Filed under: Equities, Economy, US

Midday on Thursday found the New York equities markets lower after new data showed the Index of Leading Economic Indicators down by 0.6 percent in May. The new figures were yet another sign that the US economy is growing at a slower pace. The possibility of new interest rate hikes also held investors back, with some analysts not expecting much change in the markets until the Federal Reserve meets next week.

By mid-session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had dropped 0.2 percent to 11,057.29, while the Nasdaq Composite was 0.5 percent lower at 2,130.30 and the S&P 500 had lost 0.3 percent to 1,248.80.

Miners declined with the price of gold and copper. Both Barrick Gold and Newmont Mining dropped 1.2 percent, to $27.97 and $49.90 respectively.

In computer related sectors, Apple Computer added 1.7 percent to $58.83 after French legislators approved a law concerning online music services that stopped short of provisions that had been proposed by some lawmakers. Chipmaker Micron Technology added 1.5 percent to $16.20 after Wednesday night’s news that it has finalized its merger with Lexar Media. Jabil Circuit, however, dropped 3.3 percent to $24.64 on the news that it has been subpoenaed about its practices connected with the granting of stock options. Jabil also has said that it is planning on eliminating jobs and closing some factories.

Bed, Bath and Beyond dropped 5.8 percent to $34.80. While its first-quarter earnings report was about where analysts expected it to be, the home furnishings retailer’s forecast of future profits was on the negative side and it said that some store openings could be cancelled.

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Permalink: Leading indicators drop, sending New York markets lower

Filed under: Equities, Economy, US

Wall Street was higher at mid-session on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1.2 percent to 11,102.19. The Nasdaq composite had added 1.7 percent to 2,141.75, while the S&P 500 gained 1.1 percent to 1,253.63. The number of shares traded stayed fairly low, which is a problem according to some analysts, who would like to see more shares change hands before considering the markets to be in recovery from recent losses.

Homebuilders saw advances. Toll Brothers was up 2.6 percent to $26.73, while Kaufman & Broad added 2.9 percent to $45.34 and Pulte gained 3.8 percent to $28.25.

Many technology stocks were higher as well. Cisco Systems was up 2.8 percent to $20.29, Hewlett-Packard added 3.2 percent to $33.92, and Amazon gained 3.7 percent to $36.49. However, Jabil Circuit dropped 3 percent to $25.45 ahead of a scheduled earnings report.

The New York Times added 4.7 percent to $24.52 after it said that it was looking at strategies for increasing the amount of for-pay content on its online service.

Darden Restaurants, which owns Olive Garden and Red Lobster, saw a gain of 5.5 percent to $37.52 on the news that its fourth-quarter profits were up by 10 percent, around what had been predicted.

Also reporting fourth-quarter earnings was Federal Express. The parcel service said its fourth-quarter earnings were well ahead of analyst predictions, adding 27 percent. Its share price gained 4.7 percent on the day to $113.14.

Univision, the Spanish-language broadcaster, dropped 4.1 percent to $33.96 after one potential bidder missed a Tuesday deadline to submit an offer.

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Permalink: Wall Street gains at mid-session

Filed under: Bonds, Economy, US, Europe, UK

Officials of the US Federal Reserve have stopped making public comments, a customary practice ahead of rate-setting meetings, leaving government bond purchasers without much data on which to base decisions as data from other sources is also lacking at present. With summer beginning, a time of traditionally limited trade, volumes were low in the US Treasury market.

At mid-session in New York, two-year Treasury bonds were yielding 5.203 percent, unchanged from Tuesday’s levels. Meanwhile, ten-year bonds had dropped 0.4 basis points to a yield of 5.153 percent.

In the UK, release of the minutes from the Bank of England’s most recent rate-setting meeting showed that only one member had voted to raise rates. However, the rally caused by the news was limited as speculation continued that rates would rise soon after housing market data was stronger than had been expected.

Yields on two-year gilts dropped 1.9 basis points to 4.817 percent, while ten-year yields were down by only 0.1 basis point to 4.718 percent.

