Mid-Day Market Report
Mid-Day Market Action
- US: Dow: 12524.83 (0.82%), S&P 500: 1298.75 (0.75%), NASDAQ: 2738.54 (1.03%)
- Europe: CAC: 3269.99 (1.38%), DAX: 6332.93 (1.78%), FTSE: 5693.95 (0.64%).
- Asia:Australia: 4215.60 (1.65%),China: 2298.38 (4.01%),Hong Kong: 19627.75 (3.14%),India: 4967.30 (1.92%),Japan: 8466.40 (1.04%),Korea: 1892.74 (1.77%),Singapore: 2815.85 (2.11%),
- Metals: Gold: 1661.70 (1.89%), Silver: 30.23 (2.40%), Copper: 3.73 (2.65%)
- Energy: Crude Oil: 100.75 (2.08%), Natural Gas: 2.47 (-7.64%)
- Agriculture: Corn: 6.05 (0.96%), Soya Bean: 11.79 (1.81%), Wheat: 6.03 (0.08%).
- Currency: EUR/USD: 1.2736 (0.5441%), GBP/USD: 1.5346 (0.1353%), USD/JPY: 76.8285 (0.0599%)
- 10 year US Treasury: 1.853% (-0.010)
Market News Update
US markets rise on strong global economic data: The markets kicked off the first trading day after a long weekend with solid gains after economic data from around the world lifted traders’ spirits. As of 10:45 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 115 points, or 0.93%, to 12539, the S&P 500 jumped 9.7 points, or 0.76%, to 1299 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 26.7 points, or 0.99%, to 2737. http://money.cnn.com/2012/01/17/markets/markets_newyork/index.htm?iid=HP_LN
Greek debt talks to resume: Representatives ofGreece’s private bondholders said they will return toAthens on Wednesday to resume talks on forgiving the country a big part of its debt.
http://money.cnn.com/2012/01/16/markets/greek_debt/index.htm?iid=HP_LN
Treasurys regain lost ground: Defying a rally in U.S. stocks and many commodities, Treasury bonds clawed back earlier losses, a sign of robust demand for safe assets amid uncertainty over the euro zone. Bond prices slipped earlier on economic releases from China and Germany that eased some fears about the global economic outlook. But buyers fretting about a lack of definitive solution to the two-year-old euro-zone sovereign-debt crisis emerged to scoop up bonds at cheaper levels. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-17/treasuries-remain-lower-after-new-york-fed-s-manufacturing-report.html
Crude above $100: Oil prices rose Tuesday on signs that China, the world’s second-largest economy, may avoid a significant slowdown. China said its economy grew by 8.9 percent in the fourth quarter, which was slower than the previous quarter. Experts say that level is still robust. Retail and factory production improved in December. Oil demand increased 1.4 percent in the fourth quarter from a year ago and was up 6.4 percent in 2011 from 2010, according to data cited by Barclays Capital. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204555904577166650904547514.html?mod=WSJ_Markets_LEFTTopStories
Gold rallies to 1-month high: Gold futures were up for a second day on Tuesday, trading at the highest level since mid-December as weakness in the U.S. dollar and concerns over a possible Greek debt default boosted the appeal of the yellow metal. http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20120117-710159.html
Company News Update
- Citigroup Inc’s (C) fourth-quarter profit fell 11 percent and missed Wall Street estimates as the European debt crisis battered capital markets, hurting trading revenue and discouraging clients from doing deals.
- JPMorgan Chase (JPM),America’s biggest bank by assets, kicked off bank earnings season last week by reporting profits that were in-line with estimates, but revenue that came in slightly below forecasts.
- Wells Fargo & Co (WFC) beat Wall Street estimates with a 20 percent increase in fourth-quarter profit, boosted by improving credit quality and continued loan growth.
- Kraft Foods Inc (KFT) said that splitting into two companies would lead it to cut about 1,600 jobs inNorth America this year and that its 2011 profit should be slightly higher than it had previously forecast.
- Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM), maker of the BlackBerry smartphone, advanced as much as 6.7 percent after a report that Samsung Electronics Co. may be interested in buying the company.
- Airbus SAS, whose parent lost out to Boeing Co. (BA) in aU.S. tender to supply refueling aircraft, may add a final assembly line in theU.S. to buoy sales in the world’s No. 1 market for single-aisle planes, an executive said.
- M&T Bank (MTB) profits shrank by 28% in the fourth quarter due to merger costs, but the regional lender posted-stronger-than-expected revenue growth on Tuesday.
- Coming off disappointing holiday sales, Best Buy (BBY) announced on Tuesday a management shakeup that separates its two co-presidents of theAmericas.
- Pfizer (PFE) and Medivation (MDVN) will stop development of their investigational Alzheimer’s disease drug after it failed to meet the main goals of improving cognition and daily function in a late-stage trial.
Hedge Fund News Update
- Renaissance Technologies LLC, the $20 billion investment firm founded by Jim Simons, is starting a new hedge fund, the Renaissance Institutional Diversified Alpha Fund, its first in five years, to trade stocks and futures, according to a document sent to potential investors.
- A greater focus from regulators and investors has led to an increased number of hedge fund and private equity managers actively considering strategic moves to more favorable domiciles. Emerging regions are particularly appealing to investors and as such managers are now looking at the business potential of setting up a presence overseas.
- Hedge fund giant Cowen Group Inc. has announced the acquisition of Algorithmic Trading Management, LLC. (ATM), a provider of global, multi-asset class algorithmic execution trading models.
- Investors may add about $80 billion of new capital to hedge funds globally this year, the most since 2007, Barclays Plc (BARC) said in a report.
- European hedge fund managers are betting that China‘s once red hot economic growth will cool dramatically in 2012, hitting companies, economies and commodity prices that have been fuelled by the world’s second largest economy in recent years.
- Fortinbras Asset Management has combined its momentum-based fixed income strategies to offer a Ucits hedge fund on Deutsche Bank’s dbSelect platform. The fund also invests in FX and commodities.
- Millennium Partners, a fund managed by the U.S.-based Millennium Management LLC, is considering tapping the South Korean hedge fund market, sources said.
- Europe’s economy could suffer a drop of up to 2% in its struggling recovery because of the proposed financial transaction tax, according to a report published today by the Alternative Investment Management Association. The hedge fund trade body urged European authorities to reconsider implementing the so-called Tobin tax.
- Mesirow Advanced Strategies Inc., which allocates $14 billion to hedge funds, has been increasing the amount of cash it holds in the last couple of months in preparation for potential opportunities including those in the European credit markets.
