Stocks that are expected to trade actively in the U.S. markets on Monday include Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS), Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Loews Corporation (NYSE:L) and Cna Financial Corp (NYSE:CNA).
Market Level
USA – DJIA 15794.08 (1.06%), S&P 500 1,797.02 (1.33%), NASDAQ 4,125.86 (1.69%)
Europe – FTSE 100 6,574.89 (0.05%), DAX 9,320.75 (0.22%), CAC 40 4,235.99 (0.18%)
Asia – NIKKEI 14718.34 (1.77%), HANG SENG 21579.26 (-0.27%), KOSPI 1,923.30 (0.04%) SHANGHAI 2,086.07 (2.03%)
Commodities – Gold 1,274.20 (0.89%), Silver 20.17 (1.17%) OIL 99.28 (-0.60%) Corn 441.00 (-0.73%), Wheat 573.00 (-0.78%)
Currency – USD/JPY 102.22 (-0.09%), GBP/USD 1.6404 (-0.01%), EUR/USD 1.3646 (0.13%)
10 year Treasury bond – 2.678 (-0.006).
Economic and Market Update
U.S. markets up – equities gained on Friday, with Wall Street recovering and posting its best two-day gain in four months, following a better than expected nonfarm payrolls report. Both the Dow and the S&P 500 witnessed their best weekly performance of the year so far.
European markets up – shares were up on Monday following the gains made by Nokia after settling a patent dispute with rival HTC. Gains made by Wall Street following better U.S. jobs figures also pushed the markets up. At 0855 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 was up 0.1% at 1,300.87 points, marking the fourth straight session of gains for the index.
Asian markets up – markets were up on Monday following an impressive show on Wall Street last week as investors shrugged off a worse-than-expected U.S. jobs report. Mainland shares closed at more than one-month high after resuming trade on Friday following a week-long Lunar New Year holiday. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei extended the gains made on Friday, and rose to one week high.
Stocks to watch
Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS)
For the fourth quarter, Hasbro is expected to post earnings of $1.21 a share, according to a consensus survey by FactSet. Analyst Eric Handler at MKM Partners believe that concerns over holiday sales may impact the fourth quarter results, but “investors are now braced for a softer report and likely more focused on Hasbro’s big 2014 entertainment driven product lineup.” Previously, analysts lowered the quarterly earnings estimate from $1.27 a share to $1.18 a share.
Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD)
Pioneer Natural Resources is expected to post fourth-quarter earnings of 99 cents a share. Recently, analysts at J.P. Morgan lowered the price target on Pioneer from $233.50 to $210 owing to lower crude oil prices. However, the JPM analysts view Pioneer as one of their favorite stocks as it is “catalyst rich.”
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is expected to trade actively as the company recently received the support of influential proxy-advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS). The firm believes that, in the upcoming meeting, shareholders should reject the proposal of activist shareholder Carl Icahn to buyback $50 billion of its stock.
Loews Corporation (NYSE:L)
For the fourth quarter, Loews is expected to report earnings of $0.72 per share. In after hours trading, the shares of the company gained 0.49% to $45.40.
Cna Financial Corp (NYSE:CNA)
CNA Financial is expected to post earnings of $0.88 per share on revenue of $2.29 billion for the fourth quarter. On Friday, shares of CNA Financial gained 0.33% to close at $39.67.
