Market Action
- US: Dow: 12847.17 (1.12%), S&P 500: 1342.64 (1.29%), NASDAQ: 2902.85 (1.51%)
- Europe: CAC: 3427.92 (1.50%), DAX: 6766.67 (1.64%), FTSE: 5901.07 (1.78%).
- Asia:China: 2330.40 (0.77%),Hong Kong: 20756.98 (0.08%),India: 5325.85 (1.06%),Japan: 8831.93 (-0.51%)
- Metals: Gold: 1738.00 (-1.21%), Silver: 33.70 (-1.38%), Copper: 3.90 (3.15%)
- Energy: Crude Oil: 97.04 (0.71%), Natural Gas: 2.50 (-2.31%)
- Commodities: Corn: 6.42 (-0.12%), Soya Bean: 12.33 (1.38%), Wheat: 6.63 (0.04%)
- Currency: EUR/USD: 1.3140 (-0.03%), GBP/USD: 1.5810 (0.03%), USD/JPY: 76.5700 (0.46%)
- 10 year US Treasury: 1.947% (0.126)
Market News Update
US markets rally: The markets zoomed deep into the green after the all-important monthly jobs report and a gauge of service-sector activity whizzed past expectations. As of12:36 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 143 points, or 1.1%, to 12849, the S&P 500 gained 17.1 points, or 1.3%, to 1343 and the NASDAQ Composite rose 45 points, or 1.6%, to 2905.
http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/03/markets/markets_newyork/index.htm
Job growth surges: The economy created jobs at the fastest pace in nine months in January and the unemployment rate dropped to a near three-year low of 8.3 percent, indicating last quarter’s growth carried into early 2012. Nonfarm payroll jumped 243,000, the Labor Department said on Friday, the most since April and beating economists’ expectations for a gain of only 150,000. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203711104577200730710149216.html?mod=WSJ_Markets_LEFTTopStories
Factory orders post second straight monthly rise: New orders for U.S. factory-made products posted a second straight monthly rise in December and business capital spending also picked up, a government report on Friday showed. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/03/us-usa-economy-factory-idUSTRE81211G20120203
Growth in services sector accelerates: he pace of growth in the U.S. services sector accelerated in January to its highest level in nearly a year as new orders and employment jumped, an industry report showed on Friday. The Institute for Supply Management said its services index rose to 56.8 last month from a revised 53.0 in December. It was the highest level since February 2011.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39517950/ns/business-stocks_and_economy/
Oil prices up: Oil prices rose on Friday after a government report showed the U.S. economy in January created jobs at the fastest pace in nine months, fueling hopes of stronger demand in the top petroleum-consuming nation. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-03/oil-rises-for-first-time-in-six-days-as-u-s-unemployment-rate-declines.html
Company News Update
- Shares of General Motors (GM) and Ford (F) surged on Friday following strong data on theU.S. job market.
- Estee Lauder (EL) reported a 15% profit increase for its fiscal second quarter to $597 million, but its stock tumbled as the company’s guidance for the current quarter came in short of analyst expectations.
- Tyson Foods (TSN) shares rose after the company reported better-than-expected earnings and issued slightly upbeat guidance.
- Aon (AON) revealed a 20% jump in fourth-quarter profit on Friday that just surpassed Wall Street expectations, as the world’s largest insurance broker continued to benefit from its lengthy overhaul and acquisition of Hewitt Associates.
- Clorox (CLX) beat the Street on Friday by posting a surge in fiscal second-quarter profits, prompting the consumer products maker to boost its full-year sales guidance.
- Edwards Lifesciences’ (EW) stock dropped as earnings fell and the company gave a lackluster forecast for the current quarter.
- Shares of Genworth Financial (GNW) soared almost 15% after the mortgage insurer swung to a fourth-quarter profit.
- Shares of Gilead Sciences (GILD) spiked after the company posted fourth-quarter earnings that rose almost 6% from a year ago.
Hedge Fund News Update
- Kyle Bass, theDallas hedge-fund manager, urged overseers ofTexas’s state university endowment, the second-largestU.S. college fund, to stick with a $1 billion investment in gold bullion even as the fund’s assets decline.
- Phil Falcone’s Harbinger Capital Partners LLC lost 47 percent for investors in his main hedge fund last year as he was forced to slash the value of his troubled wireless venture by more than half, according to a person familiar with the results.
- Hedge fund manager Steven A. Cohen, who is trying to buy the bankrupt Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team, is considering taking a small stake in another team — his hometown New York Mets, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
- Ader Investment Management (AIM) has launched Accelerator Fund Partners LP, an innovative funding platform for hedge funds looking to boost assets under management and enhance their distribution into family offices and fund of funds.
- Blackstone Group’s fund of hedge funds business had net inflows of $6.4 billion in 2011 despite flat performance for many funds. Assets under management grew 14% in 2011 to close to $38 billion.
- US college and university endowment allocations to hedge funds remained relatively consistent between FY2011 and the previous year, the latest Nacubo-Commonfund Study of Endowments (NCSE) report has revealed.
- Fund of hedge funds manager Arden wants to develop its customised business by offering detailed risk reporting on underlying funds. Data will be provided by hedge fund platform HedgeMark. Arden Asset Management, a $7 billion fund of hedge funds (FoHF) manager, is working with HedgeMark’s managed accounts platform to enhance its fast-growing customised portfolios business.
- Boyer Allan Investment Management, one ofLondon’s longest-running hedge fund managers, is to shut. The London- and Hong Kong-based emerging markets specialist, established in 1998, is returning money to outside investors and is in the process of spinning out its final vehicle, the Boyer Allan Emea Fund.
