Morning News: Updates on AAPL, IBM, KNXA, MTB, HCBK, TIF, HTZ, AOL, F

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Morning News: Updates on AAPL, IBM, KNXA, MTB, HCBK, TIF, HTZ, AOL, F

Every morning we puts out a news report with the latest news in global stock markets, company news, and global economic news.

Morning Market Update  

Market Levels

  •  US:  Dow Futures: 13183.00 (0.21%), S&P 500 Futures: 1413.10 (0.25%), NASDAQ Futures: 2794.00 (0.68%)
  • Europe: CAC: 3449.49 (0.47%), DAX: 7028.19 (0.81%), FTSE: 5776.60 (0.00%).
  • Asia-Pacific: Australia: 4343.70 (-0.12%), China: 2055.71 (-1.77%), Hong Kong: 19798.67 (-0.41%), India: 5350.25 (-0.68%), Japan: 9085.39 (0.16%).
  • Metals: Gold: 1672.80 (-0.01%), Silver: 30.96 (1.11%), Copper: 3.49 (0.32%)
  • Energy: Crude Oil: 97.28 (1.18%), Natural Gas: 2.75 (1.67%)
  • Commodities: Corn: 8.10 (-0.58%), Soya Bean: 17.45 (1.08%), Wheat: 8.88 (-0.67%)
  • Currency: EUR/USD: 1.2526 (0.10%), GBP/USD: 1.5800 (-0.07%), USD/JPY: 78.7000 (0.04%)
  • 10 year US Treasury: 1.661% (-0.024)   

Financial and Economic News Update

U.S. stock-index futures gain: U.S. stock-index futures are pointing to a slightly higher open on Monday, as investors eagerly anticipate Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s speech later this week. Stocks, last week, posted their first weekly loss in six weeks amid uncertainties in the euro zone. The Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ were all trading marginally in the green.

European markets trading higher: European markets are up in trade today, with the German DAX (INDEXDB:DAX) trading 0.8 percent higher at 7028.19 and the CAC 40 (INDEXEURO:PX1) adding 0.5 percent to 3449.49. The euro zone blue-chip ESTX 50 PR.EUR (INDEXSTOXX:SX5E) (Euro Stoxx 50) was trading 0.7 percent higher. The FTSE 100 (INDEXFTSE:UKX) was closed for a holiday.

Asian markets end lower: Asian markets closed lower on Monday, with Japan’s NIKKEI 225 (INDEXNIKKEI:NI225) closing 0.2 percent higher at 9,085.39 points. The HANG SENG INDEX (INDEXHANGSENG:HSI) closed down 0.4 percent at 19,798.7, while the SSE Composite Index (SHA:000001) (Shanghai Composite Index) ended down 1.7 percent to 2,055.7, the lowest close since March 2009. The S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX:XJO) index ended 0.1 percent lower to 4343.7 points. The benchmark Indian 30-share BSE SENSITIVE (INDEXBOM:SENSEX) index ended down 0.6 percent.

Company News Update

U.S.

 

  • International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) has agreed to buy human resource management software company Kenexa Corporation (NYSE:KNXA), for about $1.3 billion.
  • M&T Bank Corporation (NYSE:MTB) agreed to buy Hudson City Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HCBK) in a cash-and-stock deal valued at about $3.7 billion, to expand its reach in the eastern United States. Under the terms of the deal, each Hudson City shareholder will receive 0.08403 of an M&T share in the form of either M&T stock or cash.
  • Luxury goods retailer Tiffany & Co. (NYSE:TIF) reported second-quarter profit of 72 cents a share, two cents lower than the average analysts’ estimate. Sales rose 2 percent to $886.6 million from $872.7 million, also trailing Street expectations of $891 million. Tiffany & Co. (NYSE:TIF) lowered its full-year profit and revenue forecast.
  • Offshore deepwater drilling company Seadrill Ltd (NYSE:SDRL) reported a 14 percent drop in second quarter profit to $526 million, or $1.09 a share, from a year-ago profit of $615 million, or $1.29 a share. Revenue increased 13 percent to $1.12 billion. Analysts had forecast earnings of 78 cents a share on revenue of $1.12 billion. The company also raised its quarterly dividend by 2 cents to 84 cents a share.
  • Industrial-filter maker Donaldson Company, Inc. (NYSE:DCI) said fourth-quarter profit rose 8 percent to $71 million, or 47 cents per share, from $65.8 million, or 42 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Sales grew 5 percent to $656.8 million. Analysts were expecting earnings of 47 cents a share on $673 million of sales.
  • Rental car company Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:DTG) is being acquired by rival Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HTZ) for $2.3 billion in cash, or $87.50 per share. That’s an 8 percent premium over Friday’s closing price for Dollar Thrifty shareholders. Separately, in an effort to win regulatory approval for the deal, Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:HTZ) will sell its Advantage car rental unit to Franchise Services of North America and Macquarie Capital for an undisclosed amount.
  • Web service company AOL, Inc. (NYSE:AOL) declared a special dividend of $5.15 per share, and said it will buy back $600 million of stock.
  • Delivery company United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) said on late Friday that it expects to take a third-quarter charge of $896 million related to the restructuring of its pension liabilities for about 10,200 employees.
  • Enterprise software company Deltek Inc. (NASDAQ:PROJ) has agreed to be acquired by private-equity firm Thoma Bravo LLC for $1.1 billion in cash, or $13 per share. The stock closed at $14.01 on the Friday.
  • IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ:IACI), the internet company owned by Barry Diller, will buy information website About.com from The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT) for $300 million in cash.
  • Online content and social media services company Demand Media Inc (NYSE:DMD) said late Friday that it filed a shelf registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It is planning to sell up to $250 million in securities.
  • TreeHouse Foods Inc. (NYSE:THS) was raised by analysts at Citigroup to “buy” from “neutral”             with a target price of $61. The stock jumped 1.5 percent.
  • Key Energy Services, Inc. (NYSE:KEG) jumped 4 percent in pre market trading after analysts at SunTrust upgraded the stock to “buy” from “neutral” with a target price of $12.

