| CATEGORY: MARKET REPORT - US CLOSE |
US close: Another 13-month high for Dow |
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Tue 17 Nov 2009
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LONDON (SHARECAST) - US markets again refused to bow to early selling pressure with blue chips closing higher after gold rallied late and boosted miners and other resource stocks.
Gold closed at another all-time high of $1,139.40 an ounce, up 20c on the day, while the benchmark light crude price rose slightly to $79.14 per barrel.
The Dow closed 30 points higher to 10,437 while the Nasdaq added 5 to 2,203. The S&P 500 gained 1 at 1,110.
Economic data was mixed. US industrial production rose 0.1% in October, well below an expected 0.4% rise and compared to an increase of 0.6% the prior month. US producer prices rose by 0.3% in October. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, the core PPI fell 0.6% slightly above expectations.
Home improvement retail giant Home Depot remains the worst performer in the Dow. The retailer saw third quarter earnings fall to $689m from $756m a year earlier. Home Depot forecast full year earnings of $1.55 a share.
Jacobs Engineering Group reported fourth quarter earnings of 63 cents a share, against expectations of 65 cents a share. This made Jacobs the worst performer in the S&P.
Shares in Playboy Enterprises slumped following the departure of finance director Linda Havard and Golden Gate Capital’s denial that it is involved in a buyout.
Auto and home lender GMAC Financial Services has announced that its chief executive Alvaro de Molina is stepping down with Michael A. Carpenter named as his successor.
Despite splashing out $44bn in cash and shares to buy the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad at the beginning of the month, the spending has not stopped at Berkshire Hathaway, the investment vehicle of investment guru Warren Buffett.
Filings to the US Securities and Exchange Commission reveal that Berkshire Hathaway has taken stakes in Swiss foods group Nestle and US oil colossus Exxon Mobil. The company, which likes to invest in old school businesses, also virtually doubled its stake in WalMart, the US supermarket group that owns Asda in the UK.
Berkshire Hathaway bought 3.4m American depositary receipts (ADRs) in Nestle and 1.28m shares in Exxon. The value of the Nestle stake is currently around $144m while the Exxon stake is valued at around $87m.
S&P 500 - Risers
Ciena Corp. (CIEN) $14.03 +7.35%
M B I A Inc. (MBI) $3.47 +6.12%
Sprint Nxtel Corp. (S) $3.70 +5.71%
Massey Energy Co (MEE) $40.39 +5.68%
Regions Financial Corp. (RF) $5.18 +5.07%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Jacobs Engineerng Group (JEC) $38.88 -14.53%
Smith International Inc. (SII) $26.86 -12.68%
Coach Inc. (COH) $34.48 -4.20%
Penney J C Co Holdin (JCP) $29.86 -3.96%
Office Depot Inc. (ODP) $6.61 -3.92%
Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $30.00 +1.56%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $34.29 +1.42%
Alcoa Inc. (AA) $13.76 +1.10%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $30.65 +1.06%
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) $51.32 +1.00%
Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $27.07 -2.10%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $63.57 -1.49%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $59.88 -0.86%
Bank Of America Corp. (BAC) $15.77 -0.63%
American Express Inc. (AXP) $41.36 -0.19%
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