** MORNING WRAP **
** US MARKETS **
Dow -0,33%; Nasdaq -0,68%; S&P -0,4%; Soxx -2,25%; Russel2k -1,05%; DJAIG
-1,45%; 10yr Bond -0,15%; 10yr Yield 4,98%; Crude future 73,68; Gold 629,65
| Telecom 0,09%| Energy -0,01%| ConsDisc -0,11%| ConsStaples -0,18%| Utilities
-0,25%| Financials -0,33%| Industrials -0,53%| Healthcare -0,61%| Technology
-0,84%| Materials -1,17%
** US: IN PLAY TODAY **
- Labor Costs Accelerate, Threaten Longest U.S. Earnings Streak in 40 Years
- Crude Oil Falls as Lebanon Cease-Fire Nears, BP Keeps Alaskan Oil Flowing
- This past week also represented the end of the heavy earnings reporting
season. About 90% of the S&P 500 companies have reported. The gain in operating
earnings now looks to come in close to 16% over the second quarter of last year.
That is an impressive performance. Energy and financial sectors posted the
strongest gains.
** ASIAN MARKETS **
Nikkei 1,45%; Kospi 0,05%; HSI -0,02%; Taiwan 0,58%; China -1,75%; India 0,42%;
Thailand 1,77%; Australia 0,42%
** ASIAN HEADLINES **
- Asian Stocks Rise, Led by Nissan, Exporters on Weaker Regional Currencies
- Crude Oil Falls as Lebanon Cease-Fire Nears, BP Keeps Alaskan Oil Flowing
- Richard Li to Bid for China Network Systems Stake, Commercial Times Says
- Philippines’ Arroyo Says Plan to End Budget Deficit Is Ahead of Schedule
- Euro May Add to Its Record Gains Against Yen on Slower BOJ Rate Increases
- Indonesia’s GDP Growth Probably Quickened in Quarter on Commodities Demand
- Retail Sales in New Zealand Unexpectedly Rise on Increased Jobs and Wages
- Rice Poised to Climb 100 Percent by 2008, Hurting Anheuser-Busch, Kellogg
- Toyota, Asian Automaker Stocks Seen Leading GM, Ford Shares in Second Half
- China Retail Sales Grow 13.7 Percent as Incomes Rise
** EUROPE: IN PLAY TODAY **
- Earnings today: Rodamco Europe, Hochtief & QCells.
- BAE Plc The U.K.’s largest defense contractor may
announce the sale of 72 Eurofighter Typhoon jets to Saudi Arabia
for 5 billion pounds ($9.5 billion) this week, the Times reported,
citing no one.
- BP Plc: The world’s third-largest oil company by
market value will keep pumping crude from the western half of
Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay, the largest U.S. oil field, while it
replaces corroded pipe on the eastern half.
- Deutsche Telekom AG: Europe’s largest telephone
company plans to lower prices for fixed-line and mobile-phone
services to help it become the cheapest provider in those markets,
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said.
- Royal Ahold NV: Centaurus Capital Ltd. is leading a
group of private-equity and trade investors preparing an 11
billion-euro ($14 billion) bid for Ahold, the owner of the U.S.
Stop & Shop supermarket chain, the Business reported yesterday,
citing unidentified people close to the situation.
Centaurus has been in talks with Ahold Chief Financial
Officer John Rishton about options including breaking up Ahold or
selling part to Supervalu Inc., the Business said.