Post Market News
Stocks that were active in US trading on Tuesday were Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Research In Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB), Best Buy Inc. (NYSE:BBY), Safeway Inc. (NYSE:SWY) and Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF).
Market Levels
- U.S.: Dow Jones: 14,835.49 (+0.11%), S&P 500: 1,597.27 (+0.23%), Nasdaq: 3,328.79 (+0.66%)
- World Markets: Shanghai: 2,177.91 (-0.97%), Nikkei 225: 13,860.86 (-0.17%), Hang Seng Index: 22,737.01 (+0.69%), TSEC: 8,093.66 (+0.80%), FTSE 100: 6,430.12 (-0.43%), EURO STOXX 50: 2,712.00 (-0.20%), BSE Sensex: 19,504.18 (+0.60%)
- Metals: Gold: $1472.10 (+0.32%), Silver: $24.14 (+0.09%), Platinum: $1507.20 (-0.01%)
- Currency: EUR/USD: 1.3162 (+0.50%), USD/JPY: 97.53 (-0.49%), GBP/USD: 1.5531 (+0.28%), USD/CAD: 1.0074 (-0.35%), USD/CNY: 6.1650 (0.00%), AUD/USD: 1.0362 (+0.05%)
- 10 year U.S. Treasury: 1.67% (+0.02%), 30 year U.S. Treasury: 2.88% (+0.01)
Market And Economy News
Data showed today that consumer confidence rose unexpectedly in April, and the residential real estate market is recovering. The Conference Board’s sentiment index rose to 68.1, surpassing even the highest estimate by economists. US stock markets ended an upbeat session today. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 16.74 points to end the session at 14,835.49, the S&P 500 Index was up 3.96 points to 1,597.57, while Nasdaq posted a gain of 21.77 points to end the session at 3,328.79.
Stocks In Focus
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)
The pharmaceutical giant posted weaker first quarter results. Excluding one time charges, earnings came in at 54 cents per share, compared to analysts’ expectation of 55 cents. Revenues for the quarter declined 9 percent to $13.5 billion, lower than the consensus estimate of $13.99 billion. The drug maker said weaker sales were due to the loss of exclusivity of its anti-cholesterol product Lipitor in European markets. Pfizer issued downbeat guidance for the full year. Shares tanked 4.34 percent to close the trading at $29.11 a share.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)
The iPhone maker has started selling corporate bonds to raise about $17 billion. Due to its strong credit rating, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has been successful in borrowing at ultra cheap rates. Proceeds will be used to fund the company’s plans to return $100 billion to shareholders by the end of 2015. The move was aimed at appeasing shareholders who have become frustrated of Apple’s declining share prices. Shares rose after the announcement, and ended the session 2.94 percent higher at $442.78.
Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB)
The Canadian smartphone maker launched its keyboard device BlackBerry Q10 in the UK last Friday. The device sold out within a few hours. It was initially launched at the high-end Selfridges department stores of Carphone Warehouses, without much publicity. Handsets sold at the rate of thousands of units per hour, making it the fastest selling device ever, according to Guardian. Shares soared 4.36 percent to close the session at $16.29.
Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY)
The struggling electronics retailer announced that it will sell its 50 percent stake in the European JV to Carphone Warehouse Group PLC (LON:CPW) in a $775 million deal. Carphone Warehouse will give Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) $650 million in cash and about $125 million in stock. The deal is expected to help Best Buy strengthen its balance sheet. Shares jumped $7.40 to end the session at $25.99.
Safeway Inc. (NYSE:SWY)
The food and drug retailer announced that company president Robert Edwards will step into the shoes of CEO Steven Burd when the latter retires next month. Steven Burd has served Safeway for over 20 years. Shares skidded 4.21 percent to $22.52 at the end of the session.
Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF)
The nutritional supplement maker posted better than expected first quarter results. Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF) earned $1.27 a share on revenues of $1.12 billion, beating the Wall Street estimate of $1.06 in earnings and $1.1 billion in revenues. The company issued an optimistic forecast for the full year. Shares rose 2.48 percent to close the session at $39.40.