Europe

  • Deutsche Bank AG (USA) (NYSE:DB) (ETR:DBK) (FRA:DBK), the largest European lender by assets, has introduced new rules that allow it to take back bonuses that newly hired senior staff earned at previous employers, the Financial Times reported on Monday.
  • Italian bank UniCredit SpA (BIT:UCG) said its German unit HypoVerseinsbank is being investigated by U.S. authorities for potentially violating U.S. sanctions against Iran.
  • Dutch chip equipment maker ASML Holding N.V. (ADR) (NASDAQ:ASML) (AMS:ASML) said Samsung Electronics Co has agreed to buy a 3 percent stake for 500 million ($625 million).
  • London-listed platinum miner Lonmin Plc (LON:LMI), whose South African operations have been suspended for two weeks after a wage strike exploded into violent clashes, in which 44 people were killed, said violence had spread to its eastern operations.
  • French drug maker Sanofi SA (ADR) (NYSE:SNY) (EPA:SAN) said the U.S. Food & Drug Administration has asked the group to re-file its application for approval of its multiple sclerosis drug, Lemtrada.
  • ThyssenKrupp AG (ETR:TKA) (FRA:TKA), Germany’s biggest steelmaker, rose 2 percent after the Welt am Sonntag reported that the company plans to sell plants in the U.S. and Brazil for at least their book value of about 7 billion euros ($8.8 billion).
  • Statoil ASA(ADR) (NYSE:STO), Norway’s largest oil company, said it discovered as much as 270 million barrels of oil at the Geitungen prospect in the North Sea.
  • German chemical company Wacker Chemie AG (ETR:WCH) (FRA:WCH) slumped to a one-month low after analysts at Goldman Sachs Inc. cut its price estimate for the stock to 45 euros from 49 euros.

 

Asia-Pacific

  • Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest technology company in terms of revenue, closed down 7.5 percent, after a U.S. court found Samsung had infringed six Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) patents, and awarded Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) $1.05 billion in damages.
  • Japan’s largest brokerage Nomura Holdings, Inc. (ADR) (NYSE:NMR) (TYO:8604) is planning to cut hundreds of jobs, mainly in the equities and investment banking divisions, Reuters reported on Sunday. Reuters also said the cuts will primarily come from the company’s European operations.
  • China Construction Bank Corporation (HKG:0939) (SHA:601939), the country’s second-largest lender, ended 0.8 percent lower in Hong Kong, despite posting a 14.5 percent rise in first-half earnings, that beat market expectations.
  • Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F), Japanese automaker Mazda Motor Corporation (TYO:7261) and their local Chinese partner Chongqing Changan Automobile Company Ltd (SHE:000625) have received approval from China’s top economic planner to split their three-way, manufacturing and sales joint venture into two, Ford said in a statement.
  • Australian surf-wear maker Billabong International Limited (ASX:BBG) outlined a turnaround strategy to boost profitability, after the company posted a full year loss of 276 million Australian dollars ($287 million), its first annual loss since listing in 2001.
  • Australian iron-ore miner Sundance Resources Limited (ASX:SDL) accepted a 1.37 billion Australian dollars ($1.42 billion) takeover offer from China’s Hanlong Mining Investment Limited.
  • Hong Kong listed Russian aluminum giant United Company Rusal Plc (HKG:0486) said it expects to cut 150,000 tonnes of capacity by the year-end, after net profit tumbled 95 percent in the first six months of the year.
  • BHP Billiton Limited (ADR) (NYSE:BHP) (ASX:BHP) (LON:BLT) has agreed to sell its Yeelirrie uranium deposit in Western Australia to Canada’s Cameco Corporation (USA) (NYSE:CCJ) (TSE:CCO) for $430 million, as the world’s largest mining company by market value, sheds assets to shore up cash amid a slump in commodity prices.
  • Japanese medical equipment and camera maker Olympus Corp (TYO:7733) closed at a 10-month high after agreeing to sell its mobile telecom business to a domestic investment fund for $674 million.
  • Australian transport company Toll Holdings Limited (ASX:TOL) reported a 77 percent drop in full-year profit to 64.6 million Australian dollars ($67.3 million) from 281.4 million Australian dollars, a year earlier, dragged back by a write-down in the value of its Japanese assets.

 

Economic Calendar for Monday, August 27, 2012:

10:30 A.M. ET:    Dallas Fed Manufacturing Business Index (August)

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

12:15 P.M. ET:    Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Sandra Pianalto speaks.

06:15 P.M. ET:    Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans speaks.

 

 

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