Opening Bell News: NWSA, JPM, VE, BAC, BBVA

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Opening Bell News: NWSA, JPM, VE, BAC, BBVA

 Every morning we put out a report with the latest news on global stock markets, company news, and economic news. In focus today, NWSA, JPM, GS, MS, VE, BAC, BBVA

Morning Market Update 

Market Levels

  • US:  Dow Futures: 12470.00 (-0.66%), S&P 500 Futures: 1318.60 (-0.52%), NASDAQ Futures: 2547.75 (-0.39%)
  • Europe: CAC: 3048.27 (-0.49%), DAX: 6141.96 (-1.42%), FTSE: 5466.82 (-1.04%).
  • Asia-Pacific: Australia: 4044.80 (0.04%), China: 2195.84 (-0.96%), Hong Kong: 19025.27 (-0.80%), India: 5149.15 (0.14%), Japan: 8874.11 (1.62%).
  • Metals: Gold: 1571.00 (-0.47%), Silver: 26.86 (-0.32%), Copper: 3.34 (-0.28%)
  • Energy: Crude Oil: 80.64 (0.54%), Natural Gas: 2.77 (-0.86%)
  • Commodities: Corn: 6.36 (1.76%), Soya Bean: 14.17 (0.16%), Wheat: 7.66 (0.68%)
  • Currency: EUR/USD: 1.2428 (-0.33%), GBP/USD: 1.5528 (-0.26%), USD/JPY: 79.4400 (-0.35%)
  • 10 year US Treasury: 1.584% (-0.032)

Financial and Economic News Update

U.S. stock-index futures slip: U.S. stock index futures are pointing to a lower open on Thursday after a muted report from the labor market, and ahead of the key two-day EU summit. Labor Department figures showed that jobless claims fell by 6,000 to 386,000 in the week ended June 23, in line with what economists were expecting. A separate report from the Commerce Department showed that the U.S. economy grew 1.9 percent in the first quarter. The Dow futures, the S&P futures and the NASDAQ future are all trading around half a percent lower.

European markets trading in the red: European markets are trading in the red, with the German DAX (INDEXDB:DAX) trading 1.4 percent lower at 6141.96, the FTSE 100 (INDEXFTSE:UKX) down 1 percent at 5466.82, and the CAC 40 (INDEXEURO:PX1) sliding 0.5 percent to 3048.27. The euro zone blue-chip ESTX 50 PR.EUR (INDEXSTOXX:SX5E) (Euro Stoxx 50) was trading down 0.9 percent.

Asian markets end mixed: Asian markets closed mixed on Thursday, with Japan’s NIKKEI 225 (INDEXNIKKEI:NI225) rising 1.7 percent to record its highest close in six weeks. The HANG SENG INDEX (INDEXHANGSENG:HSI) closed down 0.8 percent at 19,025.3, while the SSE Composite Index (SHA:000001) (Shanghai Composite Index) dropped 1 percent to 2,195.8 points. The S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX:XJO) index rose 1.6 points to 4,044.8. The benchmark Indian 30-share BSE SENSITIVE (INDEXBOM:SENSEX) index fell 0.09 percent to 16,952.91 points.

Stocks in Focus

U.S.

  • JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) slid 3.6 percent in pre-market trading after the New York Times reported that losses from the bank’s derivatives trades may total $9 billion; far higher than the initial estimates of about $2 billion.
  • The board of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp (NASDAQ:NWSA) has approved a split of the $60 billion media conglomerate into separate publicly traded entertainment and publishing companies.
  • Big banks are expected to be in focus today, after analysts at Citigroup slashed the second quarter earnings estimates and price targets for Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC), Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JM), and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS).
  • Discount retailer Family Dollar Stores, Inc. (NYSE:FDO) reported third quarter profit of $1.06 per share, one cent below estimates. Sales stood at $2.36 billion that also trailed estimates.
  • American Greetings Corporation (NYSE:AM), the world’s largest publicly traded greeting card company, said first-quarter profit fell to $7.25 million or $0.20 a share, from $32.59 million or $0.78 a share in the prior-year quarter. Total revenue was down to $393.11 million from $403.7 million in the same period last year.
  • Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) has agreed to settle charges with the US Federal Communications Commission for violating conditions attached to cable giant’s merger with NBC Universal.
  • Global management consulting firm Accenture Plc (NYSE:ACN) has been awarded a $359 million contract by the State of California to develop a statewide health-insurance exchange, the California Healthcare Enrollment, Eligibility and Retention System.
  • Oriental Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:OFG) has agreed to buy the Puerto Rico operations of Spain’s Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA (NYSE:BBVA) for $500 million in cash.
  • Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ONXX) is expected to benefit from the news that US Food and Drug Administration has granted a priority review for Bayer AG‘s colon cancer drug regorafenib. Onyx has marketing rights for the drug in the U.S.
  • Payroll and human resources provider Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) posted fourth-quarter net income of $123.3 million, or 34 cents per, in line with analysts’ estimates. Revenue jumped 5.5 percent to $551.5 million, but missed consensus Street estimates.
  • Office furniture maker Herman Miller, Inc. (NASDAQ:MLHR) posted fourth quarter earnings, excluding one time items, of 28 cents per share that was below the average analysts’ estimate of 32 cents per share. Total revenue fell to $420.7 million that also trailed expectations.
  • Scott Young, chief merchandise officer of electronics retailer, RadioShack Corporation (NYSE:RSH), has resigned from the company.
  • Audio and infotainment equipment company Harman International Industries Inc./DE/ (NYSE:HAR) has doubled its annual cash dividend to 60 cents per share.

