Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Stock Market News, Financial News - Mar 25, 2009

Oil nears $54 on Geithner comments

By Chris Baldwin

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil retraced early losses on Wednesday, rising to around $54 a barrel after the U.S. Treasury Secretary said he was "quite open" to recent Chinese suggestions on moving to a new global reserve currency.

Oil appeared little moved by data from the Energy Information Administration that showed U.S. weekly crude stocks rose last week to their highest since 1993.  (More ...)

Satyam value in peril over toxic liabilities

Hindustan Times

The government's silence on the provision of any amnesty or protection scheme to prospective buyers fraud-hit Satyam Computer Services is set to bring down the valuation of the IT firm significantly, say experts involved in the deal.

The issue will be raised by the shortlisted bidders in the course of the due diligence process. Bidders, who are not satisfied with the financial and legal data provided to them on the IT firm, could even back out at the final stage.  (More ...)

Dabur's Burman plans 200-strong eatery chain

Hindustan Times

From Ayurvedic medicines and consumer goods to fast food. Dabur's vice-chairman Amit Burman is now on an entrepreneurial drive to set up a chain of quick-service food outlets.

"We are going to invest Rs 200 crore towards 200 "Lite Bite" food joints to be set up soon all across India," Burman told reporters on the sidelines of the Food Forum of India industry seminar last week.  (More ...)

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ADVFN World Daily Markets Bulletin (excerpts)

US Stocks at a Glance

Major Averages Move Off Their Highs But Remain Firmly Positive

Stocks have shown a strong upward move over the course of morning trading on Wednesday, with the major averages offsetting the losses posted in the previous session. The rebound comes as traders react to some much better than expected economic data.

Earlier in the day, the Commerce Department released a report revealing that durable goods orders unexpectedly showed a substantial increase in the month of February after falling in each of the six previous months.

The report showed that durable goods orders jumped 3.4 percent in February after falling by a revised 7.3 percent in January. Economists had been expecting durable goods orders to fall by 2.5 percent compared to the 4.5 percent decrease that had been reported for the previous month.

The Commerce Department also released a separate report showing an unexpected in increase in new home sales in the month of February, continuing a recent string of better than expected housing market reports.

The report showed that new home sales rose 4.7 percent to an annual rate of 337,000 in February from an upwardly revised January rate of 322,000. The results surprised economists, who had been expecting sales to fall to 300,000 from the 309,000 originally reported for the previous month.

In recent trading, the major markets have moved well off their best levels of the day, although they are holding onto strong gains. The Dow is currently up 148.46 at 7,808.43, the Nasdaq is up 26.03 at 1,542.55 and the S&P 500 is up 15.07 at 821.32.

Canadian Market

Toronto Stocks Move Moderately Higher In Morning Trading

Toronto stocks have turned higher in Wednesday morning trading, recovering some of the losses seen yesterday. Gold-related stocks were among the big gainers as the precious metal rebounded on the Comex.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index has added 79.27 points or 0.89% to move at 8,928.66. A higher close would be the 10th in 12 sessions.

European Shares

FTSE struggles as miners fall
Market Movers
FTSE 100 3,866.48 -1.15%
techMARK 1,123.30 -0.37%
FTSE 250 6,319.36 -1.31%

For the second day in a row a bright start has been undermined by the mining sector.

Platinum is the problem today with Anglo American and Lonmin the worst performers, though Rio Tinto is also lower even though the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission opted not to block the increase of Chinalco’s stake to 18%.

Broker Evolution Securities observed that the controversial deal still has more difficult obstacles to overcome and suggests that the recent rally in the Rio share price presents a ‘strong selling opportunity’.

Asia Markets

Asian markets end mixed as investors take profits

The markets across the Asia-Pacific region ended mixed on Wednesday, as investors preferred profit taking following an extended relief rally. The markets, having shrugged off the early weakness following a weak closing by Wall Street stocks, could not maintain the momentum and the euphoria over a revival in global economic conditions seems to be losing steam for want of evidence that could instill confidence. Global demand continues to be weak as is evident from a report released earlier in the day by the Japanese government, which showed that exports plummeted by a record 49.9% year-over- year while imports fell 43.0% year-over-year to 3.443 trillion yen.

Commodities

Crude Oil Drops Ahead Of EIA Report

Oil prices dropped for a second straight day on Wednesday as traders looked ahead to the Energy Information Administration's weekly inventory report. The drop took crude further off its recently seen multi-month high.

Crude oil prices fell to $52.60, down $1.38 for the session. Prices touched as low as $52.08 in the early going.

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