Every morning and afternoon we put out a news report with the latest news in global stock markets, company news, and global economic news. In focus today; BCS, HBC, BHP, CEO, AF, SHAW, BEN, L, CIT, DO and more.
Morning Market Update
Market Levels
- US: Dow Futures: 12991.00 (-0.32%), S&P 500 Futures: 1378.60 (-0.28%), NASDAQ Futures: 2645.00 (0.11%)
- Europe: CAC: 3297.35 (0.51%), DAX: 6748.78 (0.88%), FTSE: 5672.46 (0.80%)
- Asia-Pacific: Australia: 4245.70 (0.85%), China: 2109.91 (-0.89%), Hong Kong: 19584.40 (1.59%), India: 5199.80 (1.96%), Japan: 8635.44 (0.80%).
- Metals: Gold: 1615.00 (-0.19%), Silver: 27.62 (0.43%), Copper: 3.41 (-0.51%)
- Energy: Crude Oil: 89.64 (-0.54%), Natural Gas: 3.13 (3.68%)
- Commodities: Corn: 8.16 (2.09%), Soya Bean: 16.47 (2.30%), Wheat: 9.30 (1.45%)
- Currency: EUR/USD: 1.2231 (-0.75%), GBP/USD: 1.5684 (-0.40%), USD/JPY: 78.1800 (-0.36%)
- 10 year US Treasury: 1.533% (-0.014)
Financial and Economic News Update
U.S. stock-index futures mostly higher: The Dow and the S&P 500 futures are trading in the green as investors await U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s meeting with Germany’s finance minister Wolfgang Schaueble, and possible indications of more stimulus measures from the Federal Reserve.
European markets in the green: European markets are trading higher with the German DAX (INDEXDB:DAX) trading up 0.9 percent at 6748.78, the FTSE 100 (INDEXFTSE:UKX) gaining 0.8 percent to 5672.46, and the CAC 40 (INDEXEURO:PX1) rising 0.5 percent higher to 3297.35. The euro zone blue-chip ESTX 50 PR.EUR (INDEXSTOXX:SX5E) (Euro Stoxx 50) was up 1 percent.
Asian markets end higher: Asian markets closed higher on Monday with Japan’s NIKKEI 225 (INDEXNIKKEI:NI225) closing 0.8 percent higher at 8,635.44 points . The HANG SENG INDEX (INDEXHANGSENG:HSI) closed up 1.6 percent at 19584.40 points, while the SSE Composite Index (SHA:000001) (Shanghai Composite Index) ended down 0.9 percent at 2,109.9, its lowest close since March 3, 2009. The S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX:XJO) index rose 0.9 percent to finish at 4,245.7. The benchmark Indian 30-share BSE SENSITIVE (INDEXBOM:SENSEX) index jumped 1.77 percent to 17,137.51 points.
Stocks in Focus
U.S.
Engineering company Chicago Bridge & Iron Company N.V. (NYSE:CBI) has agreed to buy Louisiana-based rival, The Shaw Group Inc. (NYSE:SHAW) for $3.04 billion in cash and stock.
Loews Corporation (NYSE:L) said second quarter net income fell to $56 million, or 14 cents per share, from $250 million, or 61 cents per share, in the year ago quarter, while total revenue declined more than 4 percent to $3.37 billion. Second quarter figures were down largely due to weak earnings at 50 percent-owned Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc. (NYSE:DO).
Asset manager, Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) said third quarter profit fell 10 percent to $455.3 million, or $2.12 per share, from $503.3 million, or $2.26 per share, in the same period a year ago, amid reduced inflow from clients.
Diversified manufacturer Roper Industries, Inc. (NYSE:ROP) raised its full-year earnings outlook, and agreed to acquire privately held hospital software company, Sunquest Information Systems Inc, for about $1.4 billion in cash.
New York-based small-business lender, CIT Group Inc. (NYSE:CIT) reported lower than expected second quarter loss of $70.7 million, or 35 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $49.7 million, or 25 cents a share. The current quarter results include debt-refinancing charges of $286 million.
Oilfield services provider Lufkin Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:LUFK) posted second quarter earnings excluding items of 66 cents per share on $305.6 million in revenue. Analysts were expecting earnings excluding items of 82 cents per share on revenue of $307.7 million. The company also forecast third-quarter results that were well below Street expectations.
Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) will invest $2 billion to develop the Lianzi oilfield, located at the maritime border between Republic of Congo and Angola, and will spend another $500 million to increase its natural gas production in Bangladesh.
General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) said global marketing chief Joel Ewanick has resigned from the company, two years after he joined to lead an overhaul of its marketing strategy.
The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) said the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating a potential problem that saw debris from a new 787 Dreamliner spark an airport grass fire in South Carolina during a preflight test over the weekend.
Restaurant chain Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ:BWLD) declined 1.5 percent in New York pre-market trading after Barron’s said earnings in the coming quarters could take a hit amid higher costs of chicken wings.
Analysts at Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE:DB) have downgraded J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) to “hold” from “buy.” The stock was down percent in early morning trade.
