European Markets Soar on Rio Tinto Stake

Market Update Analysis:

Author: 123jump.com Staff
123jump.com
Last Update: 6:47 PM EST February 01 2008

European stock markets gained 2% or more after two aluminum companies teamed to bid for a stake in Rio Tinto. The 12% stake purchased by Chinalco and Alcoa at 21% premium lifted mood across the region. U.K., France, the Netherlands, and Norway gained nearly 2.5%. Mining companies across the region closed higher. ThyssenKrupp gained 6% after it reported to buyback stocks and may be make acqusitions. Vinci in Paris traded higer on quarterly sales rise.

10:00PM Frankfurt, 4:00PM New York, 8:00AM Sydney – U.S. stocks edged higher on the earnings from Exxon Mobil, Google, and Chevron. Microsoft made an unsolicited offer for Yahoo at $44.6 billion, the second largest takeover in the technology sector. Payroll in January fell.

European Markets

In London FTSE 100 Index closed higher 149.40 or 2.54% to 6,029.20, in Paris CAC 40 Index increased 108.27 or 2.22% to close at 4,978.06 and in Frankfurt DAX index added 116.92 or 1.71% to close at 6,968.67. In Zurich trading SMI increased 145.54 or 1.90% to close at 7,815.98.

North American Markets indexes

Dow Jones Industrial Average added 92.83 or 0.73% to a close of 12,743.19, S&P 500 closed up 16.87 or 1.22% to 1,395.42, and Nasdaq Composite Index traded up 23.50 or 0.98% to a close of 2,413.36.

In Toronto TSX Composite closed up 163.27 or 1.24% to close at 13,318.37.

Of the 30 stocks in Dow Jones Industrial Average, 22 closed higher, 8 closed lower, and none were unchanged.

Citigroup led the gainers in the index with a rise of 5.4% followed by increases in 3.6%, in Intel of 3.2%, and in Disney of 2.75%. Microsoft led the decliners in the index with a loss of 6.6% followed by declines in Home Depot of 0.6%, in AT&T of 0.55%, and in Exxon Mobil of 0.52%.

Of the stocks in S&P 500, 433 closed higher, 65 fell, and 2 were unchanged. One hundred and forty stocks rose more than 3% and seven stocks fell more than 3%.

Yahoo led the gainers in the index with a rise of 48% followed by gains in CA Inc of 19.6%, in Altera of 14.98%, in Ambac Financial of 13.4%, in Micron of 11.7%, and in Motorola of 10.4%. Google led the decliners in the index with a fall of 8.6% followed by losses in Millipore Corp of 7.9%, in Microsoft of 6.6%, in Safeco of 5.1%, and in Amazon.com of 3.95%.

South American Markets Indexes

In Latin Markets Brazil led the advancers in the region with a gain of 2.67% followed by increases in Peru of 2.36%, in Mexico of 2.21%, in Argentina of 1.89%, in Chile of 0.79%, and in Colombia of 0.79%. Venezuela added 0.68%.

Asian Markets

In Tokyo Nikkei 225 Index closed lower 95.31 or 0.70% to 13,497.16, in Hong Kong Hang Seng index increased 667.84 or 2.85% closed to 24,123.58, in Australia ASX 200 index higher 192.60 or 3.41% to close 5,842.90.

In South Korea Kospi Index increased 9.85 or 0.61% to close at 1,634.53, in Thailand SET index closed higher 26.63 or 3.40% to 810.86, and Indonesia JSE Index edged increased 19.57 or 0.74% to 2,646.82. Sensex index in India increased 593.90 or 3.37% to 18,242.58.

Bond Yields decreased on 10-year U.S. bonds to 3.59% and on 30-year bonds gained to 4.31%.

Commodities, Metals, and Currencies

Crude oil lost $2.90 to close at $88.850 per barrel for a front month contract, natural gas decreased 37 cents to $7.70 per mBtu, and gasoline futures increased 7.38 cents to close at 228.34 cents per gallon.