- 123jump.com Staff
- 30 Apr, 2008
- New York City
Hong Kong retail sales in March surge 20% and in the first quarter rose 17%, lifted by a 29% surge in auto related sales. Separately China reported crude oil consumption in the first quarter rose 8% to 91.8 million tons and consumption of petrol, diesel and kerosene rose 16.5%. Crude oil production in China rose only 2.2%.
- 123jump.com Staff
- 30 Apr, 2008
- New York City
Stocks in India closed lower ahead of the rate decision in the U.S. The U.S. Fed lowered its key rate by 0.25% to 2% and signaled that future cuts may not be necessary. Reliance Communication earnings surged 71% on 32% rise sales. HDFC declined after it reported 40% rise in income on 33% rise in revenue. Nestle India earnings gained 48% and Videocon Industries profit gained 8%.
- 123jump.com Staff
- 30 Apr, 2008
- New York City
UK consumer confidence falls to the lowest level in the last sixteen years on worries related to general economic conditions and weak housing market. Nationwide Building Society reported today that U.K house prices declined 1% to
- 123jump.com Staff
- 30 Apr, 2008
- New York City
U.S. stocks edged higher on the release of first quarter GDP data. The economy in the quarter rose at annual rate of 0.6%, same rate as in the fourth quarter of 2007. Higher investment in inventory contributed to the mild gain. Citigroup revised its stock offering plan to $4.5 billion from $3 billion. General Motors reported narrower than expected loss. Procter & Gamble earnings rose 7.9% on rising demand in China, India and Latin America.
- 123jump.com Staff
- 29 Apr, 2008
- New York City
European markets fell after a drop in commodities prices. BP and Royal Dutch Shell edged higher after they reported better than expected earnings. Deutsche Bank reported its first quarterly loss of 131 million after it wrote down loan values of 2.7 billion euros. Tire maker Michelin fell 9% after it reported first quarter sales decline of 2.6% and cut its full year earnings forecast. Eurotunnel will issue rights offering to raise 915 million euros and buy back convertible debt.
- 123jump.com Staff
- 29 Apr, 2008
- New York City
U.S. stocks fell ahead of rate decision, a decline in consumer confidence and falling home prices. Home prices in February fell 12.7% after falling 10.7% in January. Consumer confidence in April fell on rising commodities and food prices and falling home values. On the earnings front MasterCard surged 13% and Visa increased 7% after they reported surge in earnings. Countrywide Financial reported first quarter loss but loan origination and deposit base rose. Brazil stocks fell 2.8%.
- 123jump.com Staff
- 29 Apr, 2008
- New York City
Governor Mervyn King was reappointed to the Bank of England by the Treasury Committee in the UK. During the hearing King said that inflation in 2009 may be above 3%. Separately, the Bank of England reported that UK banks issued 64,000 mortgage loans in March compared to 72,000 in February. Mortgage lender HBOS said that it will launch
- 123jump.com Staff
- 29 Apr, 2008
- New York City
China is expected to offer most of the value added tax as a rebate to oil refining companies to cover losses from the price control. Stock in Shanghai and Hong Kong edged higher on the news. Power generating companies surged on the hopes that similar rebate may be extended to the sector. Bank of China reported 85% rise in earnings. The earnings news lifted financial stocks but the gains were muted ahead of the U.S. Fed rate decision. China Coal surged on strong earnings.
- 123jump.com Staff
- 29 Apr, 2008
- New York City
The Reserve Bank of India left its key rate unchanged at 6% and issued a guideline to fight inflation and control liquidity. The central bank hiked cash reserve ratio by 25 basis points to 7.75%. The RBI also said that the inflation for the current fiscal year should be brought down to 5% and in the longer term to 3%. The central bank also estimated the economic growth rate in the current fiscal year between 8% and 8.5%.
- 123jump.com Staff
- 28 Apr, 2008
- New York City
Westpac Banking Corp, the third bank to raise its variable mortgage rate by 10 basis points to 9.47% at the end of this week. Earlier, ANZ and NAB raised their rates for mortgage loans. The Reserve Bank of Australia last increased its official rates in February, when its cash rate was increased to 7.25%. Westpac share was up 1.2%, ANZ rose 3.2% and National Australia Bank Ltd added 3.2%. Orica reported 7% rise in earnings and said its cost savings plan from the merger with Dyno is on track.
- 123jump.com Staff
- 28 Apr, 2008
- New York City
Germany reported lower inflation in April but estimates of economic growth in the 15-countries that use euro was revised lower to 1.7% from 1.8% and 1.5% in 2009. In merger news, Freenet, mobile telecom operator agreed to purchase Debitel AG in Germany for 1.6 billion euros from a private equity group Permira. Metals, banks and energy stocks gained in the region.
- 123jump.com Staff
- 28 Apr, 2008
- New York City
U.S. stocks traded in a tight range ahead of a rate decision from the Fed on Wednesday. Mars agreed to acquire Wrigley for $80 per share or $23 billion in cash. The deal will be financed by Goldman Sachs, Berkshire Hathaway and the company. Verizon and Humana closed higher after the earnings. RadioShack and AlbertoCulver fell after the earnings. Visa fell in the after hours trading after it reported 39 cents per share or 52 cents per share on adjusted basis. Southern Copper Peru declined.
- 123jump.com Staff
- 28 Apr, 2008
- New York City
The Office of Fair Trade is likely to expand its investigation of price fixing between consumer companies and consumer products manufacturers. Several retailers including WM Morrison, Asda, and Sainsbury are likely to be contacted by the OFT. Home prices in the UK in fell 0.6% in April from March and dropped 0.9% from a year ago. The prices in London fell 0.7% in the month. UK refinery strike continues for the second day.
- 123jump.com Staff
- 28 Apr, 2008
- New York City
China Life Insurance reported first quarter earnings declined 61% on recent weakness in stock market volatility. Earnings in the quarter fell to 3.47 billion yuan from 8.89 billion yuan on 5.5 billion yuan loss in its investment portfolio. China Life relies on the stock market gains for most of its portfolio and Shanghai market has lost nearly 33% of its value in the quarter. Gross premium in the quarter rose 39.5% to 101.5 billion yuan. Bank of China earnings rose 85%.
- 123jump.com Staff
- 28 Apr, 2008
- New York City
March retail sales in Japan rose 1.1% from a year earlier and added 0.5% form February. Local media report sugeested that Matsushita Electric may take a stake in Sanyo Electric and purchase 300 billion yen of preferred stocks from Goldman Sachs at a discount. Stocks in Japan gained on the speculation that credit market related losses are not likely to rise after UBS upgraded its opinion on U.S. banks. Yahoo Japan fell 10% and led decliners in the Nikkei 225 index.