Monthly Archives: March 2011

US Stocks closed up strongly, up 71 points overnight just shy of the last high of 12391 made last month. Positive data was out as jobs growth gave investors confidence that the market is recovering. Read more…

Overseas markets closed higher last night on light volume as global uncertainty subsides sending some confidence into the equities markets as well as the US Consumer Confidence report falling less than analyst expectations. Read more…

On the local market the talk of the town has been the possibility of a takeover of Woodside Petroleum by BHP Billiton. The Australian Financial review reported this morning that WPL has been in talks with Credit Suisse Group and Grant Samuel regarding a potential deal with BHP. According to the newspaper, BHP is evaluating a deal involving Royal Dutch Shells remaining 24% interest in Woodside, despite BHP having concerns surrounding Woodsides market valuation. Woodsides share price has rallied more than 12% in the past 2 weeks following higher crude prices and purported takeover talks.

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Markets managed a strong session on Friday night, even though Portugal was again downgraded by S&P to BBB as it also looked like the EU would come through with a package. In the US we saw some positive economic data that helped push markets higher, the GDP for the fourth quarter was revised higher from 2.8 to 3.1%, and we also saw some better than expected consumer sentiment data. Read more…

Overnight the DOW closed up 84 points as investors shrugged off the deepening political crises in Portugal to focus on encouraging corporate earnings from technology companies as well as US jobs data. The NASDAQ gained 38 points while in the UK the FTSE gained 85. Read more…

The Dow closed up 67 points on a statement from Well Fargos implying that the data showing a record low growth in new homes could be revised higher which turned the market around. In the first hour of trading the Dow fell after data showed that new US home sales unexpectedly fell and prices fell to levels from back in December 2003. Read more…

U.S. stocks faltered slightly Tuesday, ending a three-day rally as investors showed signs of looking past recent concerns over unrest in the Middle East and Japan’s earthquake. The small decline, which came on lower-than-average volumes, saw stocks move in a narrow band of just 48 points. Read more…

The Dow Jones last night managed to close well above the all important 12000 level, gaining 178 points or 1.5% to close at 12036. This continued enthusiasm in the market was fed by news of the largest takeover bid since 2009 with AT&Ts US$39bilion bid for Deutsche Telecoms T-Mobile USA as well as financial services provider, Charles Schwab stating it would purchase OptionsXpress for a deal to be worth over US$1billion. Read more…

Global markets rallied on Friday on the back of coordinated currency intervention from the G7, a weaker Yen being the aim which will assist Japans economy as it recovers from the devastating events of the last couple of weeks. The Dow rallied as much as 150 pts early in the session, tracking the broader Asian markets higher, but then sold off as investors remained cautious ahead of a weekend that proved to be full of news flow, by the close the Dow was some 0.7% higher, the NASDAQ higher by some 0.3% and the broader S&P 500 up 0.43%. Read more…

After a dismal week on global markets the Dow overnight closed up 161 points led by oil and energy while gold rose US$8 trading at US$1,404 an ounce, oil bounced 3.5% to US$101.42 per barrel as unrest continues in the Middle East and North Africa. Read more…