Late Rally in NY; Stocks Close Lower

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

U.S. indexes staged a late rally but stopped short of erasing losses. Palm Inc plunged after it estimated sharply lower revenues. Crude oil declined on weak jobs report and durable goods orders were lower than expected. U.S. Fed will review Goldman Sachs credit default swaps on Greece

[R]4:00 PM New York, 9:00 PM London, 8:00 AM Sydney – U.S. indexes staged a late rally but stopped short of erasing losses. Palm Inc plunged after it estimated sharply lower revenues. Crude oil declined on weak jobs report and durable goods orders were lower than expected. U.S. Fed will review Goldman Sachs credit default swaps on Greece’s debt.[/R]

U.S. stocks dropped in early trading after durable goods orders declined in January excluding transportations orders. Weekly jobless claims increased 22,000 and insured unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.5%. Late afternoon rally failed to erase losses.

Coca-Cola Company agreed to acquire North American bottling operations from Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. CCE shareholders will receive $10 in cash and one share in a new entity with the European bottling operations only. Coca-Cola’ cashless transaction was valued at $12.3 billion.

Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc led gainers in the S&P 500 index with a rise of 34%. GameStop drops 8% after its chief financial officer resigned to join international arm of Wal-Mart Stores. Palm Inc plunged 18% after it estimated adjusted third quarter fiscal revenues nearly 33% lower than estimated. Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc increased 11% after it reported better than expected earnings and enlarged its stock buyback program.

European markets fell sharply for the second day after rating agencies joined the chorus of investors urging Greece to meet its deficit target. Greece is scheduled to repay 20 billion euros of bonds by May. Italy completed its €10 billion 10-year bond offering maturing in 2020. Valeo SA and France Telecom advanced on earnings.

British American Tobacco profit growth slows. Centrica signs agreement to acquire equity interests in Trinidadian gas blocks, establishing first producing LNG position. Capita Group Plc net income rises 14%. Gammon awarded £195 million highway widening contract in Hong Kong.

North American Markets

Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 53.13 or 0.5% to a close of 10,321.03, S&P 500 Index edged lower 2.30 or 0.2% to 1,102.94, and Nasdaq Composite Index declined 1.68 or 0.08% to close at 2,234.22. Toronto TSX Composite Index increased 109.61 or 0.95% to 11,631.44.

Latin American Markets Indexes

Mexico Bolsa Index decreased 139.44 to 31,649.10 and Brazil Bovespa Stock Index rose 326.27 or 0.5% to 66,121.04.

Europe Markets Review

In London FTSE 100 Index closed lower 64.69 or 1.21% to 5,278.23, in Paris CAC 40 Index decreased 74.91 or 2.02% to close at 3,640.77, in Frankfurt DAX index lower 83.18 or 1.48% to close at 5,532.33. In Zurich trading SMI decreased 43.99 or 0.66% to close at 6,643.96.

Asian Markets Review

The Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo closed lower 96.87 or 0.95% to 10,101.96, and Hang Seng index in Hong Kong decreased 68.17 or 0.33% to 20,399.57, and CSI 300 index in China higher 47.64 or 1.47% to 3,292.13. ASX 200 index in Australia decreased 54.40 or 1.17% to 4,594.10. The FTSE Bursa KL Composite index in Malaysia was higher 0.00 or 0.00% to 1,270.78.

The Kospi Index in South Korea decreased 25.32 or 1.57% to close at 1,587.51. SET index in Thailand closed higher 1.92 or 0.27% to 717.10. JSE Index in Indonesia decreased 30.38 or 1.18% to 2,549.03. The Sensex index in India decreased 1.77 or 0.01% to 16,254.20.

Commodities, Metals, and Currencies

Crude oil decreased $1.69 to $78.31 a barrel for a front month contract, natural gas edged down 7 cents to $4.79 per mBtu and gasoline decreased 12.75 cents to 204.59 cents.

Soybean future closed down 13.00 cents to $9.50 a bushel. Wheat futures decreased 10.00 cents in Chicago trading to $5.03 a bushel. Sugar closed down 0.7 cents at 23.70 cents per pound.

Gold increased $9.20 in New York trading to close at $1,106.40 per ounce, silver closed up $0.15 to $16.11 per ounce and copper for the front month delivery decreased 2.35 cent to $3.23 per pound.

Dollar edged lower against euro to $1.355 and declined against the Japanese yen to 89.09.

Yield on 10-year U.S. bonds closed up to 3.63% and with 30-year maturities closed lower at 4.63%.