Eurozone yields were up after remarks from the governor of the European Central Bank that interest rates there will be going up again in the effort to control inflation. The comments came in the wake of new data from France that showed household goods purchase there have risen at their fastest rate in 20 years.

The two-year Schatz added 1.4 basis points to yield 3.470 percent, while the ten-year Bund yielded 4.008 percent, a rise of 1.1 basis point.

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Permalink: Bond yields down in US, UK

Filed under: Equities, Economy, US

The New York equities markets were mixed at midday on Tuesday after having suffered losses in the past two sessions. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.7 percent higher at 11,022.31 and the S&P 500 had gained 0.6 percent to 1,247.22. The Nasdaq Composite, however, was 0.5 percent lower at 2,121.01.

Retailers were up on the day. Supermarket chain Safeway was up 2.6 percent to $25.06, while rival Kroger had added 5.3 percent to $20.48 on higher than forecast earnings in its first quarter. Meanwhile, discount reatiler Costco gained 2.7 percent to $55.00 on an upgrade from “neutral” to “overweight” from JPMorgan.

Companies that produce food staples were up as well. Kellog, the cereal maker, was up 1 percent to $47.34, while Campbell Soup added 1.2 percent to $35.93 and condiment maker Heinz gained 1.3 percent to $41.65.

Miners, too, saw advances. Newmont Mining was up 1.9 percent to $50.10. Phelps Dodge gained 2.4 percent to $78.88, while Freeport McMoran added 2.6 percent to $48.20 and Barrick Gold advanced by 2.9 percent to $28.02.

In the airline sector, Continental Airlines was up 3.1 percent to $27.72, while JetBlue gained 5.2 percent to $12.13 on positive comments from Morgan Stanley.

The semiconductor sector, however, saw losses, as Sandisk lost 2.1 percent to $51.38 and Nvidia dropped 2.5 percent to $20.48.

Electronics retailer Circuit City was down 0.9 percent to $28.36 after Monday’s statement that higher interest rates are likely to affect its sales.

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Permalink: Supermarkets higher in New York

Filed under: Economy, US

Housing starts in the United States were up more than had been expected in May. Overall, new starts were up 5 percent to an annual figure of 1.96 million starts. Analysts had expected that the annualized rate would be 1.85 million. The May figure also was above a revised annualized rate in April of 1.86 million starts. The May figures, however, were 3.8 percent lower than the figure of 2.03 million in May of last year. Single family starts in May were at a rate of 1.59 million, above April’s 1.56 million. Multi-family starts (those with five or more units) were up 25.4 percent.

The new data comes on the heels of a report released Monday by the National Association of Home Builders which showed that sentiment among homebuilders is currently at its lowest ebb in over 11 years. This is indicated by the fact that permits to begin construction were down 2.1 percent in May, compared to April, to 1.93 million. This was the lowest number of permits since November 2003. For the year, permits are down by 8.5 percent.

Analysts expect that, despite this month’s increase, housing starts will decline in the next few months due to high inventories of unsold new homes and declining prices.

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Permalink: May US housing starts up 5 percent

Filed under: Bonds, Economy, US, Europe, UK, Japan

Yields on government bonds were up in global economies on Monday as a lack of substantive economic news caused investors to be cautious about their activities in the current climate of higher interest rates.

With August Fed futures indicating a 75 percent probability that the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates again on August 8 and a near-certainty that rates will be raised this month as well, yields on US Treasury bonds were up. Ten-year issues added 1.8 basis points to a yield of 5.153 percent, while both two-year and thirty-year bonds were yielding 5.194 percent. Two-year paper was up 2.6 basis points, while thirty-year bonds gained 2.1 basis points.

Comments from a European Central Bank official that hinted at another rate hike soon in the Eurozone and a stronger equities market both sent bond yields higher in the region. The two-year Schatz added 4.6 basis points to 3.421 percent, while the ten-year Bund was yielding 3.971 percent, a gain of 2.2 basis points.

A stronger equities market and the lack of economic news in the UK also sent gilt yields higher, as did anticipation of Wednesday’s release of the minutes of the most recent meeting of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee. Two-year gilts added 1.8 basis points to 4.787 percent and ten-year gilts gained 5.4 basis pints to a yield of 4.665 percent.

