Showing posts with label BP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BP. Show all posts
Friday, October 1, 2010
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Monday, September 6, 2010
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Thursday, September 2, 2010
European and North American Markets Review – September 2nd 2010
Europe Flat, HP Won 3Par
Europe turned flat as DAX inched lower 0.05 point to 6,083.85 while FTSE 100 edged higher by 0.09% to 5,371.04. In North American markets, the Dow Jones Industrial Average resumed its advance to 10,320.10 or 0.49% higher. S&P 500 also gained 9.81 points to end at 1,090.10 while Nasdaq Composite finished at 2,200.01 or up 1.06%. Gains were limited as the markets turned cautious ahead of the release of US non-farm payrolls data on Friday. Tech rose higher after the bidding war between HP and Dell ended.
Other than the European Central Bank meeting which ended with the decision to keep the interest rates steady at 1%, the continent had its GDP data for 2Q released. Euro-Zone grew 1.9% in 2Q, higher than the previous estimate of 1.7% growth. The q/q data showed unchanged estimate at 1%. Producer Price Index was also released on Thursday. Euro-Zone PPI slowed from 0.3% in June to 0.2% in July. Year-on-year, the PPI went up 4%, faster than June’s 3%.
UK data due on Thursday include the Nationwide house price which slowed from 6.6% to 3.9% (y/y) in August. PMI for construction also declined, from 54.1 to 52.1, lower than the consensus of 53.9.
In the US, jobless claims showed a further decline in claims to 472,000 from 478,000 a week before, easing the concerns over the state of US labor market. Pending home sales data from the National Association of Realtors indicated an improvement in sales in July, rising 5.2% (m/m) against the expected 1% fall.
Friday’s focus will be set upon the non-farm payrolls for August. The August figure is expected to show a 105,000 decline in payrolls following a drop of 131,000 in July. Earlier this week, ADP reported an unexpected cut of 10,000 jobs in private sector payrolls. Private hiring was initially expected to have risen by 20,000 after it went up by 37,000 in July. As this month’s jobless claims hit 500k, the projected NFP figure would be somewhere around -100k to -150k. How the markets will respond to the report will set the path for probably the entire September. Meanwhile, unemployment rate is seen at 9.6%, inching higher from July’s 9.5%. Another piece of economic data due on Friday is ISM for the non-manufacturing industry. The index is expected at 53.5 in August, falling from 54.3.
From the i
ndustrial news, VCI Association in Germany said that the chemical industry in Germany saw a 5.2% increase in sales during 2Q from 1Q. Revenue increased €41.6 bln in 2Q, production was up 1.5% while capacity utilization went up to 85.6%. VCI Association forecast an increase in production and revenue by 11% and 18%, respectively, but warned that the growth might be slowing as companies had their inventories restocked throughout the first half of the year. BASF, one of the chemical giant inched 0.06% higher to €43.03.
Deutsche Bank was hit hardest on Thursday after the analysis from the Bank of America Merrill Lynch put DB in the list of ‘least preferred’ shares. According to the analysis the capital concern at DB and the potential purchase of Deutsche Postbank AG stakes by DB were the factors behind the analyst’s move. DB tumbled 3.2% to €49.34.
Deutsche Post won the case against the government at the European Union high court regarding the subsidy case it had since 2002. Hence, Deutsche Post was freed from paying €1.15 billion back to the government. Deutsche Post was accused of misusing the subsidy provided by the government, but the court deemed the regulators had used a wrong method during their investigation of this matter. Deutsche Post advanced 1.28% to €13.42 by the end of Thursday’s session.
BP was reportedly continuing its asset sales to reach $27.2 billion. So far the oil giant had received $7 billion from Apache and $1.9 billion from asset sales in Colombia to Ecopetrol and Talisman Energy. This week, BP also sold its chemical unit to Malaysian Petronas for $363 million. More BP’s assets will be sold in Pakistan and Vietnam.
Hewlett-Packard finally won the bidding war against Dell in the quest to acquire data storage company 3Par. HP’s bid of $33 per share sent Dell into retreat. The bid would cost HP $2.4 billion. Dell went up 1.98% to $12.36 after it folded its hand, while HP rose 1.2% to $39.68. HP was also raised to OUTPERFORM from MARKET PERFORM by JMP Securities with target price set at $50. HP’s PC business, high-growth geographic factor, as well as light laptops were the factors behind the upgrade.
Aircraft maker Boeing forecast the North American and Canadian market would need 7,200 units of commercial airplanes in the next 20 years. About $700 billion will be needed as investment to meet the demand. The focus will be on single-aisle, fuel efficient airplanes. At the end of Thursday Boeing was settled at $63.39, or up 1.77%.
Top performers in Europe were BMW (+1.6%), Daimler (+1.35%), and Deutsche Post (+1.28%). At the bottom were Deutsche Bank (-3.22%), Deutsche Boerse (-1.47%), and Bayer AG (-1.32%). In North American market, Starbucks soared 4.14%, AMD advanced 2.95% as well as Alcoa. Losers include IBM, Oracle, and Merck with losses of 0.58%, 0.62%, and 0.76%, respectively.
Europe turned flat as DAX inched lower 0.05 point to 6,083.85 while FTSE 100 edged higher by 0.09% to 5,371.04. In North American markets, the Dow Jones Industrial Average resumed its advance to 10,320.10 or 0.49% higher. S&P 500 also gained 9.81 points to end at 1,090.10 while Nasdaq Composite finished at 2,200.01 or up 1.06%. Gains were limited as the markets turned cautious ahead of the release of US non-farm payrolls data on Friday. Tech rose higher after the bidding war between HP and Dell ended.
Other than the European Central Bank meeting which ended with the decision to keep the interest rates steady at 1%, the continent had its GDP data for 2Q released. Euro-Zone grew 1.9% in 2Q, higher than the previous estimate of 1.7% growth. The q/q data showed unchanged estimate at 1%. Producer Price Index was also released on Thursday. Euro-Zone PPI slowed from 0.3% in June to 0.2% in July. Year-on-year, the PPI went up 4%, faster than June’s 3%.
