Takeaways for Today (10/29/2007)
Wall Street bets on rate cutStocks gained Monday, as bets that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates later this week distracted investors from record oil prices above $93 a barrel and another decline for the dollar versus the euro.
Stocks surged Friday in a broad-based rally, and some of that momentum spilled over to Monday, as investors continued to bet that the Fed will cut rates again.
Major Indexes Close Ahead
After a strong start in the morning, the major stock indexes finished Monday with decent gains. Expectations for an interest-rate cut from the Federal Reserve trumped rising oil prices and a falling dollar. The Nasdaq and the Dow each tacked on 0.5%. The S&P 500 gained 0.4%. Volume declined across the board. The NYSE composite rose 0.7%, but the small-cap S&P 600 fell 0.2%.
The effect of high crude oil prices continued to pinch consumers at the pump, with the average cost for gasoline rising 4.9 cents to the highest level in 14 months and diesel fuel soaring 6.3 cents to match the record set two years ago, the government said on Monday. Crude oil accounts for more than half the cost of making gasoline. U.S. crude prices are up because of worries about tight petroleum supplies and the weaker U.S. dollar, which makes oil less expensive for market buyers who use other currencies.
UBS Confirms Third-Quarter Loss
Swiss bank UBS AG, already writing down the value of some assets by $3.4 billion, warned investors Monday that its fourth-quarter results may be hit by a further downturn in the U.S. housing and mortgage markets.
UBS said that although the quarter had started well, its exposure to the U.S. credit market "could lead to further writedowns" and "UBS is not assuming that the quarter will continue as positively as it has begun, or that the current difficulties will be resolved in the short term."
Citigroup Inc (C.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Monday it had received approval to list shares in Tokyo early next month, as the largest U.S. bank continues to boost its presence in the world's second-largest economy.
The listing may be the final step in the bank's campaign to rebrand itself as a local lender after spending more than 100 years as a niche player in Tokyo.
Global microchip sales up 6 percent in September
Global microchip sales rose 5.9 percent in September, driven by demand for consumer products such as personal computers and cell phones, the Semiconductor Industry Association said on Monday.
Microchip sales in September were $22.6 billion, compared with $21.3 billion last year. Third-quarter sales rose about 6 percent to $67.8 billion from $64.0 billion in the year-ago period.
Boeing Sets $7 Billions shares BuybackBoeing Co (BA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Monday it would buy up to $7 billion of its own stock, one of the plane-maker's largest repurchase plans on record, but kept its cash dividend unchanged.
The announcement comes amid a three-month slide in Boeing shares, which have lost about 10 percent of their value after hitting an all-time high in July, as production problems have delayed the company's new 787 Dreamliner.
GM plans China "green" research plant
General Motors is to build a research centre in China for alternative energy vehicles, the latest sign that China is seen as a vital battleground for a new generation of cars.
The US group, which plans to introduce hybrid cars to the Chinese market next year, said the new research facility would be part of a $250m investment in a new “campus” in Shanghai which will also include its Asian headquarters.
Office Depot Inc (ODP.N: Quote, Profile, Research), the world's second-largest office supplies retailer, said on Monday it would delay its third-quarter earnings release due to an independent review of its vendor program funds, sending its shares down as much as 17 percent.The company was scheduled to report quarterly results October 30. It did not announce a new date for its earnings release.
BEA still looking to sell at $21 per share
Software maker BEA Systems Inc's (BEAS.O: Quote, Profile, Research) board said on Monday it is holding out for a $21-a-share takeover offer, or $8.2 billion in total, a day after larger rival Oracle Corp (ORCL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) withdrew its bid.
BEA reiterated its position after its biggest shareholder, Carl Icahn, called for the business software maker to be put up for auction.
Toshiba up on chips, power systems, lifts outlookJapanese electronics group Toshiba Corp (6502.T: Quote, Profile, Research) posted a 38 percent rise in quarterly operating profit on Monday, thanks to sales of its flash memory chips and thermal power plants, and it raised its full-year outlook closer to market estimates.
The world's No.2 maker of NAND flash memory chips after South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS: Quote, Profile, Research) has so far benefited from solid demand and prices for flash memory and its system chips, used by clients such as Apple Inc (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and Nokia (NOK1V.HE: Quote, Profile, Research) in their digital music players and cellphones.
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This entry was posted by David Choi, on
Monday, October 29, 2007.
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