U.S. MARKET AVERAGES

Session’s trading for the day remained lackluster despite positive earnings from several companies, generally weak oil and commodities, rebounding dollar and bonds. Major averages did not post significant gains and stocks in general remained under pressure. At the opening the there are 31 news highs on NYSE and 27 on Nasdaq but there are also 29 new lows on Nasdaq.

The financing unit GMAC of General Motors announced that it has agreed to sell $55 billion worth of financial assets to Bank of America over the next five years. This will allow the company to finance more vehicles in the coming years. The GM’s shares were up as high as 3% during the day.

Earnings parade is at its peak. International Paper beat the estimates by 4 cents on low revenue growth, DuPont earnings doubled to 90 cents but failed to meet the estimates of $1.01 but Wrigley traded up 3% on strong earnings growth of 17% in second quarter to 72 cents beating estimates of 68 cents. Shares of Texas Instruments, Black & Decker, BP PLC, and Netflix traded higher during the session on strong earnings reports.

Lexmark shares dropped as low as 13% on lower earnings outlook for the current quarter and for the year. The company released 2Q earnings of 64 cents vs. $1.02 a year ago. The decline in earnings was related to the tax related to profit repatriation otherwise the earnings would have been at $1.06 meeting the estimates. The company guided 3Q earnings between 95 cents to $1.05 and predicated difficult market condition for the quarter.

US Steel reported 2Q earnings of $1.88 compared to $1.62 a year ago on revenue growth of 4%. The stock jumped as high as 4.9% during the day.

Medco Health Solutions reported 2Q earnings of 48 cents compared to 46 cents a year ago on 2% rise in revenue. The company expects to complete its acquisition of specialty drug distributor Accredo Health by the mid August.


ECONOMIC NEWS

Conference Board reported consumer confidence fell from 106.2 in June to 103.2 in July. “This month’s decline in Consumer Confidence is no cause for concern,” says Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board’s Consumer Research Center. “The overall state of the economy remains healthy and consumers’ outlook suggests no storm clouds on the short-term horizon. Even the steady upward tick of fuel prices at the pump has done relatively little to dampen consumers’ spirits. Yet, while there is little to suggest a downturn in activity, there is also little to suggest a pickup.”
The outlook for the labor market was mixed. Consumers expecting more jobs to become available in the coming months edged up to 15.8 percent from 15.4 percent, while those expecting fewer jobs also edged up to 16.8 percent from 16.4 percent in June. The proportion of consumers anticipating their incomes will increase in the months ahead declined to 18.6 percent from 19.9 percent last month.


The Chinese Central Bank said it has no plans to let the yuan rise sharply, pointing out that last-week’s 2% increase was part of an exchange-rate reform, not a prelude to a series of increases as some speculations say.

INTERNATIONAL MARKET NEWS

European stocks closed mixed, reflecting slightly disappointing earnings news from closely watched companies such as semiconductor Infineon Technology and auto maker Peugeot. Averages in Germany added 0.02% as investors were digesting data, stating that the business climate index rose to 95 in July, up from 93 in June. The French and the U.K. indexes ended down 0.03% and 0.3% respectively.

Asian-Pacific benchmarks ended mixed, trading amid Wall Street losses and crude-oil gains. Japan’s Nikkei lost 0.2% as investors remained cautious, awaiting important earnings reports later in the day from Nissan Motor and Advantest Group. Taiwan’s Weighted Index shed 0.9% after earnings from the chip giant Taiwan Semiconductor. The other markets in the region ended up, supported by optimism for domestic corporate profits. China’s Shanghai Composite climbed 2.6%, South Korea’s Kospi added 0.2%, and Singapore’s Straits Times rose 0.5%. The dollar traded in the upper half of 111-yen in early trading in Tokyo and fetched 810.97 yuan. Crude-oil for September delivery rose 37 cents to $59.02 a barrel on the NYME.

ENERGY, METALS AND CURRENCIES MARKETS

The oil remained volatile and at close was up 20 cents to $59.20.

The U.S. currency advanced as China announced it won’t revalue the yuan again soon. The dollar rose 0.8% against the yen and last traded at 112.30 in late-morning trading in the U.S. The greenback gained 0.4% against the euro and quoted at $1.2024; it was also up against the pound to trade at $1.7396.

Gold and other precious metals traded lower, pressured by the strong U.S. dollar after China said there won’t be another revaluation of its currency soon. Gold for August delivery fell $2.40 to $423.50 per ounce on the NYMEX. Silver for September delivery was down 12.5 cents to $7.018 per ounce. September copper fell by 1.2 cents to stand at $1.606 a pound.

The U.S. dollar climbed against the yen on fading expectations of further revaluation of the yuan, reaching 112.17 yen, up from 111.41. In early European trading the euro fell to $1.2016, down from $1.2062; the pound traded at $1.7373, up from $1.7464. In London gold futures traded lower at $424.60 per ounce, down from $425.40.