Stocks that are expected to trade actively in U.S. markets on Monday include: Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR), News corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA), Rackspace Hosting, Inc. (NYSE:RAX), Sothebys (NYSE:BID) and Arkansas Best Corporation (NASDAQ:ABFS).
Market Level
U.S.: DJIA 15761.78 (1.08%), S&P 500 1,770.61 (1.34%), NASDAQ 3,919.23 (1.60%).
Europe: FTSE 6,717.40 (0.13%), DAX 9,082.32 (0.04%), CAC 40 4,265.96 (0.13%).
Asia Pacific: NIKKEI 14269.84 (1.30%), SHANGHAI 2,109.47 (0.16%), HSI 23069.85(1.43%), ASX 200 5,387.14 (-0.25%), KOSPI 1977.30 (-0.38%).
Commodities: Oil 94.23 (-0.39%), NAT GAS 3.563 (0.11%), Gold 1,280.00 (-0.36%), Silver 21.275 (-0.20%), Wheat 653.00 (0.50%), Corn 430.75 (0.94%).
Currency: EUR/USD 1.3388 (0.13%), GBP/USD 1.6017 (0.01%), USD/JPY 99.09 (0.02%).
10 year Treasury bond: 2.747 (-0.007).
Market & Economic Update
U.S. market may open higher: U.S. stock futures are expected to open slightly higher today. The futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 21 points to 15,702, whereas the Standard & Poor’s 500 index climbed 1.6 points to 1767.70.
European market down: European shares were down on Monday, with the FTSE Eurofirst 300 down 0.30 points at 1,294.87 points by 0846 GMT as RSA Insurance dropped the news of an inquiry into its Irish Unit, and investors were examining strong U.S. jobs data to see the impact of the Fed’s monetary stimulus.
Asian markets up: Shares on the Japanese Nikkei rose 1.3%, a gain of 183.04 points to 14,269.84, rising from a one month low as strong U.S. job data ended all concerns about the pace of economic recovery. Shares on the Hong Kong exchange gained on Monday following an intra-day rebound in the mainland Chinese market. The Hang Seng Index made its first gain since November 1 and closed up 1.4% at 23,069.9 points.
Stocks to watch
Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR)
Twitter lost 7.2% on Friday, paralleling Facebook’s drop the day after its IPO. Twitter has a huge task ahead to convince investors that it has a viable, profitable product in its micro blogging service.
News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA)
News Corporation is expected to report earnings of 5 cents a share for its fiscal first quarter, reports a survey by FactSet. The media company, in June, separated its entertainment arm to operate as 21st Century Fox Inc, whereas the publishing business retained the earlier name. The company owns the The Wall Street Journal and MarketWatch.
Rackspace Hosting, Inc. (NYSE:RAX)
For the third quarter, Rackspace Hosting (NYSE: RAX) is expected to earn $0.16 per share on revenue of $387.47 million. In the after hours of trading, Rackspace Hosting shares lost 1.61% to $47.76.
Sothebys (NYSE:BID)
Sotheby’s is expected to post a loss of $0.47 per share on revenue of $70.26 million for the third quarter. The shares fell 2.37% to $50.19 in after hours of trading.
Arkansas Best Corporation (NASDAQ:ABFS)
Analysts are expecting Arkansas Best to post earnings of $0.36 per share on revenue of $605.98 million for the third quarter. The shares of the company fell 4.64% to $25.46 in after hours of trading.