In Japan, the 10-year government bond gained 2 basis points to yield 1.825 percent. There is speculation that interest rates will rise above zero when the Bank of Japan meets in July, since equities markets in Japan seem to have stabilized after recent declines.

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Permalink: Scant news sends bond yields higher

Filed under: Equities, Economy, US

The New York equities markets were lower at mid-session on Friday, reflecting what looked to end up a losing week for everyone but the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The Dow was lower by 0.1 percent at the mid-point in the day, to 11,009.19, but was on course to finish 1.1 percent higher on the week. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.6 percent on the day so far and down 0.2 percent on the week to 2,130.38. The S&P 500 was 0.5 percent lower on the day to 1,250.24, also 0.1 percent lower over the week.

Oil services companies were off for the week, as Schlumberger was down 2.3 percent to $57.88 and BJ Services also lost 2.3 percent, to $35.24.

Banks were down, as well, though not by as much as they could have been. Lehman Brothers, down by 11 percent at one point in the week, was down 4 percent to $62.97 by mid-session on Friday, and Goldman Sachs was off 4 percent to $143.94 where it had been down by as much as 8.7 percent earlier in the week. Bear Stearns was 3.1 percent lower to $132.18.

Stock exchange operators also ended the week in negative territory. Intercontinental Exchange was down 2.7 percent to $49.45, while Nasdaq lost 3.2 percent to $25.52 and NYSE Group declined by 6.4 percent to $53.50.

Ethanol producer Verasun Energy began trade on Wednesday, gaining 30 percent on its first day of availability. While it lost value on Thursday, mid-day Friday found it still 8.7 percent ahead for the week at $25.00.

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Permalink: Dow down at noon but gains on week

Filed under: Equities, Economy, US

Investors seemed to ignore data on inflation to send New York equities markets higher at the mid-point of the day on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had added 0.8 percent to 10,905.22, while the Nasdaq Composite was up 1.7 percent to 2,120.64 and the S&P 500 gained 1 percent to 1,242.29.

Banks saw gains. Goldman Sachs was up 2.7 percent to $142.26, Lehman Brothers gained 2.9 percent to $62.68, and Bear Stearns added 3.4 percent to $128.37 on a report that profits were up 81 percent in the second quarter.

With crude oil prices rising again, ConocoPhillips gained 2.3 percent to $60.81, while Anadarko Petroleum advanced by 4 percent to $47.25. Ethanol producer Verasun Energy, however, which made its trading debut Wednesday with a gain of 30 percent, dropped 9.7 percent to $27.10.

Stock exchange operators saw gains on the day. Nasdaq was up 6 percent to $26.63, while NYSE Group gained 7.1 percent to $54.50.

Construction machinery manufacturer Caterpillar added 3.9 percent to $70.11 on the news that its quarterly dividend will go up by 20 percent.

In the semiconductor sector, upgrades from “neutral” to “buy” sent both Nvidia and Sandisk higher. Sandisk gained 5 percent to $53.07, while Nvidia was up 7 percent to $21.87.

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Permalink: Nasdaq up 1.7 percent at midday

Filed under: Bonds, Economy, US, Europe, UK, Japan

Yields on government bonds were up in most major markets on Thursday as the likelihood increased that the US Federal Reserve would raise interest rates later in the month. In addition to a hike this month, analysts are increasingly convinced that there will also be a rate hike at the Fed’s August meeting.

At mid-day in New York, two-year Treasury bonds added 2.6 basis points to 5.146 percent, nearly a five-year high, while yields on ten-year notes were up 3 basis points to 5.100 percent.

In the Eurozone, inflation concerns affected bond yields. The two-year Schatz was yielding 3.392 percent late in the trading day, a gain of 3.7 basis points. Meanwhile, the ten-year Bund was 4.4 basis points higher to a yield of 3.948 percent.

