FTSE 100	5283.31, +35.9	Dow	10296.85, +111.32
FTSE 250	9480.77, +168.66	Nasdaq	2190.06, +18.86
FTSE All Share	2711.05, +22.01	S&P 500	1103.32, +14.14
Nikkei	10404.33, +33.24	Hang Seng	20722.08, +449.90
Oil (Crude)	$77.23, +$2.80	Gold	$1117.40, +$13.10
Base Rate	0.5%	10 Yr Gilt	3.94%
£/$	1.603	£/€	1.1467
1 month LIBOR	0.519	3 month LIBOR	0.616

 

Markets

London - The FTSE 100 climbed 35.90 points to 5,283.31 yesterday with gains among miners offsetting lower than expected earnings at BP. Rio Tinto led its sector higher after Citigroup advised buying the shares. The index is 6.5 points higher at 5,276.81 this morning. Investors will be eyeing the mining sector ahead of Antofagasta and Eurasian Natural Resources release of fourth quarter output figures.

New York - US stocks made strong gains again yesterday as investors continued to welcome positive economic data and better than expected corporate earnings. The Dow Jones jumped 111.32 points to 10,296.85, the S&P 500 gained 14.14 points to 1,103.32 and the Nasdaq rose 18.86 points to 2,190.06. The housing market gave stocks a lift after the National Association of Realtors’ pending home sales index rose 1%, in line with expectations. Furthermore, homebuilder D.R. Horton reported its first quarterly profit in almost three years. Shares in the company rallied 10.9%.

Tokyo - The Nikkei gained 33.24 points to close at 10,404.33 this morning. Data from the US and gains in commodities help the index higher. Toyota Motor continued to see-saw, down 5.7% today, after saying US sales declined amid an expanding recall.

Hong Kong - The Hang Seng rallies 449.90 points to 20,722.08, again lifted by the US. In corporate news, Esprit Holdings, Hong Kong’s biggest listed clothier, advanced 6.2% after its first half profit beat estimates.

Economics

UK PMI services (Jan) 09:30 GMT

The service sector PMI has risen sharply in recent months and is well above its average for the past decade. The survey is now at its highest level since January 2007. Analysts therefore expect a slight dip in this index which would be consistent with a slowing in the pace of growth.

US ADP employment change (Jan) 13:15 GMT/ 08:15 EST

The ADP loss of 84,000 in December was again weaker than the officially reported drop of 64,000 for private sector employment. One of the possible factors is that the ADP model uses initial jobless claims as an input, and these remain somewhat high. However, the relevant claims reading this month fell to a cycle low 446,000. Analysts look for the January ADP employment to fall by 20,000.

US ISM non-manufacturing (Jan) 15:00 GMT/ 10:00 EST

The detail of December’s non-manufacturing ISM report was not as robust as its manufacturing counterpart, as the service-sector index has trailed behind ISM manufacturing for the past six months. Still, the latest Beige Book indicates generally improving conditions, and analysts look for this month’s reading to climb to 52.0. 

Corporate

Autonomy Corp said today that it is confident about the outlook for 2010 after seeing some signs of improvement in the macro environment at the end of last year, as it reported record fourth quarter revenue and earnings due to strong demand for its software products. Autonomy, which makes software that helps companies keep track of their mass of e-mails, phone calls and documents, posted a 53% rise in revenue to $223.1 million for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, in line with market expectations, from $145.4 million a year ago. Excluding exceptional items, adjusted fully diluted earnings rose 35% to 33 cents a share from a year earlier because of strong demand for its software during the economic downturn. The regulatory burden of information recording and retrieval has boosted demand for Autonomy’s products substantially, and through a series of well-placed acquisitions the company has increased demand for its core technology platform, Intelligent Data Operating Layer. 

Insurer Standard Life posted a 7% fall in full-year life and pensions new business sales as weak performances from the U.K. and Europe overwhelmed higher results from Asia and Canada. The drop in sales gives a preview of how other major U.K. life insurers are likely to have performed last year, with more companies posting results in the next few weeks. Standard Life also said it is "entering 2010 with good momentum in many of our businesses, and though the external environment is likely to remain uncertain we believe we have the opportunity to accelerate growth" in some of its businesses. The company said total sales for the year ended Dec. 31 on a present value of new business premiums basis, or PVNBP, were GBP14.66 billion, down from GBP15.68 billion in 2008.

The above details are provided for information only and are not intended to be construed as solicitation for the sale or purchase of any particular investment nor as specific investment advice.

 

 

Posted: February 3rd, 2010 under Asset Management.
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