HOME         WEBSITE         SUBSCRIBE           E-GREETINGS   
                               

Friday, February 07, 2014

Strong rally at Wall Street

The consumer discretionary group lead the rally 


U.S. stocks finished with strong gains on Thursday, 06 February 2014 as investors welcomed a larger-than-expected drop in weekly jobless claims and upbeat earnings from companies including Walt Disney Co. Stocks began on an upbeat note and climbed through the first 90 minutes of action. Much of the advance was paced by groups that faced aggressive selling during the recent pullback. Thursday's jobless claims data set an optimistic tone for Friday's non-farm payrolls report due a day later. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed near session highs, adding 188.30 points, or 1.2%, to 15,628.53. The Nasdaq Composite ended the day 45.57 points, or 1.1%, higher at 4,057.12. The S&P 500 index closed up 21.79 points, or 1.2%, at 1,773.43. The consumer discretionary group ended in the lead. 

Earnings results released after the market close on Wednesday and before the opening bell Thursday were mixed. Disney shares jumped 5.3%, leading gains on the Dow average, after earnings topped estimates, helped by the popularity of the “Frozen” animated movie. Twitter I plunged 24% after earnings disappointed investors late Wednesday. 

A recent spate of disappointing U.S. economic data has put even more importance on Friday morning's monthly U.S. jobs report for January. A weaker-than-expected jobs report on Friday would call into question how much more the Fed would be able reduce its monthly bond-buying program, also called quantitative easing. 

The important data point for Thursday was the monthly monetary policy meeting of the European Central Bank, including a press conference by ECB president Mario Draghi. The ECB left its key interest rates unchanged at the meeting. 

Today's economic data at Wall Street featured three reports. The initial claims level settled back into the 330,000 range this week as the initial claims level fell to 331,000 from an upwardly revised 351,000 (from 348,000). The consensus expected the initial claims level to fall to 335,000. 

Fourth quarter nonfarm labor productivity increased 3.2% while the consensus expected an increase of 2.4%. That was down from an upwardly revised 3.6% increase (from 3.0%) in the third quarter. Profit growth outperformed labor gains in the fourth quarter. Compensation per hour increased only 1.5%, down from a 1.6% increase in the third quarter. With compensation increasing at a slower rate than productivity, unit labor costs fell 1.6%. That was the third quarterly decline of 2013. 

The U.S. trade deficit for December widened to $38.7 billion from an upwardly revised $34.6 billion (from $34.3 billion). The consensus expected the trade deficit to increase to $36.0 billion. The Bureau of Economic Analysis assumed the trade deficit in December increased to around $37.0 billion in the advance estimate for fourth quarter GDP. The slightly higher than expected deficit will likely contribute to lower GDP growth in the second estimate. 

Bullion prices ended moderately higher on Thursday, 06 February 2014. Gold futures managed to score a modest gain by the close on Thursday, after spending the bulk of the session trading a bit lower, with investors anxiously awaiting January U.S. jobs data, scheduled to be released early Friday. A weaker U.S. dollar index was a bullish daily input for the gold market on Thursday. However, a rally in U.S. equities kept a cap on any gains as the market digested comments from the European Central Bank's Mario Draghi and a fall in U.S. jobless claims. 

Gold for April delivery tacked on 30 cents to settle at $1,257.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. March silver added 12 cents, or 0.6%, to $19.93 an ounce, extending its 2% gain from a day earlier. 

Crude oil futures closed higher on Thursday, 06 February 2014 as a drop in U.S. jobless claims and strength in U.S. equities supported an upbeat outlook for energy demand. March crude oil picked up 46 cents, or 0.5%, to settle at $97.84 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Wednesday, the contract rose 0.2%. 

Treasuries ended near their lows with the 10-yr yield up three basis points at 2.71%.
Participation was a bit above average as 730 million shares changed hands at the New York Stock Exchange. 

Tomorrow's data will focus on jobs with the nonfarm payrolls report for January set to be released at 8:30 ET. Hourly earnings and average workweek will also be announced at 8:30 ET while the December consumer credit report will cross the wires at 15:00 ET.

Blog Archive

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Disclaimer - All investments in Mutual Funds and securities are subject to market risks and uncertainty of dividend distributions and the NAV of schemes may go up or down depending upon factors and forces affecting securities markets generally. The past performance of the schemes is not necessarily indicative of the future performance and may not necessarily provide a basis for comparison with other investments. Investors are advised to go through the respective offer documents before making any investment decisions. Prospective client(s) are advised to go through all comparable products in offer before taking any investment decisions. Mutual Funds and securities investments are subject to market risks and there is no assurance or guarantee that the objectives of the fund will be achieved. Information gathered & material used in this document is believed to be from reliable sources. Decisions based on the information provided on this newsletter/document are for your own account and risk.


In the preparation of the material contained in this document, Varun Vaid has used information that is publicly available, including information developed in-house. Some of the material used in the document may have been obtained from members/persons other than the Varun Vaid and which may have been made available to Varun Vaid. Information gathered & material used in this document is believed to be from reliable sources. Varun Vaid however does not warrant the accuracy, reasonableness and/or completeness of any information. For data reference to any third party in this material no such party will assume any liability for the same. Varun Vaid does not in any way through this material solicit any offer for purchase, sale or any financial transaction/commodities/products of any financial instrument dealt in this material. All recipients of this material should before dealing and or transacting in any of the products referred to in this material make their own investigation, seek appropriate professional advice.


Varun Vaid, shall not liable for any loss, damage of any nature, including but not limited to direct, indirect, punitive, special, exemplary, consequential, as also any loss of profit in any way arising from the use of this material in any manner. The recipient alone shall be fully responsible/are liable for any decision taken on the basis of this material. All recipients of this material should before dealing and/or transacting in any of the products referred to in this material make their own investigation, seek appropriate professional advice. The investments discussed in this material may not be suitable for all investors. Any person subscribing to or investigating in any product/financial instruments should do soon the basis of and after verifying the terms attached to such product/financial instrument. Financial products and instruments are subject to market risks and yields may fluctuate depending on various factors affecting capital/debt markets. Please note that past performance of the financial products and instruments does not necessarily indicate the future prospects and performance there of. Such past performance may or may not be sustained in future. Varun Vaid, including persons involved in the preparation or issuance of this material may; (a) from time to time, have long or short positions in, and buy or sell the securities mentioned herein or (b) be engaged in any other transaction involving such securities and earn brokerage or other compensation in the financial instruments/products/commodities discussed here in or act as advisor or lender / borrower in respect of such securities/financial instruments/products/commodities or have other potential conflict of interest with respect to any recommendation and related information and opinions. The said person may have acted upon and/or in a manner contradictory with the information contained here. No part of this material may be duplicated in whole or in part in any form and or redistributed without the prior written consent of Varun Vaid. This material is strictly confidential to the recipient and should not be reproduced or disseminated to anyone else.


Varun Vaid also does not take any responsibility for the contents of the advertisements published. Readers are advised to verify the contents on their own before acting there upon.


Published Credits goes to following sources & all the mentioned sources as footer below the published material- Bloomberg, Valueresearch Online, Capital Market, Navindia, Franklin Templeton, Kitco, SBI AMC, LIC AMC, JM Financial AMC, HDFC AMC, The Hindu, Business Line, Personal FN, Economic Times, Reuters, Outlook Money, Business Standard, Times of India etc.