Techs Lead U.S. Gainers; Weak World Markets

123jump.com Staff
18 Dec, 2009
New York City

U.S. stocks closed higher after Research in Motion and Oracle reported better than expected earnings. Banks closed lower on the worries that commercial real estate sector weakness will drag earnings. Unemployment rate decreased in 36 U.S. states but Florida and South Carolina registered record rates.

[R]4:30 PM New York, 9:30 PM London, 8:30 AM Sydney – U.S. stocks closed higher after Research in Motion and Oracle reported better than expected earnings. Palm quarterly loss widened. Banks closed lower on the worries that commercial real estate sector weakness will drag earnings. Unemployment rate decreased in 36 U.S. states but Florida and South Carolina registered record rates.[/R]

U.S. stocks advanced as the dollar trades near its recent peak against the euro and traded above 90 yen level.

Interstate Hotels & Resorts surges 73% after it agrees to be acquired by a joint venture that has a stake from China based hotel group. Nike, Inc second quarter net income drops 4% but still beats estimates. Palm drops after reporting wider loss than analysts predicted. RiM profits rise sharply in quarter. CarMax, Inc turns to profit in third quarter.

The UK budget deficit surged 33% to £20.3 billion from £15.5 billion a year ago. The national debt crossed 60% of UK output, record since 1993 with a total of £844.5 billion.

UK stocks closed lower after banks declined on the worries that conditions in commercial property market may deteriorate more. The Council of Mortgage Lenders said that lending declined 10% in November.

European markets edged lower on the worries that estimates of higher loan losses in the commercial real estate sector will hurt banks. The ECB revised higher its estimate of loan losses by 15% as the market climate in the commercial real estate sector remains weak.

German business confidence index increased. Iliad SA was the fourth company granted mobile wireless service license in France. CMA CGM SA founding chief executive resigned meeting a lenders condition.

Stocks in Mumbai traded lower after banks declined on comments from international regulator based in Basel, Switzerland. Nitesh Estate Ltd plans a $100 million offering to build a Ritz Carlton brand hotel in Bangalore. Tata Motors Group vehicle sales surged 62% in November.

Telstra sales revenue to be flat in fiscal 2010 and the telecom operator formalises terms with NBN. Westpac Bank priced A$2 billion of residential mortgage bonds, significantly higher than A$1 billion of expected offering.

North American Markets

Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 20.63 or 0.2% to a close of 10,328.89, S&P 500 Index edged higher 6.39 or 0.6% to 1,102.47, and Nasdaq Composite Index increased 31.64 or 1.5% to close at 2,211.69. Toronto TSX Composite Index declined 9.66 or 0.08% to 11,463.40.

Latin American Markets Indexes

Mexico Bolsa Index decreased 114.34 or 0.4% to 31,834.07 and Brazil Bovespa Stock Index fell 273.75 or 0.4% to 66,794.21.

Europe Markets Review

In London FTSE 100 Index closed lower 20.80 or 0.40% to 5,196.81, in Paris CAC 40 Index decreased 36.38 or 0.95% to close at 3,794.44, in Frankfurt DAX index lower 13.23 or 0.23% to close at 5,831.21. In Zurich trading SMI decreased 24.91 or 0.38% to close at 6,464.32.

Asian Markets Review

The Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo closed lower 21.75 or 0.21% to 10,142.05, and Hang Seng index in Hong Kong decreased 171.75 or 0.80% to 21,175.88, and CSI 300 index in China lower 88.42 or 2.54% to 3,391.74. ASX 200 index in Australia decreased 19.80 or 0.42% to 4,650.50. The Markets in Malaysia were closed today.

The Kospi Index in South Korea decreased 0.80 or 0.05% to close at 1,647.04. SET index in Thailand closed lower 0.13 or 0.02% to 715.68. The Sensex index in India decreased 174.42 or 1.03% to 16,719.83. The markets in Indonesia were closed today.

Commodities, Metals, and Currencies

Crude oil increased $0.66 to $73.31 a barrel for a front month contract, natural gas edged up 2 cents to $5.79 per mBtu and gasoline increased 3.95 cents to 189.15 cents.

Soybean future closed down 10.00 cents to $10.20 a bushel. Wheat futures closed up 9.50 cents in Chicago trading to $5.28 a bushel. Sugar closed lower 0.09 cent 26.34 cents.

Gold added $5.30 in New York trading to close at $1,112.70 per ounce, silver closed up $0.11 to $17.30 per ounce and copper for the front month delivery increased 1.60 cent to $3.14 per pound.

Dollar closed lower against euro to $1.434 and edged higher against the Japanese yen to 90.38.

Yield on 10-year U.S. bonds increased to 3.54% and with 30-year maturities closed higher at 4.46%.