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Stock futures higher as markets poised to finish week on positive note

davidguide — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 11:51:47 +0000

Diane Alter – AHN News Reporter

New York, NY, United States (AHN) – Stock index futures point to extended gains for Wall Street Friday as traders remain upbeat on the U.S. economy.

Shortly before the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 38 points to 13,209, the Standard & Poor’s 500 futures eked up 3.3 points and the NASDAQ futures climbed 8.8 points.

The closely watched S&P benchmark, because of its diversity, surpassed the 1,400 threshold Thursday for the first time since before the 2008 financial crisis. All three indexes have made impressive gains in recent trading sessions.

The markets in general have gotten a lift from optimistic data on the recovering U.S. economy, coupled with easing fears about the European debt crisis.

Market participants will be eyeing three key economic reports on Friday.

Before the open, a report on Inflation at the consumer level showed an increase of 0.4 percent in February, in line with estimates, with a spike in gas prices accounting for almost 80 percent of the rise. Excluding the food and energy components, prices were up 0.1 percent, slightly less than the 0.2 percent forecast.

Later on Friday, data from the Federal Reserve is expected to show production in the U.S. industrial sector grew at 0.4 percent in February from the prior month. Two regional manufacturing reports came in ahead of expectations on Thursday.

Also expected is a report on consumer sentiment which is expected to show a very slight, but positive, rise in early March. Rising gasoline prices may have also taken its toll here, too.

In premarket trading, oil rose 40 cents to $105.51 a barrel, and gold gave back $13,00 to $1,646 a troy ounce.

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AstraZeneca: The Street Is too Pessimistic on This High Dividend Big Pharma Stock

davidguide — Tue, 17 May 2011 19:59:01 +0000

A lot of investors are avoiding big pharmaceutical stocks like AstraZeneca ( AZN ), and this might be just the time to get back into these stocks before they go considerably higher.

At the height of unemployment, abysmal consumer sentiment, a reduction in the insured population and legislative uncertainty all gave investors pause. AstraZeneca was further punished because it entered 2011 facing steepening generic competition.

The good news, however, is these headwinds are already priced into the market, and at 8.5x 2012 earnings expectations – the low end of its historical PE range – AstraZeneca offers plenty of upside. Especially when we consider how many mutual funds and hedge funds are underweight and short the sector.

Investors shouldn’t be surprised AstraZeneca saw sales fall 3.4% year-over-year last quarter. After all, we were well aware of the pending shortfall as generics cut into top sellers like cancer drug Armidex, which saw sales halved. Complete Story »

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Suzlon expects emerging economies to push sales; stock jumps

davidguide — Mon, 16 May 2011 06:05:49 +0000

Suzlon Energy expects consolidated sales at Rs 24,000 cr-26,000 cr this fiscal on back of recovery in wind energy market in emerging economies.

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LSE profit rises 68%

davidguide — Fri, 13 May 2011 07:58:43 +0000

LONDON (MarketWatch) — London Stock Exchange Group PLC said Friday that its fiscal-year net profit rose 68% to 151.6 million pounds ($246.9 million) as revenue grew 7.4% to 674.9 million pounds. The group said growth in sales from its data and technology operations more than offset a drop in trading revenue. Lower operating expenses also helped drive growth in the bottom line, it added. The LSE said the pipeline of companies seeking to raise capital on its markets is encouraging and that trading on its derivatives platforms increased in April, while U.K. equities trading fell due to the holidays in the month.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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Australian Stock Market Report 05/09/2011

davidguide — Mon, 09 May 2011 02:02:42 +0000

US non-farm payrolls rose by a much larger than expected 244,000 in April – marking the biggest increase in 11 months. The private sector created 268,000 jobs, with jobs growth in the retail sector (+57,000) marking the largest monthly increase in over a decade. However the jobless rate did rise from 8.8pct to 9.0pct in April.

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Australian Stock Market Report – Morning 29/04/2011

davidguide — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 01:57:36 +0000

US economic growth slowed from a 3.1pct annual pace in the fourth quarter to 1.8pct in the March quarter. Economists had expected growth of around 2pct. US jobless claims rose by 25,000 to 429,000 in the last week.

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Wall Street’s mixed economic news

davidguide — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 09:57:43 +0000

Chris Wragge talks to CBS business and economics correspondent Rebecca Jarvis about the stock market, unemployment numbers and gas prices and what the news means for …

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US stock markets close higher

davidguide — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 23:18:56 +0000

US stock markets have closed higher as traders welcomed a drop in US unemployment.

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US stock futures up ahead of economic data

davidguide — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 10:59:36 +0000

Futures on major U.S. indices point to a higher opening on Thursday ahead of economic data including key weekly jobless claims and non-farm productivity.

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Fire razes popular Lethem business

davidguide — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 11:02:37 +0000

A fire last evening completely destroyed a popular Lethem business establishment consuming millions in stock and leaving at least 20 persons jobless. The blaze, which started at approximately 6.30… View full article at stabroeknews.com

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