UK gilts saw yields rise, as well. Two-year yields were up 4.2 basis points to 4.733 percent, while the yield on ten-year gilds were at 4.622 percent, a rise of 8.9 basis points. New data showed that retail sales there is up more than had been expected and prices on new houses are rising faster than they have in two years.

In Japan, yields on the ten-year government bond stood firm at 1.770 percent as there was essentially no reaction to the Bank of Japan’s expected decision to keep interest rates at zero for the time being.

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Permalink: Bond yields up on interest rate expectations

Filed under: Equities, Economy, US

Wall Street staged a slight recovery on Wednesday morning as investors paid less attention to concerns about inflation. By the middle of the session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had added 0.6 percent to 10,764.73, while the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.5 percent to 2,082.01 and the S&P 500 gained 0.2 percent to 1,225.67.

With metals prices higher, miners took back some of their recent losses. Freeport McMoran and Newmont Mining each added 4 percent, to $45.50 and $49.58 respectively. Still in commodities related stocks, oil and related companies saw gains on the day. Halliburton was up 2.7 percent to $70.12, while Schlumberger gained 2.9 percent to $56.16 and Noble Corporation advanced by 3.8 percent to $65.16.

In semiconductors, upgrades from Goldman Sachs helped out both Intel and Advanced Micro Devices. AMD was up 3.2 percent to $25.18, while Intel gained 4 percent to $17.80 as it was advanced to “outperform”, from “inline”.

Also receiving an upgrade from Goldman Sachs, from “underperform” to “inline” was airplane manufacturer Boeing, which gained 5 percent to $80.74 after Airbus said it would have to delay delivery of its new A380 superjumbo jet.

Among stock exchange operators, NYSE Group was up 1.5 percent to $50.74, while Nasdaq added 4.9 percent to $25.48.

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Permalink: New York markets rise slightly in early trade

Filed under: Equities, Economy, US

New York equities markets were lower again at mid-afternoon on Tuesday after their counterparts in Asia and Europe saw declines on the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite each had dropped 0.1 percent, to 10,780.34 and 2,088.79 respectively. The S&P 500 was 0.2 percent lower, to 1,233.55. Also helping bring about the declines was new data showing that producer price inflation was up more than had been expected, by 0.3 percent rather than the predicted 0.2 percent in May.

Banks were down on the day, with the S&P banking index down 2.7 percent. Goldman Sachs lost 2.1 percent to $141.99 even though its second-quarter earnings were doubled. Merrill Lynch was down 2.9 percent to $66.61. Bear Stearns dropped 4.7 percent to $125.55.

In the mining sector the declining price of gold sent Barrick Gold down 1.7 percent to $27.16. Phelps Dodge, meanwhile, dropped 3.7 percent to $73.96.

Stocks related to computers were up on the day. Chipmaker Intel added 2.2 percent to $17.23, while Apple Computer advanced by 3 percent to $58.69.

Consumer electronics retailer Best Buy was up 5 percent to $51.46 after it said that its first quarter profits were 37 percent higher than in the same period last year.

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Permalink: Banks lower in New York

Filed under: Equities, Economy, US

By the middle of the afternoon in New York on Monday, equities markets were lower again. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was off by 0.2 percent to 10,867.66, while the Nasdaq Composite had dropped 1.1 percent to 2,110.7 and the S&P 500 was 0.5 percent lower, to 1,245.52. In addition, the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies had lost 1.2 percent to below 700.

Broker recommendations had their effect on the day. Walt Disney was down 1.5 percent to $28.88 on a downgrade from “buy” to “hold” from Citigroup. A downgrade from Deutsche Bank, meanwhile, hurt telecommunications equipment manufacturer Tellabs, which lost 9.7 percent to $13.55. Software company Adobe added 4.2 percent to $29.17 on an upgrade from Cowen and Co.

In the banking sector, Lehman Brothers was down 4 percent to $63 even though its quarterly results were better than had been anticipated when analysts pointed out that earnings were down from its first quarter report.

Monster Worldwide, the recruitment company, lost 7.3 percent to $38.92 after it announced that is being investigated by an independent committee of directors in relation to its practices surrounding the granting of stock options.

