Economic Outlook Lift U.S. Indexes; Oil Near $79

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

U.S. stocks finished higher after the leading economic indicators increased for the tenth month in a row and manufacturing index expanded for the sixth month in a row. Earnings from Wal-Mart Stores, Hewlett Packard and comments from Procter & Gamble Co. helped positive sentiment.

[R]4:00 PM New York, 9:00 PM London, 8:00 AM Sydney – U.S. stocks finished higher after the leading economic indicators increased for the tenth month in a row and manufacturing index expanded for the sixth month in a row. Earnings from Wal-Mart Stores, Hewlett Packard and comments from Procter & Gamble Co. helped positive sentiment.[/R]

U.S. stocks finished higher after weekly jobless claims increased 31,000. The indexes reversed their earlier losses after the release of leading economic indicators and manufacturing index.

Leading economic indicators increased for the tenth month in a row in December and Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s general economic index indicated manufacturing expansion for the sixth month in a row.

Wal-Mart comparable sales declined more than estimated and fourth quarter sales increased 4.5%. Hewlett Packard quarterly net increased 24.7% on sales increase of 8.3%.

Zenith National surges 31% after it received a buyout offer of $1.4 billion for the remainder stake from Fairfax Financial Holdings. Advance Auto Parts quarterly sales declined 4%. Wal-Mart net increased 22%. Hewlett-Packard earnings rise 25%. K-Swiss Inc posts narrower than expected fourth quarter loss.

ABB Ltd increases dividend 6%. Societe Generale SA shares down 3.6% after fourth quarter asset write down hurt the bank. Daimler AG reported a loss and said will not pay annual dividend. SwissRe lifted it dividend to 1 Swiss franc.

UK reported its first January deficit in seventeen years after tax receipts declined and government spending increased. UK is expected to have 170 billion pounds of budget deficit in the year, nearly 12% of its gross domestic product.

BAE Systems sales increased 21% and lifted its dividend. Reed Elsevier fiscal year net profit declined 18%. Ladbrokes reported lower earnings. Barrick Gold is planning to list its Tanzanian gold mines in London, making it the largest gold company on the exchange.

Bank of Japan left its key lending rate unchanged at 0.1% and kept its bond purchase plan intact. Governor Shirakawa also offered his strongest warning and urged government to curb the rising debt. Stocks in a listless trading searched for a direction and barely closed up. Electronics makers closed higher.

Stocks in Mumbai traded lower in pre-budget jitters. Rural Electrification Corp set its secondary offering price at Rs 203 per share. JK Lakshmi plans to raise $120 million to finance new Greenfield projects. RIL falls on the worries that it may increase its bid for LyondellBasell Industries.

Australian benchmark index closed lower after Qantas reported lower than expected net on higher write-downs. Wesfarmers profit rises 1% to A$879 million in the first half. Comparable store sales at Coles increased 6% but earnings at mining operations declined.

North American Markets

Dow Jones Industrial Average added 83.66 or 0.8% to a close of 10,392.90, S&P 500 Index edged higher 7.24 or 0.7% to 1,106.75, and Nasdaq Composite Index added 15.42 or 0.7% to close at 2,241.71. Toronto TSX Composite Index increased 59.30 or 0.5% to 11,694.79.

Latin American Markets Indexes

Mexico Bolsa Index increased 278.67 or 0.87% to 32,170.79 and Brazil Bovespa Stock Index gained 551.51 or 0.8% to 67,836.08.

Europe Markets Review

In London FTSE 100 Index closed higher 48.45 or 0.92% to 5,325.09, in Paris CAC 40 Index increased 22.62 or 0.61% to close at 3,747.83, in Frankfurt DAX index higher 32.07 or 0.57% to close at 5,680.41. In Zurich trading SMI increased 69.69 or 1.06% to close at 6,637.29.

Asian Markets Review

The Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo closed higher 28.86 or 0.28% to 10,335.69, Hang Seng index in Hong Kong decreased 111.86 or 0.54% to 20,422.15. ASX 200 index in Australia decreased 13.00 or 0.28% to 4,654.90. The FTSE Bursa KL Composite index in Malaysia closed lower 0.07 or 0.01% to 1,259.00. The Markets of China were closed today.

The Kospi Index in South Korea decreased 6.24 or 0.38% to close at 1,621.19. SET index in Thailand closed lower 1.83 or 0.26% to 695.66 and JSE Index in Indonesia decreased 21.31 or 0.83% to 2,560.03. The Sensex index in India decreased 101.07 or 0.62% to 16,327.84.

Commodities, Metals, and Currencies

Crude oil increased $1.74 to $79.07 a barrel for a front month contract, natural gas edged down 21 cents to $5.18 per mBtu and gasoline increased 6.20 cents to 206.91 cents.

Soybean future closed down 3.50 cents to $9.57 a bushel. Wheat futures closed down 9.75 cents in Chicago trading to $4.99 a bushel. Sugar closed up 0.23 cents at 25.80 cents per pound.

Gold increased $2.70 in New York trading to close at $1,122.00 per ounce, silver closed up $0.08 to $16.18 per ounce and copper for the front month delivery increased 8.10 cent to $3.34 per pound.

Dollar edged up against euro to $1.3613 and edged higher against the Japanese yen to 91.25.

Yield on 10-year U.S. bonds closed up at 3.79% and with 30-year maturities closed higher at 4.74%.