Market News: Apple, Tesco, BIND Therapeutics

Updated on

The stock markets in the United States gained for the second day driven by speculations that central banks will continue to support economic growth.

Sign up for our free daily newsletter

Commenting on the movement of stock markets, Justin Urquhart Stewart told Bloomberg, “The New Year hangover has finally cleared. Yesterday’s turnaround broke the negative line of falls and has given a chance to push back against poor sentiment. There should be a positive flip to the market.”

Yesterday, investors were optimistic because the minutes of the Federal Reserve showed little signs of a policy change regarding interest rates despite the strength of the American economy. In the past, the Fed emphasized that it can be patient when it comes to implementing an interest rate hike.

According to Bloomberg, most of the officials of the central bank believe that their new policy guidance means an interest rate hike is unlikely before the end of April. They are also concerned about the persistent low inflation.

[drizzle]

Charles Evans, president of the Federal Bank of Chicago commented, “I don’t think we should be in a hurry to increase interest rates.” He said a move to tighten the monetary policy too soon would be a “catastrophe.”

Today, European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi said their stimulus measures may include sovereign-bond purchases. The ECB is scheduled to provide an update regarding interest rates on January 22, when policy makers will discuss a stimulus package.

The U.S. Department of Labor reported that the number of people who filed for unemployment benefits declined by 4,000 to 294,000 for the week ended January 3. The figure shows continues improvement in the labor market. Economist estimated that the economy created 240,000 jobs and the unemployment rate dropped to 5.7% in December. The agency will release its jobs report tomorrow.

U.S. Markets

  • Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) – 17,907.87 (+1.84%)
  • S&P 500- 2,062.14 (+1.79%)
  • NASDAQ- 4,736.19 (+1.84%)
  • Russell 2000- 1,194.50 (+1.58%)

European Markets

  • EURO STOXX 50 Price EUR- 3,135.08 (+3.58%)
  • FTSE 100 Index- 6,569.96 (+2.34%)
  • Deutsche Borse AG German Stock Index DAX- 9,837.61 (+3.36%)

Asia-Pacific Markets

  • Nikkei 225- 17,167.10 (+1.67%)
  • Hong Kong Hang Seng Index- 28,835.53 (+0.65%)
  • Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 Index- 3,559.26 (+2.32%)

Stocks in Focus

Apple gained almost 4% to $11.89 per share after the tech giant announced that App Store is poised to break records in 2015. Eddy Cue, senior vice president of internet services said, “This year is off to a tremendous start after a record-breaking year for the app store and our developer community.”

The shares of BIND Therapeutics climbed more than 37% to $7.06 per share.  The company’s chief medical officer, Dr. Hagop Youssoufian said phase 2 data for BIND-014 demonstrated that the “Accurin technology is providing on-target anti-tumor activity with meaningful reductions in the incidence ans severity of side-effects expected from conventional drugs.”

Tesco PLC, the largest supermarket chain operator in the United Kingdom surged more than 16% to $211 per share after disclosing its turnaround plans including the closure of 43 unprofitable stores, consolidation of head office locations, introduction of a flexible benefits package etc. The company also hired Matt Davies as the new CEO for the UK and Ireland businesses of Tesco. Davies was the former group CEO of Halsfords Group plc.

[/drizzle]

Leave a Comment