Dow UP 68, Nasdaq Up 30 - Market Update

Market Update Analysis:

Dow UP 68, Nasdaq Up 30

Author: 123jump.com Staff
123jump.com
Last Update: 4:02 PM EDT September 25 2006

Market averages rebounded in the afternoon trading to the high for the day. Tech stocks led the charge with Apple and semi-conductor stocks gaining up more than 3%. Existing home sales fell 0.5% to an annual rate of 6.3 million and median home price fell to $225,000 in August. The fisrt median home price decline in ten years. Class action status was awarded to a light cigarette case by a U.S. federal court judge. Indexes rose despite 4% decline in Altria, parent of Philip Morris USA.

4:00PM Averages rebounded on improved outlook on economy. Existing home sales fell and oil managed to close higher.

-Yield on 10-year bond closed at 4.55% and 30-year bond closed at 4.7%.

-Crude oil bounced 95 cents to close at $61.50 and natural gas traded at $4.50 down 12 cents near close.

-Gold closed up 40 cents to $590.40, silver rose 1 cent to $11.32 and copper closed nearly unchanged to $3.4475.

-Asian Markets closed lower with a negative bias led by 0.5% decline in India and 0.3% fall in Hong Kong and Indonesia. However, Thailand bounced back 0.74% and South Korea traded up 0.5% and Japan closed nearly unchanged.

-European Markets closed nearly unchanged with the UK down 0.4%, Norway dropped 3.5% and Switzerland closed 0.3% lower. Germany rose 0.31% but France, Netherlands and Spain were nearly unchanged with a mild positive bias.

-Latin American Markets advanced at close led by 0.9% in Mexico and 0.6% in Brazil. Mexican market traded lower during the day on profit taking and Brazil market was hurt by lower commodity prices and upcoming first round of Presidential election next week. Canada traded lower on volatile oil and metals prices.

12:30PM European markets closed mixed.
European markets closed mixed Monday, reflecting different reactions to sharply lower crude oil futures. Continuing consolidation in the pharmaceutical sector with a multibillion-dollar merger deal in the spotlight, provided some help. Germany’s Schwarz Pharma rallied 16.7% at 88.25 euros a share after Belgium''s UCB agreed to pay 4.4 billion euros in cash and stock for the company. Shares of other European drug companies in Europe also rose, with Shire Plc up1.8%, Stada Arzneimittel, higher by 3.5%, and Elan, up 4.8%.The German DAX 30 gained 0.3%, boosted by automakers like BMW and Volkswagen which rose 1% on weak oil prices. The French CAC 40 added 0.1%, while London FTSE 100 slipped 0.4%, dragged by weak commodities futures. BP fell 1.8% after announcing it may fully restore Alaskan production in a week.

Oil prices dropped to a six-month low below $60. Light sweet crude November delivery dropped 39 cents to $59.53 before bouncing back to $60.16. London Brent November contract lost 88 cents to $59.53. Gasoline lost a penny to $1.46 a gallon. Natural gas futures fell 10 cents to $4.52 per 1,000 cubic feet. The U.S. dollar gained ground versus major currencies. The euro traded at $1.2737, down from $1.2787. The dollar bought 116.55 yen, up from 116.45. The British pound stood at $1.8988, down from $1.9006. European gold declined. In London the precious metal traded at $585.10, down from $586 per ounce. In Zurich gold traded at $584.25, down from $585.25. Silver closed at $11, down from $11.13.

11:30AM stocks lost direction amid home sales data.
Stocks lost direction, reversing from early strength, provided by oil prices which fell to six-month lows when BP PLC said it had permission to restart the eastern half of Alaska''s Prudhoe Bay oil field. Market sentiment was hurt by existing home sales data, showing that sales fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.30 million units, slightly down from expectations. The National Association of Realtors reported that the median home price for August was $225,000, compared with a revised $230,000 in July, marking the fist median price decline since 1995. The drop was the second-biggest in the survey''s 38-year history.

Energy stocks extended recent decline, with Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM: chart) fell 1%, while BP (BP: chart) fell 1.7%, and Chevron Corp. (CVX: chart) dropped 1.02%.In company news, tobacco stocks fell after a federal judge granted class action status to millions of ‘light cigarette’ smokers for a potential $200 billion lawsuit against tobacco companies. Altria Group Inc. (MO: chart) fell 4.5%; Reynolds American Inc. (RAI: chart) fell 2.6%, Loews Corp. (LTR: chart) lost 0.5%. In late morning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.64, or 0.01%. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index fell 0.03 to 1,314.75, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 2.98, or 0.13%.Bonds rose, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note at 4.56%, down from 4.59% Friday.

Existing home sales fell less than anticipated.
Monday morning, the National Association of Realtors released its report on existing home sales in the month of August, showing that sales fell a little less than economists had expected. NAR said that the data shows that the housing market is at a more sustainable pace. The report showed that existing home sales fell 0.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.30 million units in August from a 6.33 million unit rate in Ju1y. Economists had expected sales to fall to a 6.25 million unit rate. The report also showed that total housing inventory levels rose 1.5 percent to 3.92 million existing homes available for sale at the end of August. This represents a 7.5-month supply at the current sales pace, which marks the highest supply since April of 1993.

10:30 The benchmark index declines in final hour of trading on selling pressure.
The Sensex on BSE retreated 63.19 points, to settle at 12,173.59. The market-breadth, positive at the opening, turned negative later, as small and mid-caps sank. Against 988 shares that advanced, 1,495 declined and 78 stocks remained unchanged. From the 30-Sensex stocks, 21 declined while the rest advanced. The turnover on BSE was Rs 3,228 crore. The turnover on NSE was Rs 6,168.62 crore.

Most active stocks

Reliance Industries was the most-active stocks on BSE with a total turnover of Rs 206.70 crore, followed by Tulip IT Services (Rs 150.65 crore) and Tata Steel (Rs 103.27 crore).

Advancers

Tata Steel led the gainers, up 2.33%, to Rs 508.25 on a high volume of 20.40 lakh shares. It had traded in a range of Rs 513.45 - Rs 491.65. Tata Motors advanced 1.10%, to Rs 844.50, on a volume of 4.89 lakh shares. It dropped from the day high of Rs 857.45. The company plans to invest about Rs 400 crore in Argentina. The venture will be part of an agreement that the company signed recently with Fiat.

Index heavy Reliance Industries advanced 0.98%, to Rs 1,166.50, on a volume of 17.70 lakh shares. It has struck gas in an exploration block off the east coast, the potential of which is yet to be ascertained.

Among non-Sensex stocks, construction and mining firm Atlanta listed on BSE today at Rs 170, over the IPO price of Rs 150. The stock hit a low of Rs 170 and a high of Rs 209.50. It finished at Rs 192.30 on a high volume of 1.12 crore shares.

1 2 3