| CATEGORY: MARKET REPORT - US CLOSE |
US close: Dow makes solid progress |
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Wed 09 Dec 2009
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LONDON (SHARECAST) - US blue chips made progress despite worries about European economies following S&P’s downgraded credit rating for Spain.
The Dow closed 51 points higher at 10,337. Nasdaq added 10 at 2,183 while the S&P 500 gained 4 at 1,095.
Economic data helped ease the global concerns. US total wholesale inventories rose 0.3% in October, according to data from the Commerce Department, reversing a 12-month declining trend. Analysts were expecting inventories to fall 0.5%.
There was also a decline in crude oil inventories, which suggests a possible upturn in demand. The US Treasury is preparing to sell $34bn of bonds in the next couple of days. Yesterday’s $40bn issue of three-year notes was at the lowest yield since January. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said the Troubled Asset Relief Programme (TARP) will be extended beyond its current expiration date of 31 December 2009 to October of next year.
Post-it notes maker 3M was the biggest riser in the Dow after being upgraded to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ by Citigroup. Citigroup made the same recommendation upgrade for mobile carrier Sprint Nextel making its the best performer in the S&P 500.
Drugs developer Pfizer made a healthy gain after entering into a collaborative agreement with Crown Bioscience to research and develop novel therapeutics for Asian cancers.
The share price of drinks firm Dr Pepper Snapple Group is fizzing after it announced a $900m deal to licence some brands to fellow fizzy drink maker PepsiCo. The latter reacts less well to the news and is the second biggest faller on the S&P 500.
Chip-maker Texas Instruments disappointed the market when it spurned an opportunity to move the top end of its revenue forecast range higher in a mid-quarter update. The company said it expects fourth quarter earnings per share to be within the range of 47c to 51c.
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