U.S. Stocks Recover on Microsoft Offer

Market Update Analysis:

Author: 123jump.com Staff
123jump.com
Last Update: 9:04 AM EST February 01 2008

Microsoft bid for Yahoo dominated trading as investors digested possibilities of other hostile offers on the back of recent declines in stock prices. Dow Jones finished higher today, up 4.4% for the week. Exxon reported record earnings for the quarter and for the year on the rising demand and prices of crude oil. Chevron also reported solid increase in earnings. construction spending declined in December and in 2007. Payroll declined in December by 17,000 sparking fears of recession.

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.

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