An exciting start to the week on Tuesday, 21 February 2012 fizzled out partly at the end but despite that US stocks managed to end mostly higher but in a mixed mode. During mid session hours, the Dow Jones Industrial Average cleared 13,000 for the first time since May 2008, after European leaders backed another round of aid for Greece, keeping an immediate crisis at bay. Stocks slipped shortly after the open, but were able to rebound for modest gains only to pare them partly while going into close. U.S. markets were closed Monday for the Presidents Day holiday.
For the day, that ended on Tuesday, 21 February 2012, Dow ended higher by 15.82 points or 0.12% to end at 12,965.7. The Nasdaq shed 3.21 points or 0.11% to end at 2,948.57. The S&P 500 gained 0.98 points or 0.07% to end at 1,362.21. Dow was trading higher by more than 45 points earlier during the day.
Dow components witnessed a mixed finish. Gainers were led by Home Depot while losers were led by Wal Mart. Five out of ten economic sectors ended higher led by energy, materials, and telecom sectors. Healthcare and consumer staples led the laggards.
Early participants showed little overall excitement to news that eurozone officials finally agreed to give flagging Greece another round of bailout funds. The decision by Chinas leaders to reduce the reserve requirement ratio on their countrys banks was also met with little fanfare. In Brussels, euro-area finance ministers approved another rescue for debt-encumbered Greece. The 130 billion euros, or $173 billion, financial package still left doubts, however, about how durable the fix would prove.
Also, a private-sector bond swap is set to be launched this week. Private bondholders will take writedowns of 53% on the value of their holdings, up from an earlier proposal for haircuts of around 50% agreed in March.
The Dow gainers were led by Home Depot which was up 1.4% after the home-improvement retailer reported a profit that topped Wall Streets expectations.
Conversely, Wal-Mart Stores fell 4%, with the discount retailer weighing on the Dow after its earnings fell short of estimates. Fellow Dow component Kraft matched the consensus.
During the final hours of trading, some selling left all three major equity averages to steadily surrender their gains and slip into negative territory late in the day. A final flurry of buying helped the averages improve their positions, but final results remained mixed.
In the currency market on Tuesday, the Dollar Index, which weighs the strength of dollar against basket of six other currencies fell initially but ultimately rose by almost 0.14%. The dollar edged up against the euro on Tuesday in the wake of a euro-zone agreement to approve a long-awaited bailout for Greece.
U.S. stocks gained and bonds fell, indicating the deal made investors feel more confident shifting to riskier from safer assets, which initially boosted the euro.
As investors bought into higher-risk assets, yields on the U.S. governments benchmark 10-year Treasury note climbed to 2.05%.
Crude prices ended substantially higher on Tuesday, 21 February 2012 at Nymex. Crude-oil futures shot up boosted by news that Greece and the European Union have finally secured a debt-restructuring deal. Supply disruptions from Iran added to the ongoing geo political tensions over there further pushing prices higher. Light and sweet crude for March delivery rose $2.6 (2.5%) to $105.84 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Tuesday. Prices rose to a high of $106.07 during intra day trading.
In a latest development, Iran announced on Monday it had halted oil sales to the U.K. and France. This pushed up oil prices further. The European Union has imposed an embargo on Iran, with oil exports to be halted in July, to force Tehran back to negotiations over its nuclear program.
Bullion metal prices ended higher and near the daily high on Tuesday, 21 February 2012 at Comex. The precious metals markets were boosted by news that Greece and the European Union have finally secured a debt-restructuring deal. The key outside markets were also in a bullish daily posture for gold and silver, as the U.S. dollar index was weak and crude oil prices were sharply higher. Gold for April delivery ended higher by $32.6 or 1.9%, to end at $1,758.5 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Tuesday. Earlier, it rose to a high of $1,762.5. On Tuesday, silver prices for March delivery ended higher by $1.21 or 3.7% at $34.43.
Advancers held a slight edge over decliners on the New York Stock Exchange, where almost 798 million shares traded. Composite volume neared 3.8 billion.
Barring banking ADRs and MTNL, Indian ADRs ended mostly lower on Tuesday. HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank gained 0.4% and 0.1% respectively. MTNL gained 7%. Losers were led by Wipro Technologies, VSNL and Tata Motors which slipped 0.9%, 0.8% and 0.7% respectively.
For tomorrow, MBA Mortgage Index is the main economic report expected. Other than that, earning reports will continue to pour in.
Powered by Capital Market - Live News