UK data due on Thursday include the Nationwide house price which slowed from 6.6% to 3.9% (y/y) in August. PMI for construction also declined, from 54.1 to 52.1, lower than the consensus of 53.9.
In the US, jobless claims showed a further decline in claims to 472,000 from 478,000 a week before, easing the concerns over the state of US labor market. Pending home sales data from the National Association of Realtors indicated an improvement in sales in July, rising 5.2% (m/m) against the expected 1% fall.
Friday’s focus will be set upon the non-farm payrolls for August. The August figure is expected to show a 105,000 decline in payrolls following a drop of 131,000 in July. Earlier this week, ADP reported an unexpected cut of 10,000 jobs in private sector payrolls. Private hiring was initially expected to have risen by 20,000 after it went up by 37,000 in July. As this month’s jobless claims hit 500k, the projected NFP figure would be somewhere around -100k to -150k. How the markets will respond to the report will set the path for probably the entire September. Meanwhile, unemployment rate is seen at 9.6%, inching higher from July’s 9.5%. Another piece of economic data due on Friday is ISM for the non-manufacturing industry. The index is expected at 53.5 in August, falling from 54.3.
From the i
ndustrial news, VCI Association in Germany said that the chemical industry in Germany saw a 5.2% increase in sales during 2Q from 1Q. Revenue increased €41.6 bln in 2Q, production was up 1.5% while capacity utilization went up to 85.6%. VCI Association forecast an increase in production and revenue by 11% and 18%, respectively, but warned that the growth might be slowing as companies had their inventories restocked throughout the first half of the year. BASF, one of the chemical giant inched 0.06% higher to €43.03.Deutsche Bank was hit hardest on Thursday after the analysis from the Bank of America Merrill Lynch put DB in the list of ‘least preferred’ shares. According to the analysis the capital concern at DB and the potential purchase of Deutsche Postbank AG stakes by DB were the factors behind the analyst’s move. DB tumbled 3.2% to €49.34.
Deutsche Post won the case against the government at the European Union high court regarding the subsidy case it had since 2002. Hence, Deutsche Post was freed from paying €1.15 billion back to the government. Deutsche Post was accused of misusing the subsidy provided by the government, but the court deemed the regulators had used a wrong method during their investigation of this matter. Deutsche Post advanced 1.28% to €13.42 by the end of Thursday’s session.
BP was reportedly continuing its asset sales to reach $27.2 billion. So far the oil giant had received $7 billion from Apache and $1.9 billion from asset sales in Colombia to Ecopetrol and Talisman Energy. This week, BP also sold its chemical unit to Malaysian Petronas for $363 million. More BP’s assets will be sold in Pakistan and Vietnam.
Hewlett-Packard finally won the bidding war against Dell in the quest to acquire data storage company 3Par. HP’s bid of $33 per share sent Dell into retreat. The bid would cost HP $2.4 billion. Dell went up 1.98% to $12.36 after it folded its hand, while HP rose 1.2% to $39.68. HP was also raised to OUTPERFORM from MARKET PERFORM by JMP Securities with target price set at $50. HP’s PC business, high-growth geographic factor, as well as light laptops were the factors behind the upgrade.
Aircraft maker Boeing forecast the North American and Canadian market would need 7,200 units of commercial airplanes in the next 20 years. About $700 billion will be needed as investment to meet the demand. The focus will be on single-aisle, fuel efficient airplanes. At the end of Thursday Boeing was settled at $63.39, or up 1.77%.
Top performers in Europe were BMW (+1.6%), Daimler (+1.35%), and Deutsche Post (+1.28%). At the bottom were Deutsche Bank (-3.22%), Deutsche Boerse (-1.47%), and Bayer AG (-1.32%). In North American market, Starbucks soared 4.14%, AMD advanced 2.95% as well as Alcoa. Losers include IBM, Oracle, and Merck with losses of 0.58%, 0.62%, and 0.76%, respectively.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
European and North American Markets Review – September 1st 2010
Bulls Ruled Europe and North America
Better-than-expected economic data from China and US triggered hefty gains in Europe and North America on Wednesday. DAX index jumped 158.68 points to end at 6,083.90 or up 2.68%, while FTSE 100 rallied towards 5,366.41 or gained 2.70%. North American markets also rallied, with the Dow ended at 10,269.47 after leaping 254.75 points throughout the day, Nasdaq Composite gained 2.97% to settle at 2,176.84, while S&P 500 landed at 1,080.29 after a 2.95% rise.
Data, Data, Data …
After China PMI triggered a mood swing towards positive in Asia, the effect still lingered throughout midday Europe (for China data, read previous post). Then, US data were out, and despite the ADP report went in below the expectations, ISM data posted a better-than-expected reading and thus further powered the rally among European and North American shares.
ADP report showed that 10,000 jobs were cut in August, against a gain of 37,000 jobs in the previous month. The market had expected an addition of 20,000 jobs into the private sector in August. The missed result was unable to stop the rally that already brought over 100 points of gains on Dow Jones index.
The boost came from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) index for the manufacturing sector that beat the expectation of a fall towards 53.00. Instead of falling, the index rose from 55.5 in July to 56.3 in August, indicating that manufacturing activity remained robust throughout August.
Final piece of the economic data on Wednesday was construction spending that declined 1% to $805.2 billion. June’s figure was revised down to -0.8% against prior estimate of +0.1%.
Earlier, European data showed unimpressive results. German PMI for manufacturing sector was stagnant at 58.2 in August, the same as July’s level. UK’s PMI for manufacturing unexpectedly fell from 56.9 to 54.3, below the expected rise to 57.0. Meanwhile, retail sales fell 0.3% (m/m) in Germany while on the year-on-year basis sales grew 0.8% after a 4.7% jump in prior month.
More data to come on Thursday, as US jobless claims and pending home sales will grab the market’s attention aside from other data coming from Europe. Claims were expected to rise again to 478,000 after it dropped towards 473,000. Pending home sales were expected to fall 1.5% in July, at a better pace than June’s -2.6%.
