U.S. MARKET AVERAGES
The morning opening in the market has been on a cautious note. The earnings releases before the market opening showed Xerox still lagging in its restructuring efforts and released earnings well below market expectations.
Other earnings negative surprises from the notable companies this morning include, Arch Coal, Bell South and Valero LP. Fording Canadian Coal Trust this morning reported earnings jump of nine fold to $123 million in the second quarter.
The coal company Fording Market is awaiting earnings from American Express.
ECONOMIC NEWS
Existing-home sales surpassed market expectations and reached another record in June as low mortgage interest rates and favorable market conditions continued to attract buyers, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Total existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – rose 2.7 percent in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 7.33 million from an upwardly revised pace of 7.14 million in May. Sales were 4.4 percent above the 7.02 million-unit level in June 2004; the previous record was 7.18 million in April of this year.
The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $219,000 in June, up 14.7 percent from June 2004 when the median price was $191,000; this is the strongest increase since November 1980 when annual appreciation was 15.6 percent.
INTERNATIONAL MARKET NEWS
Asian benchmarks closed mostly higher. Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.6%, lifted by top domestic companies ahead of the new-week earnings reports and U.S. markets gains Friday. Among the gainers were energy companies benefiting from strong crude-oil prices and commodity-based firms, such as Teikoku Oil which gained 1.6% and Nippon Mining which added 3.3%. Australia’s All Ordinaries advanced 0.3%, South Korea’s Kospi climbed 1.4%, and Taiwan’s Taiex was up 0.6%. Averages in China and Singapore ended down.
European stocks traded mixed at mid-day, reflecting positive corporate news and losses from tech companies and food producers which offset gains made by the oil and gas sector. U.K.’s FTSE made the strongest performance, climbing 0.4% as markets continue to recover from last week’s terrorist attacks and traders are in the process of digesting earnings updates from Vodafone and Pearson. The German DAX 30 was flat, trading amid a rise in import prices of 1.6%. The French CAC 40 added 0.1% with traders’ attention focused on France Telecom which is likely to win the auction for Spanish operator Amena and Danone which slid 8.3% after PepsiCo reported it wasn’t planning to bid for the French dairy company.
ENERGY, METALS AND CURRENCIES MARKETS
Crude-oil futures dropped after Friday’s intense rally as supply fears eased and are further expected to decrease and slip below $55 a barrel in the last quarter. Light sweet crude for September delivery declined 69 cents to $57.96 in electronic trading on the NYME after it rose $1.52 Friday. Heating oil dropped 1 cent to $1.5715 a gallon. London Brent September delivery lost 49 cents to trade at $57.09 on the International Petroleum Exchange.
Gold changed little after falling Friday as the dollar gained against the euro. Gold for immediate delivery rose 20 cents to $425.20 per ounce and 30 cents for August delivery to reach $425.30 per ounce in after-hours trading on the NYME.
China’s yuan gained against the U.S. dollar after currency limits were relaxed for the first time in a decade. The yuan ended trading at 8.1097 against the dollar, up from 8.11. Against other currencies the greenback was firm, trading at 111.55 yen and $1.2052 per euro.
EARNINGS AND CORPORATE NEWS
Pilgrim’s Pride, poultry producer, reported 2Q earnings jump of $1.28 per share compared with 15 cents a year earlier , beating expectations of $1.20 per share.
Veeco Instruments, semiconductor equipment maker, posted 2Q net loss of 2 cents a share vs. a loss of 6 cents a year ago on revenue growth of $103.4 million. Excluding non-recurring items earnings would have been 9 cents a share, beating estimates of 6 cents a share. |
