Markets in U.S., Europe Fall After 2-day Rally

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

Stocks in U.S. and Europe declined after weaker than expected growth in service sector. Commodities closed lower with copper and zinc down more than 3% as the dollar gained. Imperial Capital Group postponed its $115 million initial public offering.

[R]4:00 PM New York, 9:00 PM London, 8:00 AM Sydney – Stocks in U.S. and Europe declined after weaker than expected growth in service sector. Commodities closed lower with copper and zinc down more than 3% as the dollar gained. Imperial Capital Group postponed its $115 million initial public offering.[/R]

U.S. stocks declined after service industry expanded at a slower pace in January than estimated. Private sector cut 22,000 jobs according to a latest private survey. Crude oil inventories increased at the end of last week.

The Western Union Company led the decliners in the S&P 500 index with a loss of 9.2%. Fiserv, Inc fourth quarter net income rises 90%. News Corp lifts 2010 outlook. Comcast Corp fourth quarter profit rises as the revenues gain. Pfizer Inc fourth quarter profit misses expectations.

Kraft Foods Inc is expected to issue $4 billion in debts of maturities between three years and ten years to pay for its acquisition of Cadbury Plc, according to a report on Bloomber and confirmed by 123jump.com.

European stocks struggle as investors remain focused on the EU regulators’ stance to Greece. For now, regulators publicly supported the plan to curb the deficit. Spain, Portugal and Italy still do not have credible plan to bring down the deficit that meet EU requirement of 3%.

European markets closed lower on the persistent worries related to rising deficit at smaller member nations in the EU. Norway left its key lending rate at 1.75%. Electrolux dropped on lower than expected earnings. Vinci fourth quarter revenue declined 4.5%.

UK stocks closed lower and consumer confidence revived in January. BAE Systems declined 2% after the company share losses in the joint fighter plane development program with Lockheed Martin. Autonomy Corp fourth quarter profit rises. Standard Life fourth quarter revenues increased sharply. More Cadbury holders ask for Kraft shares.

Asian markets rebounded at close. Earnings at Honda, Mitsubishi UFJ and Esprit Holdings drove stocks in Tokyo and Hong Kong higher. The Sensex index in India surged as foreign investors pour money in listed companies.

Tokyo stocks edged higher at close. Earnings at Honda, Mitsubishi UFJ Takeda Pharmaceuticals and Kobe Steel drove stocks in Tokyo higher. Toyota sales declined 16% in January in the U.S. and expanded its product recall to Japan.

North American Markets

Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 26.30 or 0.3% to a close of 10,270.55, S&P 500 Index edged lower 6.04 or 0.5% to 1,097.28, and Nasdaq Composite Index increased 0.85 or 0.04% to close at 2,190.91. Toronto TSX Composite Index decreased 17.88 or 0.2% to 11,390.46.

Latin American Markets Indexes

Mexico Bolsa Index increased 410.39 or 1.3% to 31,287.04 and Brazil Bovespa Stock Index declined 54.65 or 0.08% to 67,108.56.

Europe Markets Review

In London FTSE 100 Index closed lower 30.16 or 0.57% to 5,253.15, in Paris CAC 40 Index decreased 18.66 or 0.49% to close at 3,793.47, in Frankfurt DAX index lower 37.57 or 0.66% to close at 5,672.09. In Zurich trading SMI increased 3.68 or 0.06% to close at 6,553.80.

Asian Markets Review

The Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo closed higher 33.24 or 0.32% to 10,404.33, and Hang Seng index in Hong Kong increased 449.90 or 2.22% to 20,722.08, and CSI 300 index in China higher 84.53 or 2.69% to 3,230.72. ASX 200 index in Australia increased 42.60 or 0.93% to 4,647.90. The FTSE Bursa KL Composite index in Malaysia was higher 3.39 or 0.27% to 1,267.15.

The Kospi Index in South Korea increased 19.21 or 1.20% to close at 1,615.02. SET index in Thailand closed higher 13.58 or 1.96% to 707.65. JSE Index in Indonesia increased 24.30 or 0.94% to 2,604.55. The Sensex index in India increased 332.61 or 2.06% to 16,496.05.

Commodities, Metals, and Currencies

Crude oil decreased $0.25 to $76.98 a barrel for a front month contract, natural gas edged down 4 cents to $5.42 per mBtu and gasoline increased 1.83 cents to 203.62 cents.

Soybean future closed down 17.50 cents to $9.08 a bushel. Wheat futures closed down 18.25 cents in Chicago trading to $4.69 a bushel. Sugar closed down 0.82 cents at 28.58 cents.

Gold decreased $8.00 in New York trading to close at $1,110.00 per ounce, silver closed down $0.43 to $16.37 per ounce and copper for the front month delivery decreased 11.60 cent to $2.97 per pound.

Dollar closed higher against euro to $1.3891 and edged higher against the Japanese yen to 90.93.

Yield on 10-year U.S. bonds increased to 3.70% and with 30-year maturities closed up at 4.64%.