European Markets Edge Higher

Market Update Analysis:

Author: 123jump.com Staff
123jump.com
Last Update: 6:37 PM EST January 29 2008

Industrials, mining, and financial stocks led rally across Europe and lifted stocks in Paris by 1.9%, in London and Zurich by 1.6%, and in Frankfurt by 1.1%. Broker recommendations lifted stocks of AP Moeller- Maersk, Siemens, and MAN. Luxottica q4 sales increased 7.1% on retailer Oakley acquisition. IMF lowered its 2008 economic growth forecast for Europe by 0.5% to 1.6%. Societe Generale rises on BNP bid speculation and Sarkozy assertion that executives should face consequencies for losses.

10:00PM Frankfurt, 4:00PM New York, 8:00AM Sydney – U.S. stocks rallied on the hopes that the Fed will lower rates at the end of the 2-day meeting scheduled to end tomorrow. Valero, Zimmer, and Tesoro rallied on earnings.

European Markets

In London FTSE 100 Index closed higher 96.30 or 1.66% to 5,885.20, in Paris CAC 40 Index increased 93.15 or 1.92% to close at 4,941.45 and in Frankfurt DAX index higher 74.11 or 1.09% to close at 6,892.96. In Zurich trading SMI increased 122.66 or 1.62% to close at 7,704.39.

North American Markets indexes

Dow Jones Industrial Average added 96.41 or 0.78% to a close of 12,480.30, S&P 500 closed up 8.33 or 0.66% to 1,362.30, and Nasdaq Composite Index traded up 8.15 or 0.35% to a close of 2,358.06.

In Toronto TSX Composite closed up 59.53 or 0.46% to close at 13,046.43.

Of the 30 stocks in Dow Jones Industrial Average, 19 closed higher, 11 closed lower, and none were unchanged.

Boeing company led the gainers in the index with a rise of 4.33% followed by increases in JP Morgan Chase of 4.13%, in AT&T of 4.09%, in Alcoa of 3.8%, in AIG of 3.62%, and in General Motors of 2.56%. Merck & company led the decliners 2.5%, in Disney of 1.94%, in Coca Cola of 1.4%, and in Hewlett Packard of 0.96%.

Of the stocks in S&P 500, 334 closed higher, 162 fell, and 4 were unchanged.

One hundred and forty four stocks rose more than 3% and eight stocks fell more than 3%.

Pepsi Bottling Group led the decliners in the index with a fall of 9.6%, followed by losses in Smith International of 8.4%, in Clear Channel of 7.2%, and in US Steel of 6.8%. Ambac Financial Group led the gainers in the index with a rise of 16% followed by increases in Unisys of 15%, in Lexmark of 15.06%, in Zimmer Holdings of 13%, and in Valero Energy of 10.35%.

South American Markets Indexes

In Latin Markets Chile led the advancers in the region with a gain of 3.16% followed by increases in Peru of 2.51%, in Mexico of 1.82%, in Colombia of 1.43%, and in Venezuela of 0.50%.

Asian Markets

In Tokyo Nikkei 225 Index closed higher 390.95 or 2.99% to 13,478.86, in Hong Kong Hang Seng index increased 238.19 or 0.99% closed to 24,291.80. , in Australia ASX 200 index lower 143.80 or 2.45% to close 5,716.50.

In South Korea Kospi Index increased 10.72 or 0.66% to close at 1,637.91, in Thailand SET index closed higher 10.51 or 1.41% to 754.87, and Indonesia JSE Index edged increased 25.79 or 1.00% to 2,607.84. Sensex index in India decreased 60.80 or 0.33% to 18,091.94.

Bond Yields increased on 10-year U.S. bonds to 3.68% and on 30-year bonds gained to 4.36%.

Commodities, Metals, and Currencies

Crude oil gained $1.30 to close at $92.29 per barrel for a front month contract, natural gas decreased 12.00 cents to $7.93 per mBtu, and gasoline futures increased 1.520 cents to close at 234.050 cents per gallon.

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