Daimler AG gained significantly to €40.46 or 5.46% higher than Tuesday’s close after UBS raised its rating from SELL to NEUTRAL.
BMW bea
t Toyota’s Lexus at the American market for luxury cars in August as the sales climbed to 19,540. 1 Series and 7 Series had their sales up by 53% and 42%, respectively. Lexus however, declined 15% to 19,465. Daimler’s Mercedes sales were up 10% to 18,826 units, as the E-Class contributed a month-on-month increase of 26% in August while since the start of the year its sales were up 71%. BMW gained 2.99% at €42.91 while Volkswagen advanced 2.24% to €73.36.
Among the three, Lexus was on top with 145,490 units (+11%), Mercedes in the second place with 139,867 units (+18%), and BMW next at 139,236 units (+7.8%). Further down, Ford Motor Co. had 6,428 units of Lincoln models sold (+9.4%), Volkswagen’s Audi with 9,182 units (+14%) along with its Porsche’s sales of 2,032 units (+33%). Honda’s Acura and Nissan’s Infiniti sales were a 11,534 units (+20%) and 9,428 units (+22%), respectively.
BP will resume the work of plugging of its well in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday which had been held by rough seas since August 30th. BP’s shares hovered at 388.75 pence at the end of the session.
Shares with significant gains in Europe were Daimler at the top (+5.46%), Barclays Plc. (+4.33%) and Deutsche Boerse (+3.69%).
Eyes on Apple
Apple demonstrated its new iPods, iTunes and Apple TV. It also introduced iTunes software with more social-networking features that enable users to see their friends’ downloading activities. Apple TV’s set-top box was revamped, video rentals fees were lowered, and Netflix’s content was made available for streaming. Apple unveiled iOS 4.1 at the event, which would be available next week for iPhone and iPod touch via free download. The OS will include GameCenter for multiplayer gaming. Subsequent version, iOS 4.2 will be launched later in November and it would be for iPad, with features like wireless printing, streaming videos and photos. The new iPod Nano will be 46% smaller, 42% lighter, with 24 hour audio playback battery life. The new iTunes 10 will include Ping, as music social network. Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs also said that Disney’s ABC and News Corp’s Fox are available on Apple TV. The new Apple TV will cost $99, has no storage management, and can stream content from computer. It will be available in four weeks time. Apple was placed with an OUTPERFORM rating at MP Securities with price target at $290. Apple gained nearly 3% and ended the day at $250.33.
Amazon.co
m led the North American gainers on Wednesday as it leaped to $132.49 - over 6% gains – as the company was reportedly approaching media companies to start an online video-subscription service to compete with Netflix. One of them was Time Warner Inc.
From Citigroup, the bank will lower the balance requirements of its basic account to reach more customers. The Citigold customers can now be free from monthly fees if the balance requirements are met, which was set at $50,000. Citigroup was up 3.73% at $3.85.
Other ratings revisions were Wal-Mart which was downgraded to SELL from BUY at Crowell Weeden, while Siemens AG downgraded to HOLD from BUY by Deutsche Bank. Wal-Mart ended up 2.11% at $51.20 and Siemens ended at €73.89 or up 2.94%.
Other top gainers were Bank of America with 6.08% jump to $13.21 and Halliburton Co. at $29.73 or up 5.39%.
Better-than-expected economic data from China and US triggered hefty gains in Europe and North America on Wednesday. DAX index jumped 158.68 points to end at 6,083.90 or up 2.68%, while FTSE 100 rallied towards 5,366.41 or gained 2.70%. North American markets also rallied, with the Dow ended at 10,269.47 after leaping 254.75 points throughout the day, Nasdaq Composite gained 2.97% to settle at 2,176.84, while S&P 500 landed at 1,080.29 after a 2.95% rise.
Data, Data, Data …
After China PMI triggered a mood swing towards positive in Asia, the effect still lingered throughout midday Europe (for China data, read previous post). Then, US data were out, and despite the ADP report went in below the expectations, ISM data posted a better-than-expected reading and thus further powered the rally among European and North American shares.
ADP report showed that 10,000 jobs were cut in August, against a gain of 37,000 jobs in the previous month. The market had expected an addition of 20,000 jobs into the private sector in August. The missed result was unable to stop the rally that already brought over 100 points of gains on Dow Jones index.
The boost came from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) index for the manufacturing sector that beat the expectation of a fall towards 53.00. Instead of falling, the index rose from 55.5 in July to 56.3 in August, indicating that manufacturing activity remained robust throughout August.
Final piece of the economic data on Wednesday was construction spending that declined 1% to $805.2 billion. June’s figure was revised down to -0.8% against prior estimate of +0.1%.
Earlier, European data showed unimpressive results. German PMI for manufacturing sector was stagnant at 58.2 in August, the same as July’s level. UK’s PMI for manufacturing unexpectedly fell from 56.9 to 54.3, below the expected rise to 57.0. Meanwhile, retail sales fell 0.3% (m/m) in Germany while on the year-on-year basis sales grew 0.8% after a 4.7% jump in prior month.
More data to come on Thursday, as US jobless claims and pending home sales will grab the market’s attention aside from other data coming from Europe. Claims were expected to rise again to 478,000 after it dropped towards 473,000. Pending home sales were expected to fall 1.5% in July, at a better pace than June’s -2.6%.
Daimler AG gained significantly to €40.46 or 5.46% higher than Tuesday’s close after UBS raised its rating from SELL to NEUTRAL.
