Wednesday (01/18/12) Mid-Day Market Report: IMF to raise $500 billion

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Mid-Day Market Action

 

  • US:  Dow: 12555.64 (0.58%), S&P 500: 1304.11 (0.81%), NASDAQ: 2761.48 (1.22%)
  • Europe: CAC: 3264.93 (-0.15%), DAX: 6354.57 (0.34%), FTSE: 5702.37 (0.15%).
  • Asia:Australia: 4217.90 (0.05%),China: 2266.38 (-1.41%),Hong Kong: 19686.92 (0.30%),India: 4955.80 (-0.23%),Japan: 8550.58 (0.98%),Korea: 1892.39 (-0.02%),Singapore: 2795.40 (-0.73%),
  • Metals: Gold: 1660.30 (0.28%), Silver: 30.51 (1.24%), Copper: 3.75 (0.63%)
  • Energy: Crude Oil: 100.35 (-0.36%), Natural Gas: 2.47 (-0.64%)
  • Agriculture: Corn: 5.95 (-1.49%), Soya Bean: 11.78 (-0.46%), Wheat: 5.92 (-2.19%).
  • Currency: EUR/USD: 1.2849 (0.8798%), GBP/USD: 1.5427 (0.5988%), USD/JPY: 76.8235 (-0.0101%)
  • 10 year US Treasury: 1.874% (0.017)

 

 

 

 

Market News Update

 

 

US markets climb: US markets got a boost from headlines suggesting the International Monetary Fund is looking to boost its firepower and better-than-expected quarterly earnings from financial titan Goldman Sachs. As of 12:00 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 51.8 points, or 0.42%, to 12534, the S&P 500 rose 7.2 points, or 0.56%, to 1301 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 23.1 points, or 0.84%, to 2751. http://money.cnn.com/2012/01/18/markets/markets_newyork/index.htm?iid=HP_LN

 

IMF to raise $500 billion: The International Monetary Fund said Wednesday that it plans to raise up to $500 billion in order to meet an estimated $1 trillion worth of financing needs over the coming years. The new funding includes a $200 billion commitment announced by euro area governments last year, the IMF said. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-18/imf-said-to-seek-1-trillion-boost-to-insulate-economies-from-euro-crisis.html

 

World Bank slashes global growth forecasts: The World Bank Wednesday slashed its 2012 growth forecasts for both emerging and developing economies from its estimates of only six months ago, and warned the world is on the cusp of a new global recession that could be as bad as the crisis four years ago. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46036397/ns/business-stocks_and_economy/

 

US industrial output rises: U.S. industrial output rose in December as manufacturing rebounded at its strongest pace in a year, countering a weather-related decline in utilities, Federal Reserve data showed on Wednesday.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-18/industrial-production-in-u-s-climbs-0-4-on-demand-for-business-equipment.html

 

Producer prices ease: The Producer Price Index fell 0.1% in December from November, compared with expectations of a 0.1% gain. Excluding the more volatile food and energy components, core prices were up 0.3% on the month, a bigger increase than the 0.1% economists forecast. Inflation at the producer level has jumped 4.8% from the year prior, or 3% on the core level.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/46038253
 

Company News Update

 

  • Goldman Sachs Group Inc’s (GS) fourth-quarter profit fell 56 percent as trading and investment banking revenue plunged, but the bank managed to beat analysts’ expectations through cost cutting and lower taxes, sending its shares higher.
  • Yahoo (YHOO) co-founder Jerry Yang has quit the company he started in 1995, appeasing shareholders who had blasted the Internet pioneer for pursuing an ineffective personal vision and impeding investment deals that could have transformed the struggling company.
  • Samsung Electronics said on Wednesday it was not interested in buying ailing Blackberry maker Research In Motion or licensing its operating system, refuting a tech blog report that RIM was seeking to sell itself to the South Korean technology giant.
  • Bank of New York Mellon (BK) suffered a deeper-than-expected 26% drop-off in fourth-quarter profits as the world’s largest custody bank generated fewer fees due to “uncertainty” in the financial markets.
  • Shares of Apple (AAPL) climbed to a fresh all-time high on Wednesday as the consumer-electronics titan’s market value edges close to the $400 billion threshold.
  • Northern Trust Corp. (NTRS), the third- largest independentU.S. custody bank, will eliminate about 700 jobs to join its biggest rivals Bank of New York Mellon Corp. and State Street Corp. (STT) in cutting costs as record-low interest rates hobble profit.
  • Target (TGT) says it is temporarily suspending its efforts to sell the portfolio that handles the balances credit cardholders owe the company, but plans to resume the talks later this year.

 

 

Hedge Fund News Update

 

  • A group of hedge funds and the Greek government may be on a collision course if talks between the deeply indebted country and its creditors do not produce an agreement this week. Five hedge funds with some $260 billion in Greek debt holdings have balked at taking more than a 50% haircut on those holdings.
  • Man Group Plc, the world’s largest publicly traded hedge fund, will reduce pay and eliminate jobs in a plan to reduce costs by about 10 percent as market turmoil prompted clients to withdraw money.
  • Asian hedge funds tumbled 1.09 percent in December, further depressing returns in 2011, the industry’s first negative year in the region since the 2008 financial crisis, figures showed on Wednesday.
  • Towers Watson, one of the leading global investment consultants with over $2trn in assets under advisory, has added CTA hedge funds to its ‘buy lists’ for the first time, amid mounting interest in the strategy from investment consultants and their clients.
  • Ernst & Young, a leading global organization of service providers for start-up and established hedge funds, announced today that it is ranked as the top accounting/auditing provider in the first Hedge Funds Review Service Providers Rankings.
  • Pyxis Capital, L.P.has launched the Pyxis Alternative Income Fund. Anchor Capital Management Group, Inc. will serve as the fund’s sub-advisor.

 

 

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