Retailers send Wall Street higher
Wall Street rallied Friday to finish the week higher for the second consecutive week. Positive results from retailers sent consumer related stocks higher.
In economic news, consumer sentiment unexpectedly dropped from 70.6 to 66 in early November according to the University of Michigan.
Meanwhile, the trade balance between imports and exports grew to a higher than anticipated $36.5 billion in October.
The Dow Jones gained 73.00 points, or 0.72% to 10,270.47, the S&P 500 added 6.24 points, or 0.57% to 1,093.48 and the NASDAQ put on 18.86 points, or 0.88% to 2,167.88.
Financials struggled, with most of the heavyweights within 1% below the gain line. Wells Fargo dropped 1.9%, while Morgan Stanley bucked the trend having edged 0.2% higher.
American Express rose 2.2% after being heavily sold Thursday.
Oracle and Apple were the best of the tech heavyweights having put on 1.4% and 1.2%.
Retailers JC Penney and Abercrombie & Fitch jumped 6.2% and 10.7% after posting better than expected earnings results.
Sears and Macy’s rallied 6.7% and 2.9%.
Walt Disney climbed 4.8% after its quarterly results showed signs the entertainment company was heading in a positive direction.
Energy stocks tracked the price of crude higher. ConocoPhillips gained 1.2%, while Exxon Mobil and Chevron added 0.8% and 0.7%.
NYMEX light crude oil for December delivery fell US59c to settle at US$76.35 a barrel.
COMEX gold for December delivery advanced US$10.10 to US$1,116.70 per ounce.
European Markets
European stocks closed higher after GDP for the nations using the euro increased 0.4% during the second quarter. It was a mixed day throughout the sectors as negative economic data out of the US weighed on investors.
The UK benchmark FTSE 100 added 19.88, or 0.38% to 5,296.38. The French CAC40 slid 2.06 points, or 0.05% to 3,806.01, while the German DAX gained 22.87, or 0.40% to 5,686.83.
HSBC put on 1.2% on reports it would pay a higher than expected dividend.
UK peers Barclays and Standard Chartered shed 1.3% and 1.1%.
In France BNP Paribas and Société Generale added 0.7% each, while investment bank Natixis weakened 4.8% after falling short of quarterly profit estimates.
Deutsche Bank rose 0.4%, while German peer Commerzbank fell 2.6%.
Insurer AXA lost 1.2%.
Energy majors were mixed, with BG Group adding 2.1% and Total weakening 1.9%.
Aussie miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto gained 1% and 1.1% on a mixed day for base metal prices. Anglo American rallied 1.9%.
Antofagasta and Xstrata shed 1.4% and 1.7%.
Japanese Markets
The Nikkei dipped Friday to see the market close lower for the third consecutive week. A retreat in commodity prices and worse than expected corporate earnings reports rattled investors.
The Nikkei 225 fell 34.18, or 0.35% to 9,770.31.
Mizuho Financial Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group rose 1.7% and 0.6% respectively. Banks have retreated in recent weeks on fears that their run of capital raisings hasn’t finished.
Japan Airlines retreated 0.9%.
Nippon Yusen fell 3.5% and Kawasaki Kisen K.K. dipped 3.9%. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines lost 1.1%. The industry’s stocks were sold after Nippon Yusen announced a capital raising earlier in the week.
Sharp added 3.8% following a broker upgrade. Nippon Suisan Kaisha surged 7.6% for the same reason.
Among the autos, Toyota lost 0.3% and Honda dipped 0.2%.
Hong Kong Markets
The Hang Seng gained ground to end the week. Banks led the way on speculations a favourable monetary policy would remain in place, while the sector also benefited from takeover talks.
The Hang Seng climbed 156.06, or 0.7% to 22,553.63.
ICBC added 2% with expectations that the banking sector will improve as Chinese companies seek loans as the economy improves.
Bank of China and China Construction Bank added 3.2% and 1.4% respectively.
Taifook Securities rose 6.6%.
Malaysian conglomerate Guoco Group slipped 2.4% after Bank of East Asia denied it was in talks regarding a potential take over. Bank of East Asia, whose shares had risen 26% in the prior two days, retreated 3.7%.
Simsen International added 29% on buyout talk for the stock
Meanwhile, Shui On Construction and Materials Ltd rose 7.9% on speculation that it would spin off its cement joint venture for around US$500 to 600 million.
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