BMW bea
t Toyota’s Lexus at the American market for luxury cars in August as the sales climbed to 19,540. 1 Series and 7 Series had their sales up by 53% and 42%, respectively. Lexus however, declined 15% to 19,465. Daimler’s Mercedes sales were up 10% to 18,826 units, as the E-Class contributed a month-on-month increase of 26% in August while since the start of the year its sales were up 71%. BMW gained 2.99% at €42.91 while Volkswagen advanced 2.24% to €73.36.Among the three, Lexus was on top with 145,490 units (+11%), Mercedes in the second place with 139,867 units (+18%), and BMW next at 139,236 units (+7.8%). Further down, Ford Motor Co. had 6,428 units of Lincoln models sold (+9.4%), Volkswagen’s Audi with 9,182 units (+14%) along with its Porsche’s sales of 2,032 units (+33%). Honda’s Acura and Nissan’s Infiniti sales were a 11,534 units (+20%) and 9,428 units (+22%), respectively.
BP will resume the work of plugging of its well in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday which had been held by rough seas since August 30th. BP’s shares hovered at 388.75 pence at the end of the session.
Shares with significant gains in Europe were Daimler at the top (+5.46%), Barclays Plc. (+4.33%) and Deutsche Boerse (+3.69%).
Eyes on Apple
Apple demonstrated its new iPods, iTunes and Apple TV. It also introduced iTunes software with more social-networking features that enable users to see their friends’ downloading activities. Apple TV’s set-top box was revamped, video rentals fees were lowered, and Netflix’s content was made available for streaming. Apple unveiled iOS 4.1 at the event, which would be available next week for iPhone and iPod touch via free download. The OS will include GameCenter for multiplayer gaming. Subsequent version, iOS 4.2 will be launched later in November and it would be for iPad, with features like wireless printing, streaming videos and photos. The new iPod Nano will be 46% smaller, 42% lighter, with 24 hour audio playback battery life. The new iTunes 10 will include Ping, as music social network. Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs also said that Disney’s ABC and News Corp’s Fox are available on Apple TV. The new Apple TV will cost $99, has no storage management, and can stream content from computer. It will be available in four weeks time. Apple was placed with an OUTPERFORM rating at MP Securities with price target at $290. Apple gained nearly 3% and ended the day at $250.33.
Amazon.co
m led the North American gainers on Wednesday as it leaped to $132.49 - over 6% gains – as the company was reportedly approaching media companies to start an online video-subscription service to compete with Netflix. One of them was Time Warner Inc.From Citigroup, the bank will lower the balance requirements of its basic account to reach more customers. The Citigold customers can now be free from monthly fees if the balance requirements are met, which was set at $50,000. Citigroup was up 3.73% at $3.85.
Other ratings revisions were Wal-Mart which was downgraded to SELL from BUY at Crowell Weeden, while Siemens AG downgraded to HOLD from BUY by Deutsche Bank. Wal-Mart ended up 2.11% at $51.20 and Siemens ended at €73.89 or up 2.94%.
Other top gainers were Bank of America with 6.08% jump to $13.21 and Halliburton Co. at $29.73 or up 5.39%.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Global Markets Review – August 27th 2010
Stocks Rallied On Revised GDP
All major indexes ended positive on Friday, excluding Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index which ended at 0.07% lower at 20,597.30. Nikkei gained 84.58 points to end at 8,991.06, while Shanghai Composite Index added 7.26 points to end at 2,610.74. In Europe, DAX and FTSE 100 indexes turned higher as each gained 0.65% and 0.89%, respectively. American shares also rallied with the DJIA index jumped 164.84 points or 1.65% to end at 10,150.70, recovering from the sub-10,000 area. S&P 500 Index advanced 1.66% along with Nasdaq which ended 1.65% higher.
Yen Remained A Major Issue
Japanese shares rebounded on tough talk by the Prime Minister Naoto Kan who vowed to take decisive action whenever necessary if the yen continues to strengthen. USDJPY and EURJPY rallied on the comment and later in late New York trading session the pairs went even higher as Ben Bernanke indicated that the Federal Reserve will do whatever necessary to maintain economic recovery. USDJPY traded at 85.26 yen while EURJPY traded at 108.57 yen in late New York hours.
As the yen weakened, Japanese exporters gained. Nissan Motor ended 3.17% higher, Nikon Corp. gained 2.86%, while Daikin Industries ended at 2,955 with a 2.82% gains.
Nippon Ste
el was reported to rapidly building production bases and sales network overseas to fill overseas demand, dodging a takeover from European firm ArcelorMittal and to avoid rules on greenhouse gas emissions in Japan. Brazil, India, Thailand and African countries are the targets of expansion for Nippon Steel.
Toyota announced that it would recall another 1.3 million cars on Thursday, adding to a long line of recalls it had conducted this year. It was said that there were three accidents involving defects to engine control modules or ECMs. Toyota gained 0.44% however, at the end of the day.
Hang Seng Down as Investors Stayed Cautious
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index became the only index falling on Friday as investors stay
ed on the sideline ahead of GDP revision release and the speech from Ben Bernanke during the New York hours. The constituents were actually had mixed performances with BOC HK gained 2.99%, Esprit Holdings up 1.81%, and Yue Yuen Industrial went up 1.58%. Among losers were Hang Lung Properties with 2.57% decline, China Resources dipped 2.38%, while China Life resumed its fall to 1.79%.
China Shenhua reported its 2Q net profit which hit a record 10.03 billion yuan, up from 8.98 billion in previous year. Consensus forecast 10.2 billion yuan net profit before the release. Coal production was up 3.2% during the first half from prior year to 109.2 million tonnes, while sales were up 11.6% to 137.4 million tonnes. The coal company warned however, that demand in second half could slow as the government’s economic policy could put a brake on electricity consumption.
On ratings updates, Cosco Pacific’s target raised to HK$13.20 against prior HK$12.10 by Nomura, while its rating was raised to BUY from NEUTRAL. China Resources’ target was raised to HK$32 from HK$29 by JP Morgan, while Henderson Land was downgraded to NEUTRAL from OUTPERFORM by Macquarie while its target cut to HK$50.70.
Europe Up on US GDP
European stocks were boosted by US data as Vodafone gained 2.78%, BT Group rose 2.76%, and Prudential settled 2.26% higher. DAX top gainers include Deutsche Telekom which rose 2.31% Volkswagen and Siemens with 1.64% and 1.25% gains, respectively. At the bottom were Commerzbank (-2.0%), BP (-1.54%), Rolls-Royce (-0.63%) and ThyssenKrupp (-0.18%).
