** US & ASIAN WRAP **
April 28th, 2006| ** US MARKETS ** | ||||||
| Dow 0,25%; Nasdaq 0,49%; S&P 0,33%; Soxx 1,3%; Russel2k -0,5%; DJAIG -2,29%; 10yr Bond 0,15%; 10yr Yield 5,06%; Crude future 70,75; Gold 637,96 | ||||||
| | Financials 1,39%| Utilities 1,27%| Technology 0,83%| Telecom 0,82%| ConsDisc 0,78%| ConsStaples 0,22%| Industrials -0,24%| Healthcare -0,61%| Energy -1,01%| Materials -1,9% | ||||||
** TRADING HEADLINES **
- Bernanke Says Fed May Pause in Rate Increases Even If Risks Not Balanced
- Treasury 2-Year Notes Rise Most in Six Weeks on Expectations for Fed Pause
- U.S. Stocks Advance on Bernanke Comments; Shares of Banks, Utilities Climb
- Dollar Weakens After Bernanke Says Central Bank May Suspend Rate Increases
- China May Take Further Steps to Cool Economy After Raising Interest Rates
** FED PAUSE **
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke gave his strongest signal yet that the central bank may
pause in its cycle of interest rate increases. “Even if in the committee’s judgment the risks to its
objectives are not entirely balanced, at some point in the future the committee may decide to take no action at one or more meetings in the interest of allowing more time to receive information relevant to the outlook,” Bernanke said. The Fed’s Open Market Committee is now basing deliberations
on what incoming data say about their forecast of a slower economic expansion in the second half of 2006. A continuing surge in growth may spur the central bank to keep lifting rates after 15 consecutive increases in almost two years.
** AFTER HOURS **
- Missing analysts’ expectations by a penny, Microsoft (-6.4% after hours) reported Q3
earnings of $0.32 per share, excluding $0.03 legal charge. Revenues rose 13.3%
year/year to $10.9 bln, which was also shy of expectations (consensus $11.04
bln). Looking ahead, MSFT issued downside EPS guidance for Q4, sees EPS of $0.30
(consensus $0.34) on revenues of $11.5-11.7 bln (consensus $11.67 bln). Co also
issued downside EPS guidance for FY07, sees EPS of $1.36-1.41 (consensus $1.53)
on revenues of $49.5-50.5 bln (consensus $49.52 bln). Microsoft CFO said, “We
are now accelerating our investments in the business to drive future growth,
which is reflected in our financial guidance. We believe next fiscal year will
deliver even stronger double-digit revenue growth than this year.”
** IN PLAY TODAY **
On the economic front, investors will get an advanced read on Q1 GDP, its
accompanying chain deflator figure and the Q1 Employment Cost Index at 14:30 CET.
Michigan Sentiment Chicago PMI hit the wires at 15:45 and 16:00 CET.
Chevron (CVX) will head a list of notable names reporting results before the bell which also includes ArvinMeritor (ARM), Automatic Data Processing (ADP), Cummins (CMI), Fortune Brands (FO), ITT
Industries (ITT) and Snap-On (SNA).
| ** ASIAN MARKETS ** | ||||||
| Nikkei -1,12%; Kospi -2,29%; HSI -1,27%; Taiwan 0,5%; China 0,7%; India -0,97%; Thailand -0,36%; Australia -0,83% | ||||||
** ASIAN HEADLINES **
- China May Take Further Steps to Cool Economy After Raising Interest Rates
- Bank of Japan Leaves Key Interest Rate Near Zero; Consumer Prices Climb
- Asian Stocks Have Steepest Slide in Two Weeks on China Rates; Sony Slumps
- E.Land Buys Carrefour’s South Korea Discount Store Chain for $1.9 Billion
- Nippon Steel Says Full Year Net Income to Fall 19 Percent on Competition
- Sony Shares Head for Biggest Drop in Three Years as Forecasts Fall Short
- Honda Plans to Increase Spending in Japan to Boost Domestic Vehicle Sales
- Chinese Debt Will Underperform on Higher Interest Rates, Citigroup Says