Stocks that are expected to trade actively in U.S. markets on Wednesday include: Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC), International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) and eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY).
Market Level
U.S.: DJIA 15168.01 (-0.87%), S&P 500 1,698.06 (-0.71%), NASDAQ 3,794.01 (-0.56%).
Europe: FTSE 6,510.53 (-0.59%), DAX 8,785.73 (-0.22%), CAC 40 4,217.33 (-0.91%).
Asia Pacific: NIKKEI 14467.14 (0.18%), SHANGHAI 2,193.07 (-1.81%), HSI 23228.52 (-0.46%), ASX 200 5,262.91 (0.07%), KOSPI 2034.61 (-0.31%).
Commodities: Oil 101.26 (0.05%), NAT GAS 3.848 (1.53%), Gold 1,283 (0.77%), Silver 21.335 (0.63%), Wheat 685 (-0.11%), Corn 444.50 (0.23%).
Currency: EUR/USD 1.3547 (0.18%), GBP/USD 1.6035 (0.27%), USD/JPY 98.34 (0.15%).
10 year Treasury bond: 2.725 (0%).
Market and Economic Update
U.S. market may open higher: At United States stock exchanges shares faced a volatile session yesterday, impacted by the debt ceiling issue in Washington and no indications of improvement. Futures declined, as S&P futures dropped 10.7 points, Dow Jones industrial average futures off 122 points and Nasdaq 100 futures down 7.5 points. However, U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open today.
European markets down: European equities fell from the multi-year highs on Wednesday owing to continued uncertainty over the consensus on U.S. debt ceiling. Luxury goods stocks were the worst performers. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index fell 0.2 percent to 1,261.13 points in the early session trade, after surging 0.9 percent in the previous trading session. Germany’s DAX, which touched the record high of 8,820.98 points on Tuesday, was flat at 8,803.50 points.
Asian markets mixed: Japan’s Nikkei has surged for the straight sixth session hitting a two week closing high as investors are looking forward to Washington to reach a deal to avoid US debt default before the Thursday deadline. The benchmark Nikkei moved up 0.2 percent to 14,467.14, its highest closing level since Oct. 1. Hong Kong shares dropped on Wednesday from their three weeks high due to weak mainland Chinese market and no clear picture of United States debt default issue. Hang Seng index slid 0.5 percent down at 23,228.3 points after reaching its highest on Tuesday.
Stocks in the News
Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO)
On Tuesday, Yahoo posted a decline in its third quarter profit, which came in at $296.7 million or 28 cents per share from $3.16 billion, or $2.64 per share from the previous year. On an adjusted basis earnings came in at 34 cents per share, which marginally beats the 33 cents per share estimates of analyst. Shares of Yahoo surged 1.7% in after hours.
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC)
Intel also posted third quarter earnings yesterday, of $2.95 billion, or 58 cents per share, which was almost flat compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Stock declined 1.7 percent in after hours even though the results were above the expectations of 53 cents per share by the analysts.
Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC)
On Wednesday, Bank of America expected to post third quarter profit of 19 cents per share, according to analysts at J.P. Morgan. Analysts dropped their earnings per share estimate for Bank of America from 20 cents due to lower trading activity and a decline in mortgage-banking revenue.
International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM)
IBM is expected to post third quarter earnings of $3.96 per share according to Thomson Reuters. Analysts at Deutsche Bank say that the conversion of IBM pipeline was mixed, and hardware results are expected to come in low again. Overall expectation from results, which will be announced on Wednesday, is dim.
eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY)
eBay Inc is expected to announce its third quarter earnings of 63 cents per share according to Thomson Reuters. Stock of this online retailer is impacted due to headwinds in Europe and concerns over the U.S. government shutdown. However, sales for the third quarter may not be significantly affected, according to Benchmark Research analyst Daniel Kurnos.