Commerzbank slumped 2% as it was reportedly planning to sell new shares as soon as autumn this year. Around 5 billion euros are said to be sold, according to a Handelsblatt’s report. Another losing side was BP who fell 1.54% to 379.65 pence. The oil giant’s executives told investigators dealing with rig explosion at the Gulf of Mexico that they did not know who was in charge of the rig just before the explosion occurred.
Marks & Spencer announced its move to enter the Egyptian market as a part of its efforts to enhance glo
bal sales. Two stores were planned over the next two years in Cairo as the company saw opportunities in the clothing sector and shopping center businesses. At the end of the trading day, Marks and Spencer settled at 346.50 pence, gaining 1.73%.
Vodafone was reportedly going to sell its assets in Poland, China and France. The move was not intended to improve cashflow, but rather as a move to discipline its international expansion. As a result, the Vodafone Essar, an Indian mobile phone firm said that it would delay its IPO plan until next year. Vodafone ended at 153.60 pence or up 2.78%.
The Fed Is Not Out of Options
US shares shot up as the GDP revision was higher than expected at 1.6% in 2Q. Consensus estimate was at 1.4% after previously the GDP was reported growing at 2.4%. Meanwhile, the decline in consumer sentiment from 69.6 in July to 68.9 in August was not able to deter stocks from rising. The figure was slightly lower than the consensus of 69.0.
Ben Bernanke’s speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming sent a message to the markets that the Federal Reserve would be able to prevent another recession from happening. Growth was seen to be picking up in 2011 as households rebuild savings, banks expand lending and employment outlook improves. If necessary, the Fed would provide further monetary accommodation, but two criteria must be met: an increasing risk of deflation and, excluding whether deflation to happen or not, the Fed will safeguard the continuation of economic recovery. The Fed chairman indicated that three options are available: more purchases of securities, a change in the Fed’s policy statement and the reduction of interest rate that the Fed has been paying on banks’ excess reserves. Bernanke’s speech cheered the market as the Fed was initially thought of running out of options to prevent the second coming of the recession.
The bidding war over 3Par continued as Hewlett-Packard offered a counteroffer of $30 a share (or $2 billion) to acquire to compete with Dell’s offer of $27 a share. HP ended at $38, declining 0.58%, while Dell edged up 1.17% to $11.89.
Elsewhere, Bank of America was said to have to deal with a lawsuit regarding concealment of bonuses and losses at Merrill Lynch & Co. after it bought the brokerage firm. The news did not seem to hinder Bank of America’s advance to $12.64 as it settled 1.36% higher on Friday.
Intel cut its sales forecast on Friday as it saw weakened consumer PC market. Sales expectations were revised from between $11.2 billion and $12 billion to $11.00 billion plus or minus $200 million. Intel gained 1.05% to end at $18.37 instead of falling as slowdown in the PC markets had been expected long ago by investors.
Citigroup planned to open a China desk based in Singapore in order to encourage Chinese firms to set up business in Singapore. Products will cover cash management, trade services and finance, securities and fund services for Chinese clients. Citigroup ended the New York session at $3.76 or up 2.73%.
Sharing the same fate with Toyota, Ford also said that it would recall more than 575,000 units of Windstars from Canada and US due to problems with the rear axle corrosion. Ford was up 3.49% on late Friday, however.
IBM acquired Sterling Commerce as a move to improve its ability to help clients accelerate their interactions with customers, partners and suppliers through dynamic business networks. In turn, the effort would be able to enhance efficiency and profitability. The join-up of the two companies would help integrating key business processes across channels and among trading partners, which covers marketing and selling and up to order management and fulfillment.
Leaders in the North American market were Halliburton with 4.02% jump, AMD with 3.58% rally, and Ford that raced to end at $11.56 at the end of Friday’s session. At the bottom, Goldman Sachs slumped 1.45% below Thursday’s close, while HP suffered from its bidding war with Dell as it shed 0.58% to end at $38.
Week Ahead
Looking ahead, key US data to be announced next week would be personal income and consumer spending on Monday, each with the same expected growth of 0.3% in July, up from unchanged position in June. Chicago PMI will due on Tuesday, with August figure expected at 57 against 62.3 on July. Conference Board’s consumer confidence data is seen down from 50.4 to 50.0 in August. ADP employment will be the first major data to observe this week as it acts as a lead to the Friday’s Nonfarm Payrolls. ADP is expected to report on Wednesday. ISM will be announced on the same day, with expected August figure at 53.5, down from 55.5 in July. Construction spending is seen to have declined in July by 0.6%, compared to the 0.1% increase in June. Jobless claims will be delivered on Thursday and expect a further drop in claims from 473,000 last week to 470,000. Productivity is seen to have worsened to -2.0% in 2Q after in the prior quarter it fell 1%. Factory orders are seen to have improved in July, gaining 0.4% after a 1.2% fall in June. Another housing data will be out next week as pending home sales for the period of July is expected to have declined 1.3% after it fell 2.6% in June. Nonfarm payrolls on Friday will be the key data for next week. The markets expected a decline of 105,000 after July’s fall of 131,000. Private payrolls are seen to have shrunk to just 30,000 from 71,000, while unemployment rate is seen to have inched up to 9.6% from 9.5%. Average hourly earnings are seen at 0.1% growth in August, slowing from 0.2% in July. ISM for the service sector will end the next week’s calendar with an expected fall to 53.2 in August from 54.3 in July.
All major indexes ended positive on Friday, excluding Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index which ended at 0.07% lower at 20,597.30. Nikkei gained 84.58 points to end at 8,991.06, while Shanghai Composite Index added 7.26 points to end at 2,610.74. In Europe, DAX and FTSE 100 indexes turned higher as each gained 0.65% and 0.89%, respectively. American shares also rallied with the DJIA index jumped 164.84 points or 1.65% to end at 10,150.70, recovering from the sub-10,000 area. S&P 500 Index advanced 1.66% along with Nasdaq which ended 1.65% higher.
