24.07.2008 12:50

Stock market: Wednesday summary

Stock market fixing:

Nikkei 225 +127.97 +1.0% 13,312.93
Topix +15.61 +1.2% 1,303.35
DAX 30 +93.30 +1.45% 6,536.09
САС 40 +81.48 +1.88% 4,408.74
FTSE 100 +85.80 +1.60% 5,449.90
Dow +29.88 +0.26% 11,632.38
Nasdaq +21.92 +0.95% 2,325.88
S&P +5.19 +0.41% 1,282.19
10YR +0.5100 +0.124% 4.148%
NYMEX Crude Oil -3.98 -3.10% 124.44
Gold -25.70 -2.71% 922.80

Japan Stocks Rise as Drop in Oil Eases Production Cost Concern
Japan's stocks rose for a second day after crude oil sank to a six-week low, easing concern energy costs will dent profits and consumer demand for Japanese goods.
Honda Motor Co. rose to a one-month high. Komatsu Ltd. and Hitachi Construction Machinery Co. surged after bigger rival Caterpillar Inc. reported earnings that beat analysts' estimates. Mitsubishi Estate Co. and Mitsui Fudosan Co. sent real-estate shares to their sharpest gain in three months after JPMorgan Chase & Co. rated the developers ``overweight.''
Record energy costs have caused households and companies to pare spending, prompting the biggest drop in consumer sentiment in 26 years last month and the Bank of Japan to cut its growth forecast last week. Consumer prices probably rose at the fastest pace in a decade in June, a survey of economists showed.
The Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 127.97, or 1 percent, to close at 13,312.93 in Tokyo. The broader Topix index advanced 15.61, or 1.2 percent, to 1,303.35. More than three stocks rose for each that fell on The Topix. Both gauges had their best two- day gain since May 30.

European stocks rose to the highest this month as oil retreated, concerns eased that bank losses will expand and better-than-estimated earnings from Volkswagen AG and PSA Peugeot Citroen lifted automakers.
Air France-KLM Group and DSG International Plc led gains in airlines and retailers after oil fell below $127 a barrel. UBS AG and HSBC Holdings Plc helped send a gauge of bank shares to the biggest rally in four months after Deutsche Bank AG said yesterday that financial firms are overcoming credit losses. STMicroelectronics NV jumped after Europe's largest maker of semiconductors forecast higher sales.
National benchmark indexes advanced in all 18 western European markets except Norway. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose 1.6 percent, while France's CAC 40 climbed 1.9 percent. Germany's DAX increased 1.5 percent.
Air France, Europe's biggest airline, added 6 percent to 16.90 euros. British Airways Plc, the region's third-largest, jumped 6.9 percent to 263.25 pence.
DSG, the U.K.'s biggest consumer-electronics retailer, climbed 8.3 percent to 49 pence. Debenhams, the second-largest U.K. department-store company, surged 13 percent to 45.75 pence.
UBS, the European bank hardest hit by the subprime contagion, gained 6 percent to 23.3 francs. HSBC, Europe's biggest bank by assets, rose 3.7 percent to 843.25 pence. The Europe Stoxx Banks Index added 6.1 percent.
Deutsche Bank analyst Mike Mayo said yesterday bank losses haven't spread as ``much as feared'' and that he's less ``negative'' on bank earnings.
Financial firms have led the rout that has erased about $13 trillion in value from global equities since October as credit losses and asset writedowns by the subprime-mortgage market's collapse spread, curbing the outlook for profit growth.

U.S. Stocks Advance on Earnings, Fannie-Freddie Rescue Plan

U.S. stocks rose for a second day as oil retreated, lawmakers moved closer to shoring up the mortgage industry and earnings reports from AT&T Inc. and Pfizer Inc. eased concern that the profit slump will worsen.
AT&T, the carrier for Apple Inc.'s iPhone, sent telephone stocks to the steepest gain since January after adding more wireless customers than analysts predicted. The almost $4-a- barrel drop in oil boosted 28 out of 29 retailers in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac jumped more than 11 percent each after lawmakers reached a deal to bail out the largest providers of money for U.S. home loans.AT&T had the biggest gain since March, climbing 3.9 percent to $33.06. The largest U.S. telephone carrier increased profit by 30 percent as customers bought more e-mail phones such as Research In Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry and Apple's iPhone.
The S&P 500 Telecommunication Services Index rose 3.4 percent, the most since Jan. 29, as all nine companies in the group advanced. Sprint Nextel Corp., the third-largest U.S. wireless carrier, added 1.1 percent to $8.51.
Pfizer, the world's largest drugmaker, climbed 3.9 percent to $19.07 after reporting per-share profit 2.2 percent higher than analysts estimated in a Bloomberg survey.
Health insurers posted their biggest rally in a decade after WellPoint Inc. reported second-quarter earnings 5.7 percent above analysts' predictions.
WellPoint, which owns Blue Cross plans in 14 states, had the steepest advance in six years, surging 9.1 percent to $53.17.
UnitedHealth Group Inc., the largest U.S. medical insurer, posted better-than-estimated quarterly results yesterday and added 5.9 percent to $27.76 today. The S&P 500 Managed Health Care Index increased 8.1 percent today, bringing its two-day surge to 16 percent.
Financial stocks in the S&P 500 gained 1.9 percent as a group, extending their rebound from a nine-year low last week to 30 percent. U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said legislation to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the largest mortgage-finance companies, will send ``a very strong message'' of confidence to investors. The House of Representatives is set to vote on a rescue plan for the companies today.