year ago.

Julius Baer Spins Off Artio Global

Artio Global Investors Inc, the asset management arm of Swiss private bank Julius Baer will be spun off in a public offering.

According to the filed registration statement with the SEC, the investment management company plans to raise as much as $699.6 million through offering of 23.4 million shares. The shares are expected to be priced between $24 and $26 a share.

Asian Markets Review

The Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo closed lower 81.09 or 0.78% to 10,312.14, Hang Seng index in Hong Kong decreased 218.77 or 1.04% to 20,851.04 and CSI 300 index in China higher 23.94 or 0.76% to 3,194.91. ASX 200 index in Australia decreased 1.60 or 0.04% to 4,522.20. The FTSE Bursa KL Composite index in Malaysia closed lower 5.61 or 0.47% to 1,196.46.

The Kospi Index in South Korea decreased 11.92 or 0.74% to close at 1,607.77. SET index in Thailand closed higher 3.86 or 0.56% to 695.59 and JSE Index in Indonesia increased 12.04 or 0.51% to 2,383.34. The Sensex index in India increased 59.88 or 0.37% to 16,183.55.

Europe Markets Review

In London FTSE 100 Index traded higher 19.24 or 0.39% to 4,966.58, in Paris CAC 40 Index increased 7.26 or 0.20% to 3,668.22 and in Frankfurt DAX index traded higher 22.01 or 0.40% to 5,503.74. In Zurich trading SMI decreased 22.15 or 0.36% to 6,172.57.