Yen Remained A Major Issue
Japanese shares rebounded on tough talk by the Prime Minister Naoto Kan who vowed to take decisive action whenever necessary if the yen continues to strengthen. USDJPY and EURJPY rallied on the comment and later in late New York trading session the pairs went even higher as Ben Bernanke indicated that the Federal Reserve will do whatever necessary to maintain economic recovery. USDJPY traded at 85.26 yen while EURJPY traded at 108.57 yen in late New York hours.
As the yen weakened, Japanese exporters gained. Nissan Motor ended 3.17% higher, Nikon Corp. gained 2.86%, while Daikin Industries ended at 2,955 with a 2.82% gains.
Nippon Ste
el was reported to rapidly building production bases and sales network overseas to fill overseas demand, dodging a takeover from European firm ArcelorMittal and to avoid rules on greenhouse gas emissions in Japan. Brazil, India, Thailand and African countries are the targets of expansion for Nippon Steel.Toyota announced that it would recall another 1.3 million cars on Thursday, adding to a long line of recalls it had conducted this year. It was said that there were three accidents involving defects to engine control modules or ECMs. Toyota gained 0.44% however, at the end of the day.
Hang Seng Down as Investors Stayed Cautious
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index became the only index falling on Friday as investors stay
ed on the sideline ahead of GDP revision release and the speech from Ben Bernanke during the New York hours. The constituents were actually had mixed performances with BOC HK gained 2.99%, Esprit Holdings up 1.81%, and Yue Yuen Industrial went up 1.58%. Among losers were Hang Lung Properties with 2.57% decline, China Resources dipped 2.38%, while China Life resumed its fall to 1.79%.China Shenhua reported its 2Q net profit which hit a record 10.03 billion yuan, up from 8.98 billion in previous year. Consensus forecast 10.2 billion yuan net profit before the release. Coal production was up 3.2% during the first half from prior year to 109.2 million tonnes, while sales were up 11.6% to 137.4 million tonnes. The coal company warned however, that demand in second half could slow as the government’s economic policy could put a brake on electricity consumption.
On ratings updates, Cosco Pacific’s target raised to HK$13.20 against prior HK$12.10 by Nomura, while its rating was raised to BUY from NEUTRAL. China Resources’ target was raised to HK$32 from HK$29 by JP Morgan, while Henderson Land was downgraded to NEUTRAL from OUTPERFORM by Macquarie while its target cut to HK$50.70.
Europe Up on US GDP
European stocks were boosted by US data as Vodafone gained 2.78%, BT Group rose 2.76%, and Prudential settled 2.26% higher. DAX top gainers include Deutsche Telekom which rose 2.31% Volkswagen and Siemens with 1.64% and 1.25% gains, respectively. At the bottom were Commerzbank (-2.0%), BP (-1.54%), Rolls-Royce (-0.63%) and ThyssenKrupp (-0.18%).
Commerzbank slumped 2% as it was reportedly planning to sell new shares as soon as autumn this year. Around 5 billion euros are said to be sold, according to a Handelsblatt’s report. Another losing side was BP who fell 1.54% to 379.65 pence. The oil giant’s executives told investigators dealing with rig explosion at the Gulf of Mexico that they did not know who was in charge of the rig just before the explosion occurred.
Marks & Spencer announced its move to enter the Egyptian market as a part of its efforts to enhance glo
bal sales. Two stores were planned over the next two years in Cairo as the company saw opportunities in the clothing sector and shopping center businesses. At the end of the trading day, Marks and Spencer settled at 346.50 pence, gaining 1.73%.Vodafone was reportedly going to sell its assets in Poland, China and France. The move was not intended to improve cashflow, but rather as a move to discipline its international expansion. As a result, the Vodafone Essar, an Indian mobile phone firm said that it would delay its IPO plan until next year. Vodafone ended at 153.60 pence or up 2.78%.
The Fed Is Not Out of Options
US shares shot up as the GDP revision was higher than expected at 1.6% in 2Q. Consensus estimate was at 1.4% after previously the GDP was reported growing at 2.4%. Meanwhile, the decline in consumer sentiment from 69.6 in July to 68.9 in August was not able to deter stocks from rising. The figure was slightly lower than the consensus of 69.0.
Ben Bernanke’s speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming sent a message to the markets that the Federal Reserve would be able to prevent another recession from happening. Growth was seen to be picking up in 2011 as households rebuild savings, banks expand lending and employment outlook improves. If necessary, the Fed would provide further monetary accommodation, but two criteria must be met: an increasing risk of deflation and, excluding whether deflation to happen or not, the Fed will safeguard the continuation of economic recovery. The Fed chairman indicated that three options are available: more purchases of securities, a change in the Fed’s policy statement and the reduction of interest rate that the Fed has been paying on banks’ excess reserves. Bernanke’s speech cheered the market as the Fed was initially thought of running out of options to prevent the second coming of the recession.
The bidding war over 3Par continued as Hewlett-Packard offered a counteroffer of $30 a share (or $2 billion) to acquire to compete with Dell’s offer of $27 a share. HP ended at $38, declining 0.58%, while Dell edged up 1.17% to $11.89.
Elsewhere, Bank of America was said to have to deal with a lawsuit regarding concealment of bonuses and losses at Merrill Lynch & Co. after it bought the brokerage firm. The news did not seem to hinder Bank of America’s advance to $12.64 as it settled 1.36% higher on Friday.
Intel cut its sales forecast on Friday as it saw weakened consumer PC market. Sales expectations were revised from between $11.2 billion and $12 billion to $11.00 billion plus or minus $200 million. Intel gained 1.05% to end at $18.37 instead of falling as slowdown in the PC markets had been expected long ago by investors.
