- Elena
- 05 Oct, 2006
- New York City
Stock markets opened lower as a rebound in oil prices inspired investors to do some profit taking, offsetting better-than-expected retail sales in September and lower unemployment claims last week. Bebe Stores, Children''s Place, and American Eagle Outfitters were among the teen retailers posting notably higher sales. Of discount retailers, Target sales exceeded expectations of a 5% growth, posting 6.7% rise. Costco Wholesale posted a 4% same-store sales rise, below estimates.
- Ivaylo
- 05 Oct, 2006
- New York City
Though small, Tata Steel is considering an offer as it has the financial muscle, being a unit of one of the largest conglomerates in India. With other steel groups such as Severstal also likely to enter the running, Corus shares led the advancers in London. The FTSE 100 was up 31.2 points at 5,997,7 at mid-day after breaching the 6,000 level early on, helped as well by the Bank of England decision to leave interest rates unchanged at 4.75% today.
- Elena
- 05 Oct, 2006
- New York City
Stock market futures indicated a flat market opening, a day after the Dow Jones Industrials hit a record high. Strong retail September sales helped offset a rebound in crude-oil futures amid OPEC''s decision to reduce production. Wal-Mart said September sales rose at 1.3%, while total sales increased 12% to $31.21 billion. Target posted same-store sales increase of 6.7%, exceeding estimates of 5% growth.
- Ivaylo
- 05 Oct, 2006
- New York City
The Nikkei Average in Japan finished sharply higher Thursday, leading a region-wide rise, as investors bought blue chips such as Toyota Motor Corp. and Canon Inc. after another record close for the U.S. markets. Interest-rate-sensitive stocks were also active, led by Hong Kong-listed HSBC Holdings. All the regional markets finished higher but for New Zealand, which ended flat.
- Ivaylo
- 05 Oct, 2006
- New York City
European stocks advanced in morning trade on Thursday, supported by deal speculation pushing shares of steelmaker Corus higher, a turnaround for oil and metals producers, and the second straight record high for the U.S. markets. Oil stocks gained ground from an overnight rally in crude prices. London FTSE 100 climbed 0.6%, Frankfurt Xetra Dax gained 0.6% and the CAC 40 in Paris added 0.6%.
- Ivaylo
- 05 Oct, 2006
- New York City
The futures had a softer tone early in the day, due to long liquidation, even when crude oil was trying to avoid more losses. Crude resumed its retreat, and sell stops were hit in gold as it broke that support level. Gold then remained under pressure for the rest of the day, even though November crude oil eventually turned positive.
- 123jump.com Staff
- 04 Oct, 2006
- New York City
Bernanke comments inspired rally was in full swing in the final hour of trading. Chairman commented that housing market is undergoing a substantial crrection and it may lower GDP growth by one percentage this year. California Attorney General office is preparing to file criminal charges against former HP chairman Dunn and ohers. P F Changs rose 9% on earnings.
- Elena
- 04 Oct, 2006
- New York City
European markets closed notably higher. The upward move was brought by a strong rally in Vodafone shares and higher banking stocks which together with seven-month low crude oil prices counteracted a profit warning and losses for EADS. London FTSE 100 climbed 0.5%, the German DAX 30 rose 0.9%, and the French CAC 40 advanced 0.7%.
- Elena
- 04 Oct, 2006
- New York City
The Dow hit an all-time intraday high, as stocks recovered Wednesday after a weaker-than-expected data on business activity helped ease concerns about inflation and interest-rate hikes. The ISM''s services sector index slipped to a weaker-than-expected 52.9 in September from 57.0 in August.
- Elena
- 04 Oct, 2006
- New York City
Weak Asian stocks, together with worries over possible sales by hedge funds pushed the market lower today. All sectors ended in negative territory.The Sensex recovered from early steep fall to dip again in late trading. IT and bank stocks fell on profit-taking. TCS and HDFC Bank led the decliners.
- Elena
- 04 Oct, 2006
- New York City
Wal-Mart dropped 2.2% after the retailer cut its September same-store sales forecast to 1.3% from its previous estimate of 1.8%. TiVo slipped 9% after an appeals court allowed EchoStar Communications to continue selling its competing digital-video recorder models pending appeal of the companies'' patent dispute over the technology. As a result, Bear Stearns cut its rating on TiVo to underperform.
- Elena
- 04 Oct, 2006
- New York City
Ford Motors Corp. was downgraded to peer perform from outperform, with the broker saying that most of the near-term catalysts for the shares have unfolded. At the same time, Bear Stearns upgraded General Motors to peer perform from underperform, citing continuous beliefs of a potential alliance with Renault and Nissan.
- Ivaylo
- 04 Oct, 2006
- New York City
Asian stocks largely declined on Wednesday after North Korea stated it would test a nuclear bomb and commodities stocks such as BHP Billiton and Mitsubishi Corp. were hit by a fall in oil and metals prices. The influence of North Korea nuclear news is likely to be limited as there will be some short-term risks, but it is unlikely to reverse the stock market trend. Hong Kong bucked the downtrend and advanced.
- Ivaylo
- 04 Oct, 2006
- New York City
Most European stock markets advanced in early trading on Wednesday after an overnight plunge in oil and gold prices sent the Dow industrials to a record high, but another profit warning from Airbus owner EADS and a decline from oil giant BP limited gains. The FTSE 100 in London gained 0.1%, Frankfurt Xetra Dax added 0.3% and in Paris, the CAC 40 was 0.2% higher.
- Ivaylo
- 04 Oct, 2006
- New York City
The drop of crude oil below the $60 a barrel mark weighed heavily on precious metals trading. Crude oil futures touched a seven-month low of $58.75 after Colorado State University cut its hurricane forecast because of quickly-developing El Nino conditions. The most-active December gold ended near its lowest level since Sept. 15. Platinum, palladium and copper also dropped.