Europe
- HSBC Holdings plc (ADR) (NYSE:HBC) (LON:HSBA) (HKG:0005) said first half operating income increased 3 percent to $43.7 billion, from $42.3 billion a year before, while net profit was down 8.6 percent to $8.4 billion, from $9.8 billion in the same period last year. The British lender also apologized to investors for compliance failings, and set aside $2 billion to compensate British customers for misselling payment-protection insurance and derivatives, and to cover for U.S. law enforcement and regulatory costs related to its failure to enforce money-laundering controls in Mexico.
- Air France – KLM (EPA:AF) reported a second quarter operating loss of 66 million euros that was lower than the loss of 163 million that analysts were expecting. Revenue increased 4.5 percent to 6.5 billion euros amid an up tick in passenger traffic. The Franco-Dutch carrier also said performance in the second half of the year should improve.
- Europe’s biggest budget airline, Ryanair Holdings plc (ADR) (NASDAQ:RYAAY) (LON:RYA), said first quarter profit fell 29 percent to 98.8 million euros ($121 million) from 139.3 million euros a year earlier, as fuel costs soared. Revenue increased 11 percent to 1.28 billion euros from 1.16 billion euros last year. The Irish airline reiterated its full year profit guidance.
- British multinational consumer goods company, Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc (LON:RB) reported a 2 percent gain in first-half profit to 818 million pounds ($1.29 billion), as growth in emerging markets offset weakness in southern Europe.
- French outdoor-advertising company, JCDecaux SA (EPA:DEC) reported a 13 percent drop in first-half net profit to 82 million euros ($101 million), while revenue increased 6 percent to 1.24 billion euros. Analysts were expecting a net profit of 96 million euros on 1.23 billion euros in revenue.
- Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) (LON:BARC) was trading 3 percent higher after analysts at Societe Generale upgraded the stock to “buy” from “hold.” Societe Generale downgraded German consumer-products major, Henkel AG & Co KGaA (Preference) (ETR:HEN3) (FRA:HEN3) to “hold” from “buy.”
- Infineon Technologies AG (ETR:IFXA) (FRA:IFXA), Europe’s second- largest semiconductor maker, lost 1.4 percent after analysts at Jefferies cut the stock to “hold” from “buy.”
Britain’s second largest insurance group, Aviva Plc (NYSE:AV) (LON:AV) has received a number of unsolicited bids for its U.S. unit, which estimated to be worth around 1 billion pounds ($1.57 billion), the Sunday Telegraph reported. Aviva is planning to sell or shut-down a quarter of its businesses as part of a restructuring plan.
Asia-Pacific
- BHP Billiton Limited (NYSE:BHP) (ASX:BHP) (LON:BLT), the world’s biggest mining company, is likely to delay the proposed $30 billion expansion of the Olympic dam mine in South Australia until 2014, The Australian newspaper reported.
- China Rongsheng Heavy Industries Group (HKG:1101), the country’s largest private shipbuilder, plunged 16 percent in Hong Kong trading after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused a company controlled by Rongsheng chairman Zhang Zhi Rong, of insider trading ahead of CNOOC Limited (NYSE:CEO) (HKG:0883)’s bid for Canadian oil and gas company Nexen Inc. (USA) (NYSE:NXY) (TSE:NXY).
- · Japanese tech conglomerate Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702) reported a wider than expected first-quarter loss of 23.8 billion yen due to falling overseas sales amid the economic crisis in Europe and a slowdown in the U.S.
- China Cosco Holdings Company Limited (HKG:1919) (SHA:601919), the country’s largest listed shipping company, slumped to a nine-month low in Hong Kong after saying first-half net loss will widen by more than 50 percent due to low freight rates and high operating costs.
- Sydney-listed miner Northern Iron Limited (ASX:NFE) has received a 525 million Australian dollar ($550 million) takeover offer from Swiss trading company, Prominvest AG, topping an earlier bid from Indian conglomerate Aditya Birla Group.
- Japanese photography and imaging company, Fujifilm Holdings Corp (TYO:4901) closed 6.2 percent higher after reporting a better than expected first quarter operating profit of 20.9 billion yen ($265.9 million).
- Hang Seng Bank (HKG:0011), the Hong Kong lender controlled by U.K. banking giant, HSBC Holdings plc (ADR) (NYSE:HBC) (LON:HSBA) (HKG:0005), said first-half net profit jumped 14 percent jump amid higher net interest income, but warned that the challenging operating environment, because of the global economic uncertainty, is likely to continue for the rest of the year.
- Japanese construction equipment maker, Komatsu Ltd (TYO:6301) slumped 1.8 percent after the Nikkei business daily reported that first operating-profit in likely to decline by 20 percent amid weak Chinese sales.
- Australian mining company, Iluka Resources Limited (ASX:ILU) soared 9.2 percent in Sydney trading after analysts at Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to “equal weight.”
Earnings Calendar for Monday, July 30, 2012
After market close:
Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:APC)
Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN)
Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISV)
Flowserve Corporation (NYSE:FLS)
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc (NYSE:JEC)
Masco Corporation (NYSE:MAS)
Plum Creek Timber Co. Inc. (NYSE:PCL)
Economic Calendar for Monday, July 30, 2012:
10:30 A.M. ET: Dallas Fed Manufacturing Business Index (July)
11:00 A.M. ET: 4-Week Bill Announcement
11:30 A.M. ET: 3-Month Bill Auction
11:30 A.M. ET: 6-Month Bill Auction
