American House Prices Help US Equities
US equity markets edged marginally higher in early trading today following a report that pointed to further signs of stabilisation in American house prices.
Equity market gains were later relinquished on the back of an unexpected drop in US consumer confidence data and a surge mortgage delinquencies, however.
The S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index was the first macroeconomic [...]
US Equity and Commodities Markets Update
US equity markets opened the week in positive territory today as broker upgrades and merger-and-acquisition activity fuelled risk appetite.
JC Penney, the third-largest US department-store chain, was 1.8% higher at $28.89 a share this afternoon after Morgan Stanley upped its recommendation from ‘equal weight’ to ‘overweight’. The bank highlighted the fact that the retailer trades [...]
S+P 500 Poised to Fall
US equity markets opened lower this afternoon, as last night’s brief rally offered investors an opportunity to lock in gains.
As a matter of fact, JPMorgan Chase today said the uninterrupted rise in the S&P 500 since its March lows has left the index vulnerable to a sell-off. The bank predicted that the index is [...]
Jobs Data Pushes US Equity Markets Down
US equity markets opened in the red once again this afternoon, as a disappointing rise in the number of new jobless claim filings indicates that the US labour market still remains weak, despite recent signs of stabilisation.
The jobless claims report revealed that the total number of Americans claiming unemployment benefits for more than a [...]
FTSE 100 Index Boosted
The FTSE was given a boost this afternoon following a slow morning after positive figures coming out of Wall Street.
The Dow Jones is up 95.53 points (1.15%) to 8418.44 and the Nasdaq is up 37.11 points (2.10%) to 1802.03. By 4pm, the FTSE 100 was boosted significantly by these results, garnering 50.62 points (1.20%) [...]
US Equity Markets Open Up
US equity markets opened higher today, as yesterday’s biggest one-day loss in two months encouraged investors to re-enter the market in search of value.
A reassuring note from Moody’s Investor Service may have also helped bolster sentiment at the start of trading, but the release of weak housing data later in the afternoon suppressed earlier [...]
Commodities, Miners and Energy Majors Fall
US stock markets opened lower this afternoon, as downward global growth revisions by The World Bank encouraged investors to take profits across various sectors.
‘The worries are still out there,’ said John Wilson at Morgan Keegan & Co. ‘Nobody is ready to get the trumpets out and herald the end of the recession.’ [1]
The [...]
US Equities Get a Boost
The release of better-than-expected US macroeconomic data helped provide a much needed shot of adrenaline to US equities this afternoon.
In a sudden turn of events, the US Labor Department today unveiled that the total number of Americans claiming unemployment benefits for more than a week (continuing jobless claims) tumbled by 148,000 from the week [...]
Wall Street Under Pressure from Macroeconomic Data
The release of downbeat US macroeconomic data as well as poor results from package delivery company FedEx, which forecast an ‘extremely difficult’ operating period ahead, weighed on Wall Street’s open today.
An official government report released this afternoon has revealed that the cost of living in the United States rose at a slower pace than [...]
Wall Street Equity Market Indices Update
Further signs of stabilisation in the US housing market fuelled a positive start to Wall Street trading today.
However, separate reports also released today showed elevated deflationary risks and a sharp drop in industrial production data – a rather conflicting sign, in my opinion, which is not in any way characteristic of a sustainable economic [...]