Among gainers, General Motors added 3 percent to $26.12 on the news that Delphi, it’s largest parts supplier, had reached an agreement with the United Auto Workers concerning buy-outs for Delphi workers.

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Permalink: Wall Street lower at mid-afternoon

Filed under: Bonds, Economy, US, Europe, UK, Japan

Government bond yields were up in the US and in Japan on Monday, but fell in the Eurozone and in the UK.

In the United States, yields on two-year and ten-year Treasury notes continued the inversion that began last week, signaling that investors are worried that more interest rate hikes, now widely expected, will hurt economic growth and possibly even send the US economy into a recession. By late morning in New York, two-year Treasuries had added 1.3 basis points to a yield of 5.018 percent, while ten-year notes were up 1 basis point to 4.989 percent.

Japanese government bonds saw yields climb on news that economic growth there in the first quarter had been revised significantly higher. This heightened expectations that the Bank of Japan will abandon its zero interest rate policy during meetings this week. All of this sent yields on the ten-year government bond to 1.865 percent, 1.5 basis points higher.

Trade in government bonds was light in the Eurozone as investors waited for the release of new consumer price inflation data, ,due on Thursday. The buying that did take place was largely due to investors seeking safe places for their money as European equity markets saw declines. The two-year Schatz yielded 3.323 percent, a decline of 2.4 basis points, while the ten-year Bund dropped 1.8 basis points to 3.911 percent..

Yields dropped in the UK as well in answer to mixed data on producer prices and in anticipation of new consumer price data to be delivered on Thursday. The two-year gilt was down 1.3 basis points to 4.644 percent and the ten-year gilt yielded 4.536 percent, a decline of 3.1 basis points.

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Permalink: Bond yields up in US, Japan

Filed under: Equities, Economy, US

At the midway point in Friday’s session, the New York equities markets were mixed, but all were looking at losses on the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Averge was down 0.2 percent for the day so far at 10,921.61, and had lost 2.9 percent during the week. The Nasdaq Composite was up 0.5 percent on the day so far, but its loss for the week stood at 3.2 percent. The S&P 500 was 0.1 percent lower for the day, at 1,256.43 and had declined 2.5 percent over the week. Sell-offs were responsible for most of the declines.

Durable goods stocks were down over the week. General Motors lost 5.1 percent to $25.15, while construction equipment manufacturer Caterpillar was down 6.5 percent to $68.10.

Homebuilders were also lower over the week, with the S&P homebuilders index 6.9 percent lower. Pulte lost 10.2 percent to $28.15, while KB Homes was down 11.5 percent to $45.20 and Standard Pacific dropped 13.6 percent to $25.93.

Stock exchanges fell as well, with Nasdaq 8 percent lower at $27.62 and the NYSE Group off by 11.6 percent to $57.87.

Shares in miners lost value with the decline in metals prices. Newmont Mining lost 6.6 percent to $49.77, while Phelps Dodge was down 7.8 percent to $79.95 and Freeport McMoran dropped 12.5 percent on the week to $49.63.

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Permalink: Miners, homebuilders hurt Wall Street

Filed under: Equities, Economy, US

Falling crude oil prices and gains in the retail and homebuilding sectors helped the New York equities markets to gains by the middle of the day on Wednesday after two days of losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had climbed 0.6 percent to 11,065.27, while the Nasdaq Composite had added 0.9 percent to 2,181.50 and the S&P 500 was up 0.6 percent to 1,271.15.

The pharmaceuticals sector was up after GlaxoSmithKline said it was considering purchasing Pfizer’s consumer unit if the right price could be reached. This sent shares in Pfizer up 1.1 percent to $24.11. In addition, Abbott Labs gained 1.9 percent to $43.05.

Retailers were up, led by a 3.6 percent gain to $49.31 for Target. In supermarkets, Kroger added 1.9 percent to $20.13, while Supervalu gained 2 percent to $29.39.

After a dismal day on Tuesday, homebuilders were up on the day. DR Horton gained 1.5 percent to $23.75. Pulte, meanwhile, was up 1.9 percent to $28.65.