Citigroup planned to open a China desk based in Singapore in order to encourage Chinese firms to set up business in Singapore. Products will cover cash management, trade services and finance, securities and fund services for Chinese clients. Citigroup ended the New York session at $3.76 or up 2.73%.
Sharing the same fate with Toyota, Ford also said that it would recall more than 575,000 units of Windstars from Canada and US due to problems with the rear axle corrosion. Ford was up 3.49% on late Friday, however.
IBM acquired Sterling Commerce as a move to improve its ability to help clients accelerate their interactions with customers, partners and suppliers through dynamic business networks. In turn, the effort would be able to enhance efficiency and profitability. The join-up of the two companies would help integrating key business processes across channels and among trading partners, which covers marketing and selling and up to order management and fulfillment.
Leaders in the North American market were Halliburton with 4.02% jump, AMD with 3.58% rally, and Ford that raced to end at $11.56 at the end of Friday’s session. At the bottom, Goldman Sachs slumped 1.45% below Thursday’s close, while HP suffered from its bidding war with Dell as it shed 0.58% to end at $38.
Week Ahead
Looking ahead, key US data to be announced next week would be personal income and consumer spending on Monday, each with the same expected growth of 0.3% in July, up from unchanged position in June. Chicago PMI will due on Tuesday, with August figure expected at 57 against 62.3 on July. Conference Board’s consumer confidence data is seen down from 50.4 to 50.0 in August. ADP employment will be the first major data to observe this week as it acts as a lead to the Friday’s Nonfarm Payrolls. ADP is expected to report on Wednesday. ISM will be announced on the same day, with expected August figure at 53.5, down from 55.5 in July. Construction spending is seen to have declined in July by 0.6%, compared to the 0.1% increase in June. Jobless claims will be delivered on Thursday and expect a further drop in claims from 473,000 last week to 470,000. Productivity is seen to have worsened to -2.0% in 2Q after in the prior quarter it fell 1%. Factory orders are seen to have improved in July, gaining 0.4% after a 1.2% fall in June. Another housing data will be out next week as pending home sales for the period of July is expected to have declined 1.3% after it fell 2.6% in June. Nonfarm payrolls on Friday will be the key data for next week. The markets expected a decline of 105,000 after July’s fall of 131,000. Private payrolls are seen to have shrunk to just 30,000 from 71,000, while unemployment rate is seen to have inched up to 9.6% from 9.5%. Average hourly earnings are seen at 0.1% growth in August, slowing from 0.2% in July. ISM for the service sector will end the next week’s calendar with an expected fall to 53.2 in August from 54.3 in July.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
European and North American Markets Review – August 26th 2010
Europe Up, Spain Report Tripped The Street
German DAX and FTSE 100 ended higher at 5,912.58 and 5,155.84, respectively, after the US jobless claims fell to 473,000 in the week ending August 21st. Positive data
from German and UK also provided some supports to the European bourses. GfK consumer confidence index was to inch higher in September to 4.1 against the prior figure of 3.9. The result was above the consensus of 4.0. From UK, CBI reported sales index climbed to 35, defying forecast of a fall to 18. In July, the sales index was reported at 33.
US shares were not so lucky as late news from Spain knocked the Street back to the red zone. Dow Jones index settled 74.25 points lower at 9,985.81, S&P 500 index fell 0.77% to 1,047.22, while Nasdaq Composite ended at 2,118.69 with 1.07% losses. It was reported by El Economista that a 5.1 billion euros worth of value-added tax collected could be voided by a Spanish court. The news renewed concerns over the impact on the Spain’s economy, especially when the European debt crisis remained a major concern today. The Spanish government denied the report, however.
Corporate news came from BP which got maintained at OUTPERFORM by Credit Suisse. Low valuation of BP shares was the reason behind the recommendation. BP shares was up 2.8% at 385.6 pence at the close.
Volkswag
en also gained on Thursday after its importer in Turkey, Dogus Otomotiv Servis & Ticaret AS expected an increase in sales by 48% to more than 75,000 units this year. Low interest rates were cited as boosting sales. VW’s shares ended 2.1% higher at 79.21 euros.
Boeing was upgraded by Goldman Sachs. The EPS was upgraded to $1.15 per share from $1.12 per share. Profit margin from the company was expected to improve along with the declining research costs and improving volume. Boeing edged up 0.9% to $61.32.
Following up the rivalry between Dell and Hewlett-Packard for acquiring 3Par, HP has offered a new proposal to 3Par with the price bid up to $27 per share, from prior bid of $24 per share. Dell recently upped the bid to $24.30. According to analysts, the deal is more important for Dell than for HP as Dell could boost its product range while HP may gain less although it could pressure the Dell’s potential to improve in the high-end data center area. Also on Thursday, HP said it acquired Stratavia, a Denver-based database and application automation.
Today’s events include the speech from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke at Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The markets will be eager to hear Bernanke’s new updates on the economy, if any. Finally, the economic data due today will be the GDP revision which has been expected to be at 1.4% in Q2. Prior estimate was at 2.4%.
German DAX and FTSE 100 ended higher at 5,912.58 and 5,155.84, respectively, after the US jobless claims fell to 473,000 in the week ending August 21st. Positive data
from German and UK also provided some supports to the European bourses. GfK consumer confidence index was to inch higher in September to 4.1 against the prior figure of 3.9. The result was above the consensus of 4.0. From UK, CBI reported sales index climbed to 35, defying forecast of a fall to 18. In July, the sales index was reported at 33.US shares were not so lucky as late news from Spain knocked the Street back to the red zone. Dow Jones index settled 74.25 points lower at 9,985.81, S&P 500 index fell 0.77% to 1,047.22, while Nasdaq Composite ended at 2,118.69 with 1.07% losses. It was reported by El Economista that a 5.1 billion euros worth of value-added tax collected could be voided by a Spanish court. The news renewed concerns over the impact on the Spain’s economy, especially when the European debt crisis remained a major concern today. The Spanish government denied the report, however.
Corporate news came from BP which got maintained at OUTPERFORM by Credit Suisse. Low valuation of BP shares was the reason behind the recommendation. BP shares was up 2.8% at 385.6 pence at the close.