 

Europe

  • Anglo-Dutch oil major Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE:RDS.A) has extended the deadline of its 1.1 billion pounds ($1.7 billion) bid for Cove Energy PLC (LON:COVE) to July 11. 
  • French waste and water utility Veolia Environnement Ve SA (NYSE:VE) has agreed to sell its U.K. water business to Rift Acquisitions Limited for 1.2 billion pounds ($1.9 billion). Rift Acquisitions Limited is a venture formed by Prudential PLC’s Infracapital Partners and Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners.
  • Bayer AG (ETR:BAYN) said the US Food and Drug Administration has granted a priority review for it’s colon cancer drug regorafenib, under which the review of the medicine will be completed in six months instead of the usual ten to twelve months.
  • European plane maker Airbus, a subsidiary of EADS NV (EPA:EAD), is reportedly planning to open its first assembly line in the United States.
  • Glencore International Plc (LON:GLEN) is willing to withdraw from its $58 billion merger with Xstrata PLC (LON:XTA), if Qatar Holdings, Xstrata’s second-largest shareholder, does not drop its demands for a much higher bid, the Financial Times reported.
  • Germany’s second-largest lender Commerzbank AG (ETR:CBK) said it placed around 128.3 million newly issued shares with institutional investors at a price of 1.27 euro a share.
  • Vodafone Group Plc (ADR) (NASDAQ:VOD) has named Philipp Humm, who yesterday quit the top job at T-Mobile USA, as Chief Executive, Northern & Central Europe, while Paolo Bertoluzzo was appointed as head of its southern European business.
  • Debenhams Plc (LON:DEB), the U.K.’s second-largest department-store chain,   posted strong sales growth for the 16 weeks ended June 23, but margins were hit due to sales promotions.
  • British betting shop operator Ladbrokes PLC (LON:LAD), slumped 11 percent in London trading after saying a decline in digital profits in the first half of the year will be worse than previously forecast.

 

Asia

  • British lender HSBC Holdings plc (ADR) (NYSE:HBC) has offloaded its entire stake in India’s Axis Bank Ltd. (NSE:AXISBANK) and Yes Bank Limited (NSE:YESBANK), and raised about $425 million, Reuters reported.
  • Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE) has agreed to sell its chemical products business to the government-backed Development Bank of Japan for about 58 billion yen ($727 million).
  • Japanese drugmaker Eisai Co., Ltd (TYO:4523) jumped 3.1 percent in Tokyo after Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARNA) received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its new weight-loss pill Belviq. Eisai has exclusive marketing rights of the anti-obesity drug in the United States.
  • Japanese retailers, The Daiei, Inc. (TYO:8263), SHIMAMURA Co., Ltd. (TYO:8227), and EDION Corporation (TYO:2730), closed significantly higher, after Japan’s retail sales increased more than forecast in May.
  • Australian oil and gas major Santos Limited (ASX:STO) has hiked the estimated cost of its Gladstone liquefied natural gas project by over 15 percent to $18.5 billion.
  • China Yurun Food Group Limited (HKG:1068), the country’s second-largest meat-product supplier,plunged 12.6 percent in Hong Kong trading, after an analyst at Chinese brokerage Shenyin Wanguo raised questions about the substantially high cash on hand despite the high level of bank loans.
  • Malaysia’s Felda Global Ventures Holdings, which raised $3.1 billion in the world’s second-largest initial public offering this year, jumped more than 20 percent in its market debut.
  • China Resources Cement Holdings Limited (HKG:1313) warned of a sharp fall in first-half net profit due to the slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy, and weaker cement prices.

 

Economic Calendar for Thursday, June 28, 2012:

 

08:30 A.M. ET:    Gross Domestic Product Annualized (Q1)

08:30 A.M. ET:    Gross Domestic Purchases Price Index (Q1)

08:30 A.M. ET:    Initial Jobless Claims (Week ending Saturday, June 23, 2012)

08:30 A.M. ET:    Continuing Jobless Claims (Week ending Saturday, June 16, 2012)

08:30 A.M. ET:    Core Personal Consumption Expenditures (QoQ) (Q1)

08:30 A.M. ET:    Personal Consumption Expenditures Prices (QoQ) (Q1)

09:45 A.M. ET:   Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index (Week ending Sunday, June 24)

10:30 A.M. ET:   EIA Natural Gas Report (Week ending Friday, June 22, 2012)

11:00 A.M. ET:   Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Index (June)

11:30 A.M. ET:   Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Sandra Pianalto speaks.

12:00 P.M. ET:   Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher speaks.

03:00 P.M. ET:   Farm Prices (June)

04:30 P.M. ET:   Fed Balance Sheet

04:30 P.M. ET:   Money Supply

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