U.S., Europe Trim Gains; Korea in Focus

123jump.com Staff
26 Mar, 2010
New York City

U.S. stocks lost earlier gains after a Korean vessel sank near the border with North Korea in Yellow Sea. President Obama expanded mortgage loan modification program. U.S. GDP was revised downwards in the third estimate. EU members agreed to offer credit facility to Greece. The dollar closed up.

[R]5:10 PM New York – U.S. stocks lost earlier gains after a Korean vessel sank near the border with North Korea in Yellow Sea. President Obama expanded mortgage loan modification program. U.S. GDP was revised downwards in the third estimate. EU member nations agreed to offer credit facility to Greece to roll over its bonds obligations.[/R]

U.S. stocks pruned gains and Treasuries declined after investors shied away from risk. South Korean naval vessel sank in Yellow Sea near the border with North Korea for an undetermined cause. President Lee Myung Bak discussed the incident with security officials.

U.S. GDP growth was revised downward to 5.6% rate from the second estimate of 5.9%. For 2009, the economy shrank at the fastest pace in sixty one years at 2.4%. The euro rebounds from the 10-month low.

RadioShack Corporation led gainers in the S&P 500 index on a takeover speculation. Accenture second quarter net falls 3%. Oracle Corp third quarter revenues rose 17%. Home loans insurers surge more than 7% for the second day after the U.S. expanded the mortgage loans modification program and offered subsidies to lenders on second liens.

Greek bonds and stocks rebounded after EU leaders approved emergency financial assistance to Greece. Member nations agreed to provide a last resort credit facility of Greece cannot borrow from financial markets. Unipol Gruppo Finanziario SpA reported a surprise loss and said it will raise €500 million through a stock sale.

UK business investment dropped in the fourth quarter. The pound declined against the dollar and the euro. HMV Group Plc surged 10% after the music and book retailer said it will focus on live events.

February Core consumer price declined for the third month in a row. Core price decline has moderated since the fall of 2.4% six months ago. Japan bond yields rose tracking the gains the U.S. bonds yields. Stocks advanced the most in eighteen months on a weakness in the yen.

Stocks in Mumbai trading closed higher for the third day in a row as investors focus on the quarterly earnings. Patel Engineering soars on a contract win of $1 billion in Mauritius. Essar Oil is planning to raise $1.7 billion. Polaris Software acquires a software company.

The Australian dollar rebounded and stock struggled. Eastern Star Gas gained on the takeover speculation. Santos Ltd agreed to sell its gas field off the northern coast for A$200 million. Virgin Blue and Qantas report higher passenger loads in February.

North American Markets

Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 9.15 or 0.08% to close at 10,850.36, S&P 500 Index edged higher 0.86 or 0.07% to 1,166.59 and Nasdaq Composite Index declined 2.22 or 0.1% to close at 2,395.13. Toronto TSX Composite Index fell 0.74 or 0.01% to 11,957.37.

Latin American Markets Indexes

Mexico Bolsa Index decreased 16.52 or 0.05% to 33,147.81 and Brazil Bovespa Stock Index increased 241.00 or 0.4% to 68,682.66.

Europe Markets Review

In London FTSE 100 Index closed lower 24.63 or 0.43% to 5,703.02, in Paris CAC 40 Index decreased 11.55 or 0.29% to close at 3,988.93, in Frankfurt DAX index lower 12.90 or 0.21% to close at 6,120.05. In Zurich trading SMI decreased 55.22 or 0.80% to close at 6,838.95.

Asian Markets Review

The Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo closed higher 167.52 or 1.55% to 10,996.37, and Hang Seng index in Hong Kong increased 274.56 or 1.32% to 21,053.11, and CSI 300 index in China higher 45.87 or 1.42% to 3,275.00. ASX 200 index in Australia increased 11.50 or 0.24% to 4,896.90. The FTSE Bursa KL Composite index in Malaysia was higher 2.66 or 0.20% to 1,315.14.

The Kospi Index in South Korea increased 9.33 or 0.55% to close at 1,697.72. SET index in Thailand closed lower 5.52 or 0.70% to 778.86. JSE Index in Indonesia increased 13.93 or 0.50% to 2,813.08. The Sensex index in India increased 85.91 or 0.49% to 17,644.76.

Commodities, Metals, and Currencies

Crude oil decreased $0.40 to $80.13 a barrel for a front month contract, natural gas edged down 12 cents to $3.86 per mBtu and gasoline decreased 0.64 cents to 221.13 cents.

Soybean future closed up 9.50 cents to $9.52 a bushel. Wheat futures decreased 1.75 cents in Chicago trading to $4.64 a bushel. Sugar closed down 0.05 cents at 17.00 cents per pound.

Gold increased $14.90 in New York trading to close at $1,109.00 per ounce, silver closed up $0.19 to $16.93 per ounce and copper for the front month delivery increased 3.80 cent to $3.341 per pound.

Dollar edged lower against euro to $1.3407 and advanced against the Japanese yen to 92.506.

Yield on 10-year U.S. bonds closed higher at 3.85% and with 30-year maturities increased at 4.75%.