Volkswag
en also gained on Thursday after its importer in Turkey, Dogus Otomotiv Servis & Ticaret AS expected an increase in sales by 48% to more than 75,000 units this year. Low interest rates were cited as boosting sales. VW’s shares ended 2.1% higher at 79.21 euros.Boeing was upgraded by Goldman Sachs. The EPS was upgraded to $1.15 per share from $1.12 per share. Profit margin from the company was expected to improve along with the declining research costs and improving volume. Boeing edged up 0.9% to $61.32.
Following up the rivalry between Dell and Hewlett-Packard for acquiring 3Par, HP has offered a new proposal to 3Par with the price bid up to $27 per share, from prior bid of $24 per share. Dell recently upped the bid to $24.30. According to analysts, the deal is more important for Dell than for HP as Dell could boost its product range while HP may gain less although it could pressure the Dell’s potential to improve in the high-end data center area. Also on Thursday, HP said it acquired Stratavia, a Denver-based database and application automation.
Today’s events include the speech from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke at Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The markets will be eager to hear Bernanke’s new updates on the economy, if any. Finally, the economic data due today will be the GDP revision which has been expected to be at 1.4% in Q2. Prior estimate was at 2.4%.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
European Review – DAX Up, FTSE Down
Frankfurt’s DAX index rose marginally by 0.37% or 23.42 points to settle at 6,331.33 points while FTSE index was tripped by grim spending outlook in UK. FTSE ended at 5,386.16 or down by 10.32 points (-0.19%).
DAX’s advance owed to the positive US data as ISM for service sector edged up from 53.8 to 54.3, while ADP report on private hiring in US showed an increase of 42,000 jobs in July after a revised reading of +19,000 in June. The result beat the consensus of 30,000. Bayer AG, BMW, and BASF were the top gainers on Wednesday with gains of 1.31%, 1.20%, and 1.20%, respectively.
Allianz, Europe’s largest insurer by gross premiums and market capitalization is seen to book a 39% decline in net profit in 2Q10. The drop was attributed to lower income on investment and higher costs due to earthquakes and other natural disasters. Analysts forecast net profit to have dropped to EUR1.5 billion from EUR1.87 billion (yoy), operating profit to have risen 2.9% to EUR1.84 billion from EUR1.79 billion, and total revenue to have increased to EUR23.24 billion from EUR22.17 billion. Allianz itself had previously expected an operating profit around EUR7.2 billion for 2010, plus or minus EUR500 million.
One of the top gainers in Frankfurt, Bayer AG reported that its Xarelto drug was deemed as effective as the standard therapy of blood clots therapy in the lungs and legs. The trial has reached late-stage of the clinical trial. Bayer ended up 1.31% at 46.57 euros.
In London, FTSE index shed 0.2% to 5,386.16 as the market worried about the prospect of the retailer sector due to possible cooling in consumer demand. Retailer like Marks & Spencer was down 2.9%. On the positive note, BP announced that the Macondo well has finally reached a static condition, stepping further into completely stopping the oil spill from entering the Gulf of Mexico. At Bernstein, BP was initiated with a Market Perform with target set at $40 (US-listed). BP shares went up 1.4% on Wednesday.
Barclays Plc is expected to report 1H10 net income of 2.14 billion pounds on Thursday, while consumer goods giant Unilever is seen to report its 2Q net income of 1.08 billion euros according to Bloomberg’s poll of analysts.
On the economy news, PM David Cameron’s plan to reduce budget significantly has prompted the BOE’s governor Mervyn King to set aside his inflation target to protect the UK’s economy. Currently, the rates stand at 0.5% while inflation has been above 3% since March and was at 3.2% in June. King said earlier that rates is likely to stay above the bank’s target “for much of next year”.
DAX’s advance owed to the positive US data as ISM for service sector edged up from 53.8 to 54.3, while ADP report on private hiring in US showed an increase of 42,000 jobs in July after a revised reading of +19,000 in June. The result beat the consensus of 30,000. Bayer AG, BMW, and BASF were the top gainers on Wednesday with gains of 1.31%, 1.20%, and 1.20%, respectively.
Allianz, Europe’s largest insurer by gross premiums and market capitalization is seen to book a 39% decline in net profit in 2Q10. The drop was attributed to lower income on investment and higher costs due to earthquakes and other natural disasters. Analysts forecast net profit to have dropped to EUR1.5 billion from EUR1.87 billion (yoy), operating profit to have risen 2.9% to EUR1.84 billion from EUR1.79 billion, and total revenue to have increased to EUR23.24 billion from EUR22.17 billion. Allianz itself had previously expected an operating profit around EUR7.2 billion for 2010, plus or minus EUR500 million.
One of the top gainers in Frankfurt, Bayer AG reported that its Xarelto drug was deemed as effective as the standard therapy of blood clots therapy in the lungs and legs. The trial has reached late-stage of the clinical trial. Bayer ended up 1.31% at 46.57 euros.
In London, FTSE index shed 0.2% to 5,386.16 as the market worried about the prospect of the retailer sector due to possible cooling in consumer demand. Retailer like Marks & Spencer was down 2.9%. On the positive note, BP announced that the Macondo well has finally reached a static condition, stepping further into completely stopping the oil spill from entering the Gulf of Mexico. At Bernstein, BP was initiated with a Market Perform with target set at $40 (US-listed). BP shares went up 1.4% on Wednesday.
Barclays Plc is expected to report 1H10 net income of 2.14 billion pounds on Thursday, while consumer goods giant Unilever is seen to report its 2Q net income of 1.08 billion euros according to Bloomberg’s poll of analysts.
On the economy news, PM David Cameron’s plan to reduce budget significantly has prompted the BOE’s governor Mervyn King to set aside his inflation target to protect the UK’s economy. Currently, the rates stand at 0.5% while inflation has been above 3% since March and was at 3.2% in June. King said earlier that rates is likely to stay above the bank’s target “for much of next year”.
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