The chemicals sector was not so fortunate after Deutsche Bank issued downgrades to Dupont and Dow Chemical. Dow was down 0.5 percent to $39.37 and Dupont lost 1.3 percent to $41.64.

While the drop in crude oil prices helped investor sentiment, it did not help the energy sector. Schlumberger and Occidental Petroleum each had lost 1.8 percent by mid-session, to $62.79 and $96.03 respectively.

In much the same way, falling commodities prices sent shares in companies dealing in metals downward. Alcoa was down 2.4 percent to $29.97, while Freeport McMoran dropped 3 percent to $51.22.

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Permalink: New York markets higher at midday

Filed under: Equities, Economy, US

The New York equities markets saw a second day of declines on Tuesday after Monday’s comments on inflation by Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke. By midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had lost 1 percent to 10,941.63. It was the first time since March that the Dow fell below the 11,000 mark. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.1 percent to 2,146.63, and has declined by 9.4 percent in less than two months. The S&P, meanwhile, was 0.8 percent lower on the day so far, to 1,255.84.

Mining stocks were down on declines in the price of gold and copper. Alcoa dropped 3.2 percent to $30.37, while Phelps Dodge was down 3.9 percent to $28.37.

Homebuilders dropped after Wachovia cut its rating on several companies from “outperform” to “market perform”. The downgrades were for Lennar, which was down 4.1 percent to $44.61; for Pulte, which dropped 6.7 percent to $27.75; and for DR Horton, which fell 7.2 percent to $23.02.

Among stock exchange operators, NYSE Group, which entered into an agreement with Euronext last week, was down 5.5 percent to $60.03 after French president Jacques Chirac said that he would rather see the Paris-based Euronext merge with Deutsche Borse, which continues to pursue such a merger. Elsewhere in the sector, Nasdaq dropped 2.5 percent to $28.37, while Intercontinental Exchange lost 3.6 percent to $49.75.

Lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac dropped 2.6 percent to $48.70 and 3.2 percent to $58.19 respectively after Credit Suisse downgraded both.

Internet search engine Google added 1.4 percent to $379.65 on the news that it will make spreadsheet software available online, possibly as a free alternative to Microsoft spreadsheet Excel.

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Permalink: New York markets see second day of declines

Filed under: Bonds, Economy, US, Europe, UK, Japan

Yields on US Treasury bonds were down Friday after the release of new data on employment cut the chances that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates at their June meeting. Only 75,000 non-farms jobs were created in May, many fewer than the 170,000 jobs analysts expected would be created. In addition, the number of jobs created in March and April were revised downward. Even so, the unemployment rate declined to 4.6 percent in May, from 4.7 percent in April. While the general rule is that 150,000 jobs must be created each month to employ new workers entering the labor market, the unemployment rate is figured independently from job creation numbers.

After the new data was released, yields on ten-year Treasury notes dropped 5 basis points to 5.054 percent, while two-year bonds were yielding 4.975 percent, a decline of 5.4 basis points.

Activity in the US bond markets sent yields on Eurozone bonds down as well. The two-year Schatz dropped 2.3 basis points to 3.362 percent, while the ten-year Bund lost 1.5 basis points to 3.976 percent. UK gilts, meanwhile, were less active. Two-year yields were unchanged at 4.720 percent, while the yields on ten-year gilts dropped 1.2 basis points to a yield of 4.621 percent.

In Japan, ten-year government bonds were down 4 basis points to a yield of 1.905 percent. The drop in yields came after a large rise on Thursday as investors looked for bargains.

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Permalink: Government bond yields fall in largest global markets

Filed under: Equities, Economy, US

By midday on Wednesday the New York equities markets were higher as the utilities sector was higher on mergers and acquisitions news and lower oil prices helped investor sentiment. The middle of the session saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.7 percent to 11,174.07, while the Nasdaq Composite had added 0.8 percent to 2,182.51 and the S&P 500 had gained 0.7 percent to 1,268.39.

If trends continue to the end of the day, the Dow seemed likely to lose 1.7 percent on the month, the Nasdaq was on track to lose 6 percent during the month, and the S&P was likely to be down by 3.2 percent for the month. For both the Nasdaq and the S&P, those figures would make May the worst month for the indexes in several years.

