US indices traded up driven by gains in the banks, real estate and diversified financial sectors. However, shares in the media, semiconductors and health care equipment & services sectors were under pressure.
European markets should start the day on a stable note.
UK Market news
Retail: Kesa Electricals (+8.16% to 132.5p), Next (+6.55% to 1529p), Carphone Warehouse (+5.69% to 144p), Home Retail (+5.68% to 279p),Marks & Spencer (+3.27% to 340p), Kingfisher (+2.57% to 179.3p) and Dsg International (unchanged at 35.75p) reached a new 3-month relative high against the FTSE 100.
Inchcape plc completed its 9 for 1 rights issue of 4,143,316,500 new ordinary shares at 6 pence per share with a 95.57% acceptance.
Travel & Leisure: Carnival (+4.07% to 1867p) and Ladbrokes (+1.4% to 217p) reached a new 3-month relative high against the FTSE 100.
Basic Resources: Rio Tinto (+4.01% to 2571p) closed at a 3-month relative high against the FTSE 100.
Financial Services: Close Brothers (+1.08% to 609.5p) and London Stock Exchange (+2.6% to 690p) reached a new 3-month relative high against the FTSE 100.
Health Care: Glaxosmithkline (-3.19% to 987p) and Astrazeneca (-1.94% to 2276p) closed at a 3-month relative low against the FTSE 100.
Industrial Goods & Services: Qinetiq (-0.4% to 125p) and Vt Group Plc (-2.32% to 442.75p) reached a new 3-month relative low against the FTSE 100.
Latest broker recommendation
Cable & Wireless was upgraded to "overweight" from "neutral" at JPMorgan.
US Markets - Market hours
Apple (+3.2% to $125.4) reported 2Q EPS of $1.33 compared with $1.16 a year ago and $1.1 expected. Sales rose 8.67% to $8bln ($7.95bln expected). The Co expects 3Q revenue in the range of about $7.7bln to $7.9bln and EPS in the range of about $0.95 to $1.00 vs a consensus of respectively $8.2bln and $1.11.
Ebay (+12.45% to $16.62) posted 1Q EPS ex-items of $0.39 vs $0.36 expected and $0.42 a year ago, on sales of $2.02bln vs a $1.94bln consensus and $2.19bln a year ago. Skype revenue jumped 21% to $153m. The Co sees 2Q adjusted EPS in the range of $0.34 and $0.36 ($0.35 consensus).
ConocoPhillips (+4.91% to $39.93) reported 1Q EPS of $0.56 vs $0.44 expected and $2.62 a year ago.
United Parcel Service (-2.59% to $53.33) announced 1Q EPS of $0.52 vs $0.87 a year ago and $0.56 expected on sales down 13.7% YoY to $10.9bln ($11.6bln expected). The Co expects 2Q EPS between $0.45 and $0.55 ($0.63 consensus).
Union Pacific (+3.84% to $49.55) said 1Q EPS was $0.72, down 15% YoY ($0.66 consensus).
Qualcomm (+1.52% to $40.73) postponed to Monday April 27 the release of its 2Q results pending settlement talks regarding its dispute with Broadcom.
Health Care: Bard (CR) Inc (-7.64% to $71.73) printed a new 52w low. The Co announced 1Q sales of $596m, +2% YoY, and EPS of $1.17, up 11% YoY ($1.17 expected).
Alcon (+8.29% to $93.43) reported 1Q organic sales growth of 4.8% with reported sales down 2.8% to $1.49bln, non-GAAP adjusted diluted EPS rose 8.4% to $1.55. The Co reaffirmed its FY target of mid-single digit organic sales growth and non GAAP EPS of $6.05 to $6.25.
Yum!Brands (+7.57% to $34.52) 1Q EPS ex-items rose 14% YoY to $0.48 vs $0.4 expected. The Co sees FY adjusted EPS of $2.1, in line with consensus. "Our goal continues to be to deliver EPS growth of 10% this year in spite of the weak economy. We forecast the second quarter will likely be Yum’s most challenging quarter and the low point of our year." said Yum's Chairman and CEO.
Vmware (-20.37% to $25.92) 1Q revenue moved up 7% YoY to $470m ($499m expected) and non GAAP EPS increased 14% to $0.25 ($0.22 expected). Also during this quarter, "we and our extensive ecosystem of partners will begin the transition to VMware vSphere 4. As a result, we expect our second quarter revenues will be flat, or even down, compared to the second quarter of 2008." said Mark Peek, chief financial officer. (2Q 2008: $456m, 2Q consensus: appx. $500m).
Citrix (-3.65% to $25.08) was downgraded to "sell" from "neutral" at UBS.
US Markets - After hours
Microsoft released 3Q EPS of $0.39 in line with consensus ($0.47 a year ago) on sales down 6% to $13.6bln ($14.1bln consensus) due to weak demand of global PC and server. CFO Chris Liddell said: "We expect the weakness to continue through at least the next quarter. The Co to focus on lowering expenses and new product releases.
American Express reported 1Q earnings down 58% YoY to $443m and EPS from continuing operations was $0.32 vs $0.13 expected and $0.89 a year ago. CEO Kenneth Chenault said in the statement, "If permitted by our supervisors and if supported by the results of the stress assessment, we intend to repay the government investment of preferred shares and warrants."
Amazon.com reported 1Q EPS of $0.41 vs $0.31 consensus. Sales rose 18% to $4.89bln as online demand remained high even in the downturn. The Co expects 2Q sales in the range of $4.3bln to $4.75bln vs $4.61 consensus.
Burlington Northern Santa Fe announced 1Q revenue of $3.4bln vs $4.3bln a year ago ($3.7 expected). EPS ex-items was $1.05 vs $0.96 expected.
Chubb CB released 1Q profit down 49% on investment losses and lower premium revenue. EPS was $1.43 vs $1.37 estimated (1.65 a year ago).
Juniper Networks posted 1Q EPS of $0.17 in line with consensus. The Co sees 2Q in the range of $0.16 to $0.18 whereas consensus expects $0.17.
Amgen said 1Q revenue fell 8% YoY to $3.3bln and GAAP EPS fell 3% to $0.98. The Co lowered its FY revenue guidance to $14.4-$14.8bln from $14.8-$15.2bln ($14.9bln consensus) and maintained its adjusted EPS guidance of $4.55 to $4.75 ($4.6 consensus).
Research in Motion was upgraded to "buy" from "hold" at Citigroup.
Foreign exchange
US Dollar dropped against most of its major counterparts Thursday. On the economic data front, first-time claims for state unemployment benefits rose a seasonally adjusted 27,000 to 640,000 in the week ended April 18th, according to the Labor Department. Also, the National Association of Realtors reported that resales of existing homes and condos fell 3% in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.57 million.
Commodities
Crude oil prices rose above $49.5 a barrel yesterday, supported by a declining U.S. dollar.
Gold jumped above $905 an ounce yesterday. The precious metal has broken above an intraday declining trend line drawn from the high of April 15th at 900.
Natural-gas (May contract) fell below $3.410 per million British thermal units. U.S. natural-gas inventories rose 46 billion cubic feet last week, according to the Energy Information Administration.
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'Financial Trading 24 April 2009' by DB, updated 24-Apr-09
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Financial Trading 24 April 2009, updated 24-Apr-09
A look at the UK, US and after hours markets, plus broker recommendations and updates on the Forex and Commodities Markets...read article: Financial Trading 24 April 2009.
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