Second Day Gain of 1% in S&P 500 Index

123jump.com Staff
02 Feb, 2010
New York City

U.S. indexes added more than 1% for the second day. Indexes closed lower at the end of three weeks in a row. Crude oil rebounded and hovered near $77 a barrel. Home builders gained after the index of pending home sales increased and D.R. Horton reported its first quarterly profit since 2007.

[R]4:00 PM New York, 9:00 PM London, 8:00 AM Sydney – U.S. indexes increased more than 1% for the second day in a row. Indexes closed lower at the end of three weeks in a row. Crude oil rebounded and hovered near $77 a barrel. Home builders increased after the index of pending home sales increased and D.R. Horton reported its quarterly profit since 2007.[/R]

U.S. indexes added more than 1% for the second day in a row after declining for three weeks in a row. Market indexes in Asia and Europe also increased for the second day. Better than expected earnings in the U.S., Europe, China and Japan lifted benchmark indexes.

Barnes & Noble increased after activist investor Ron Burkle sought to increase his stake in the book retailer to 37%. Index of pending home sales increased 1%. Earnings lifted stocks of D.R. Horton and Lexmark International.

Whirlpool Corp surged after it offered better than expected 2010 outlook. Ann Taylor reported better than expected sales. Comsys IT Inc agreed to be acquired by Manpower for $435 million.

European producer prices in December edged up from November but declined in every month in 2009. The monthly decline is the longest stretch of decline in ten years. Greek bond yields increased. Belgian telecom operators declined after the regulator sough lower termination fees.

BP Plc declined after it reported lower than expected continuing operating income. Net investment flows picked up in 2009 and exceeded previous record of £17.7 billion. ARM Holdings beat fourth quarter expectations. Rio Tinto and Anglo American rise on brokerage upgrades.

Markets in Asia closed higher tracking gains in the U.S. Australia left its key lending rate unchanged at 3.75%.

Average monthly wages in Japan drop 3.9% in 2009. Nomura returned to profit in the third quarter as banks issue more shares in underwritten offering. Mitsubishi Electric Corp reported its first quarterly profit in five quarters. Daihatsu Motor Corp. lifts profit forecast to 15 billion yen.

Stocks in Mumbai declined ahead of NTPC divestment tomorrow. Motorcycles and auto makers report surging sales in January. Cement makers report stronger than expected sales in the previous month.

North American Markets

Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 111.32 or 1.1% to a close of 10,296.85, S&P 500 Index edged higher 14.13 or 1.3% to 1,103.32, and Nasdaq Composite Index increased 18.86 or 0.8% to close at 2,190.06. Toronto TSX Composite Index increased 90.79 or 0.8% to 11,408.34.

Latin American Markets Indexes

Mexico Bolsa Index increased 485.04 or 1.6% to 30,876.65 and Brazil Bovespa Stock Index added 591.47 or 0.9% to 67,163.21.

Europe Markets Review

In London FTSE 100 Index closed higher 35.90 or 0.68% to 5,283.31, in Paris CAC 40 Index increased 50.12 or 1.33% to close at 3,812.13, in Frankfurt DAX index higher 55.18 or 0.98% to close at 5,709.66. In Zurich trading SMI increased 53.79 or 0.83% to close at 6,550.12.

Asian Markets Review

The Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo closed higher 166.07 or 1.63% to 10,371.09, and Hang Seng index in Hong Kong increased 28.43 or 0.14% to 20,272.18, and CSI 300 index in China lower 6.52 or 0.21% to 3,146.19. ASX 200 index in Australia increased 81.20 or 1.79% to 4,605.30. The FTSE Bursa KL Composite index in Malaysia was higher 4.60 or 0.37% to 1,263.76.

The Kospi Index in South Korea decreased 10.63 or 0.66% to close at 1,595.81. SET index in Thailand closed lower 3.54 or 0.51% to 694.07. JSE Index in Indonesia decreased 7.30 or 0.28% to 2,580.25. The Sensex index in India decreased 192.59 or 1.18% to 16,163.44.

Commodities, Metals, and Currencies

Crude oil decreased $0.24 to $76.99 a barrel for a front month contract, natural gas edged up 4 cents to $5.46 per mBtu and gasoline increased 0.06 cents to 201.85 cents.

Soybean future closed up 15.75 cents to $9.25 a bushel. Wheat futures closed up 12.5 cents in Chicago trading to $4.87 a bushel. Sugar closed up 0.12 cents at 29.40 cents.

Gold decreased $1.90 in New York trading to close at $1,116.10 per ounce, silver closed down $0.003 to $16.74 per ounce and copper for the front month delivery increased 0.45 cent to $3.094 per pound.

Dollar closed lower against euro to $1.3971 and edged lower against the Japanese yen to 90.46.

Yield on 10-year U.S. bonds decreased to 3.64% and with 30-year maturities closed unchanged at 4.56%.