S&P 500 Index Up 1.8%; Gold, Copper, Oil Surge

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

U.S. indexes surged at least 1.4% after manufacturing expanded in New York region. European indexes jumped more than 1.5% after Barclays reported higher earnings. Russian index soared 3%. Crude oil, gold and copper advanced. U.S. Treasury yields edged lower.

[R]4:00 PM New York, 9:00 PM London, 8:00 AM Sydney – U.S. indexes surged at least 1.4% after manufacturing expanded in New York region. European indexes jumped more than 1.5% after Barclays reported higher earnings. Russian index soared 3%. Crude oil, gold and copper advanced. U.S. Treasury yields edged lower.[/R]

U.S. stocks and commodities traded higher and the dollar declined. Barclays earnings more than doubled in 2009. Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America gained. Gold surges.

Simon Property Group made its offer of $10 billion for General Growth Property Group public after directors held out for better options. Simon offer will pay unsecured creditors in full and said that the deal is not open-ended.

WellPoint, Inc led the decliners in the S&P 500 index after reaffirmed its 2010 earnings outlook, lower than expected. Abercrombie & Fitch earnings falls 31%. Kraft Foods sales increase 3%. PMI loss widens and loans in default continue to rise. Teva swings to profit. Terra Industries surges on a buyout offer.

European market indexes closed higher on the rising sentiment and commodities prices. Greek bond yields spreads to German bonds widened. Imerys SA profits take a hit. L'Oreal SA fall 3.7% after fourth quarter sales miss forecasts. Clariant AG annual loss widened.

The UK benchmark index closed higher after commodities prices increased. Barclays PLC 2009 earnings doubled on a sale of iShare division. Devro Plc full-year profit rises on improved collagen casing demand. Premier Foods returns to profit. InterContinental Hotels cautious as profits fall.

Stock in Japan closed nearly unchanged and service industry shrank in December. Banks receive 20,000 applications under debt moratorium law. The Japanese government and the Bank of Japan agree on the inflation target of 1%.

Stocks in Mumbai traded higher ahead of the government budget in two weeks. Bharti Airtel declined after it confirmed that it may pay $9 billion for Zain and assume $1.7 billion debt. Ballarpur makes $200 million bid for Malaysian papermaker.

Australian stocks closed higher after Westpac reported better than expected earnings. Westpac first quarter earnings surged 33%. Foster’s Group net declined 13% in the first half. Primary Health Care Limited plunged 12% after the first half revenues declined.

North American Markets

Dow Jones Industrial Average added 169.67 or 1.7% to a close of 10,268.81, S&P 500 Index edged higher 19.36 or 1.8% to 1,094.87, and Nasdaq Composite Index added 30.66 or 1.4% to close at 2,214.19. Toronto TSX Composite Index increased 116.56 or 1% to 11,586.37.

Latin American Markets Indexes

Mexico Bolsa Index increased 606.45 or 1.95% to 31,644.77 and Brazil Bovespa Stock Index declined 273.97 or 0.4% to 65,854.97 in Friday’s trading.

Europe Markets Review

In London FTSE 100 Index closed higher 76.59 or 1.48% to 5,244.06, in Paris CAC 40 Index increased 59.82 or 1.66% to close at 3,669.04, in Frankfurt DAX index higher 81.02 or 1.47% to close at 5,592.12. In Zurich trading SMI increased 56.90 or 0.88% to close at 6,497.66.

Asian Markets Review

The Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo closed higher 20.95 or 0.21% to 10,034.25. ASX 200 index in Australia increased 22.30 or 0.49% to 4,567.80. The markets of Hong Kong, China and Malaysia were closed today.

The Kospi Index in South Korea increased 7.39 or 0.46% to close at 1,601.05. SET index in Thailand closed higher 3.64 or 0.53% to 692.73 and JSE Index in Indonesia increased 41.05 or 1.63% to 2,558.50. The Sensex index in India increased 188.33 or 1.17% to 16,226.68.

Commodities, Metals, and Currencies

Crude oil increased $3.03 to $77.17 a barrel for a front month contract, natural gas edged down 12 cents to $5.34 per mBtu and gasoline increased 6.45 cents to 199.4 cents.

Soybean future closed up 20.50 cents to $9.74 a bushel. Wheat futures closed up 18.25 cents in Chicago trading to $5.19 a bushel. Sugar closed up 0.45 cents at 26.78 cents per pound.

Gold surged $30.30 in New York trading to close at $1,120.30 per ounce, silver closed up $0.70 to $16.15 per ounce and copper for the front month delivery increased 12.15 cent to $3.23 per pound.

Dollar closed lower against euro to $1.3772 and edged lower against the Japanese yen to 90.14.

Yield on 10-year U.S. bonds closed down at 3.66% and with 30-year maturities closed lower at 4.63%.