Mid-Day Market Action
- US: Dow: 12454.94 (1.94%), S&P 500: 1276.05 (1.47%), NASDAQ: 2643.61 (1.48%)
- Europe: CAC: 3245.40 (0.71%), DAX: 6166.57 (1.48%), FTSE: 5699.91 (2.24%).
- Asia:Australia: 4101.20 (1.10%),China: 2199.42 (1.18%),Hong Kong: 18877.41 (2.35%),India: 4765.30 (2.77%), Japan: 8455.35 (0.67%),Korea: 1875.41 (2.61%),Singapore: 2688.36 (1.56%),
- Metals: Gold: 1603.60 (2.35 %), Silver: 29.49 (5.64%), Copper: 3.53 (2.65%)
- Energy: Crude Oil: 102.53 (3.74%), Natural Gas: 2.98 (-0.20%)
- Agriculture: Corn: 6.59 (1.93%), Soya Bean: 12.22 (1.92%), Wheat: 6.63 (1.49%).
- Currency: EUR/USD: 1.3057 (0.9504%), GBP/USD: 1.5654 (0.8992%), USD/JPY: 76.6795 (-0.2806%)
- 10 year US Treasury: 1.914% (0.038)
Market News Update
Wall Street rallies 2%: Wall Street rallied at Tuesday’s opening bell, moving sharply higher on the first trading day of 2012, as upbeat Chinese and German data boosted optimism about the global economy after the S&P 500 index ended flat in 2011.The Dow Jones industrial average was up over 200 points. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/03/us-markets-stocks-idUSTRE7AO0B420120103
Manufacturing activity on the rise: The pace of growth in the U.S. manufacturing sector accelerated in December, its best month since June, according to a report released on Tuesday. A separate report showed that construction spending rose in November. The Institute for Supply Management said its index of national factory activity rose to 53.9 from 52.7 the month before. The reading topped expectations of 53.2, according to a Reuters poll of economists. A reading above 50 indicates expansion. http://money.cnn.com/2012/01/03/news/economy/ism_manufacturing/index.htm?iid=HP_LN
Oil jumps 3 %: Oil price rose more than 3 percent on Tuesday as tension between Iran and the United States kept fears of potential supply disruptions in focus and with Chinese and U.S. economic data also supportive at the start of 2012 trading. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203462304577138330141392286.html?mod=WSJ_Markets_MIDDLTopStories
Gold up 2%: Gold rose by nearly 2 percent on Tuesday, fuelled by a recovery in the euro against the dollar, after the bullion price neared six-month lows last week in a flurry of year-end selling. Gold’s correlation with the euro/dollar exchange rate is at its most positive in nearly two years.
World’s biggest economies face $7.6 trillion debt: Governments of the world’s leading economies have more than US$7.6-trillion of debt maturing this year, with most facing a rise in borrowing costs. Led by Japan’s US$3-trillion and the U.S.’s US$2.8-trillion, the amount coming due for the Group of Seven nations and Brazil, Russia, India and China is up from US$7.4-trillion at this time last year, according to a data compiled by Bloomberg.
Company News Update
- Devon Energy Corp (DVN.N) said on Tuesday China’s Sinopec (0386.HK) will invest $2.2 billion for a third of the U.S. oil and natural gas producer’s interest in five developing fields as part of a long-term partnership. Shares of Devon climbed about 6 percent after the deal was announced.
- 3M Co (MMM.N) will expand its office supplies business with the $550 million cash purchase of Avery Dennison Corp’s (AVY.N) office and consumer products unit, which includes Avery labels and HI-LITERS markers, the companies said on Tuesday. The deal marks the latest move toward consolidation of the office supply industry, which has been hurt by highU.S. unemployment, private label competition and Asian imports.
- Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O) raised prices by an average of about 1 percent in the Northeast and Sunbelt regions on Tuesday, a move affecting cities such as New York, Boston, Washington, Atlanta, Dallas and Albuquerque.
- Sears Holdings Corp (SHLD.O) named former Brookstone Inc. chief executive Ron Boire as its chief merchandising officer as it tries to tackle criticism that it did not have enough executives with retail experience to turn around the struggling chain.
- Total SA (FP), France’s largest oil company, acquired a $2.32 billion holding in Ohio’s Utica shale region from Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) and EnerVest Ltd.
- Shares of Rambus (RMBS) were up more than 10% on Tuesday after the company revised higher its revenue outlook for the quarter ended on Dec. 31.
- BP, the U.K. integrated oil firm, is asking Halliburton Co. to pay all costs tied to the cleanup of the disastrous spring 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, media reports say
Hedge Fund News Update
- James Harasimowicz, co-founder of hedge fund firm Longview Partners, has rejoined the firm as a managing director to eventually head up its Chicago office in the near future, according to a statement issued Tuesday.
- Fidelity Investments recently filed an application with the Securities and Exchange Commission to offer a broad swath of index-based exchange-traded funds. The filing, if approved, would allow Fidelity to offer almost every type of index ETF available, including international funds and even “long/short” ETFs that mimic sophisticated hedge-fund strategies.
- A report published by IndexUniverse found that US sourced alternative ETFs, based on hedge fund replication, long/short ETFs and other alternative strategies saw nine out of 49 ETFs or 18%, paying capital gains distributions, making them among the least efficient in terms of tax management.
- The hedge fund subsidiary of US-based commodities giant Cargill Inc. has acquired 28% equity stake worth $30.45 million in agro-commercial company AgriNurture Inc.
- Hedge funds increased their bets against the euro to a record level in the last week of 2011, increasing pressure on the embattled European common currency as it enters the most testing year of its history. Many hedge funds lost money betting against the euro for much of last year, as the currency remained unexpectedly strong despite the continent’s worsening financial crisis. However, the euro suffered a poor November and December and ended the year as the worst performing major currency, dropping to a 10-year low against the yen and a one-year low against the U.S. dollar.
- Billionaire hedge fund manager Philip Falcone’s LightSquared Inc on Tuesday named telecommunications veteran Marc Montagner as chief financial officer, replacing Michael Montemarano. LightSquared is trying to position itself as a low-cost alternative to the big wireless operators like Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N) and AT&T (T.N).