Semiconductors had the biggest losses during the month, with the sector down 9.4 percent as a whole. Intel was the leader of the losers, down 27.5 percent in the month to $18.06. Meanwhile, the automobile manufacturing sector was the most successful during the month. Even though it was down by 4.5 percent at one point, it ended the month 5 percent higher. General Motors was up 18.3 percent during the month.

The utilities sector saw significant advances. NRG Energy was up 16.1 percent to $49.95 on the news that Mirant had bid for the power-plant operator. The announcement helped other utilities, as Texas Utilities gained 2.8 percent to $57.73 and Edison International was up 2.7 percent to $39.40.

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Permalink: New York markets see losses on month

Filed under: Equities, Economy, US

At midday on Friday the New York equities markets were up, ending a largely positive note. Despite troubles early in the week, several new data releases tended to calm investor concerns that interest rates will rise further in the short term. The only real threats to a pause in the interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve came with new data on Friday showing a rise in core inflation added to new home sales figures from earlier in the week that were higher than had been expected.

By mid-session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.5 percent for the day and 1.1 percent on the week to 11,266.36. The Nasdaq Composite was also 0.5 percent higher to 2,208.95, a gain on the week of 0.7 percent. The S&P 500 was up 0.4 percent for the day to 1,278.28, 0.9 percent higher on the week.

There were two IPOs during the week, producing mixed results. MasterCard debuted on Thursday and immediately added 18 percent in its first day of trade. The credit card company lost part of those gains on Friday but was still up 16.2 percent on the week at $45.30 by midday. On the other hand, internet telephone company Vonage began trade on Wednesday and was 212.4 percent lower by mid-session on Friday at $13.36.

Automobile manufacturers had a good week. General Motors added 15.1 percent to $28.41 during the week, mainly on an upgrade to “buy” from Merrill Lynch. Ford Motor was up 4.1 percent during the week, to $7.32 even though S&P said it might issue another credit downgrade on the carmaker. In related stocks, Delphi, GM’s main parts supplier, gained 15.2 percent this week to $1.44 despite ongoing legal disputes with its unions.

Stock exchanges were down on the week. NYSE Group dropped 5.1 percent to $61.21 after making a $10.2 billion dollar bid for Euronext. Nasdaq was also down, by 3.8 percent to $31.78. Intercontinental Exchange lost 18.9 percent during the week to $56.76.

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Permalink: Carmakers up on Wall Street

Filed under: Equities, Economy, US

Wall Street was showing gains at mid-day on Thursday after investors welcomed new economic data that showed gross domestic product growth up and existing home sales down. Both sets of figures should lessen the chance of another interest rate hike in June.

The GDP grew by a revised 5.3 percent in the first quarter, short of predictions but more than the 4.8 percent that was first reported. Additionally, the sales of existing homes dropped by 2 percent in April.

By the middle of the session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had added 0.7 percent to 11,198.49, while the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 had each advanced by 0.9 percent, to 2,188.97 and 1,270.02 respectively.

MasterCard’s debut as a publicly traded stock was a success as shares, initially priced at $39, added 12.2 percent to $43.75. This was in contrast to Vonage, which made its first appearance yesterday. By midday, Vonage had lost another 11.7 percent to $13.11, bringing its losses to 22 percent in a day and a half.

In the automobile manufacturing sector, General Motors added 5.2 percent to $27.88 on the news that more employees than expected had taken the company up on its buy-out plan to cut costs. Ford Motor also advanced on the day, by 4.2 percent to $7.22.

In the retail sector, Wal-Mart gained 2.9 percent to $49.42 as Bank of America upgraded it from “neutral” to “buy”.

In internet-related stocks, Ebay and Yahoo each advanced on the news that the online auction business and the search engine have signed a multi-year advertising partnership deal. Ebay added 7.4 percent to $32.44 and Yahoo gained 3.3 percent to $32.85. Search engine Google, however, lost 0.9 percent to $377.99.

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Permalink: Data helps New York markets