Bring in the bulls !!
"U.S STOCKS:
Strong earnings from International Business Machines powered blue-chip stocks higher for the fourth-straight session, even as discouraging quarterly reports from other bellwethers kept the broader market flat.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 96.50 points (0.8%) to 12,720.48, ending on Friday at the session high. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index turned positive in the final minutes of the trading session, gaining 0.88 (0.1%) to 1,315.38. The Nasdaq Composite slipped 1.63 points (0.06%) to 2,786.70. Each measure finished with a third straight weekly gain. The broad market has posted its best start to a new year in 15 years. The Dow rose to a fresh six-month high, with IBM accounting for nearly two-thirds of the index's gains on Friday. The shares rose $8 (4.4%) to $188.52 after the company's better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday. IBM indicated that 2012 earnings would exceed forecasts.
Microsoft advanced $1.59 (5.7%) to $29.71 after the company reported fiscal second-quarter earnings that beat expectations, with revenue in line. The company also lowered its operating expense outlook for 2012.
Intel gained 75 cents (2.9%) to $26.38 -- a roughly four-year high -- after the chip maker topped fourth-quarter earnings and revenue forecasts, amid strength in the personal-computer business.
Google fell $53.58 (8.4%) to $585.99, and was S&P 500's biggest laggard after reporting fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that fell short of expectations. The average cost that advertisers paid Google per click declined from year-ago levels. Despite Google's decline, technology stocks on the S&P 500 were one of three sectors in positive territory on Friday.
At 7:45 AM (AEST), the 10-year Treasury note yield was 2.02% and the 5-year yield was 0.89%.
EUROPEAN STOCKS:
Most European stocks edged lower on Friday, snapping a four-session run of gains, as investors lost patience with Greek debt negotiations.
The Stoxx 600 closed 0.3% lower at 255.85, ending with a weekly gain of 2.7%.
Investors were closely following talks between the Greek government and private creditors, which continued on a third day in a bid to reach a crucial agreement to write down debt. The talks broke down last Friday, raising concerns that Greece would miss another multibillion-euro bailout. European markets spiked during the afternoon on media reports that Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and global bank representatives had concluded their meeting and would resume Friday night. No definite agreement was announced at market close and stocks pulled back into the red for the weekend. The UK FTSE 100 fell 0.2% to 5,728.55 and the French CAC 40 index was down 0.2% at 3,321.50. The German DAX 30 index was down 0.2% to 6,404.39.
COMMODITIES:
Crude futures slumped Friday, retreating from gains posted earlier in the week, on a weaker euro and hope for easing tensions between Iran and the West. Light, sweet crude for February delivery recently settled $1.93, lower at $98.46 a barrel. The February contract expired at settlement, and the more heavily traded March contract settled $2.21, or 2.2%, lower at $98.33 a barrel. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange traded $1.57 lower at $109.85 a barrel. Gold futures eased on Friday, as investors moved to the sidelines ahead of the weekend with Chinese buying expected to slow during a holiday there and investors cautious amid Greek debt negotiations. The most actively traded gold contract, for February delivery, recently fell $1.80, or 0.1%, to $1,652.70 a troy ounce .
Base metals closed mostly lower the London Metal Exchange Friday, as a stronger dollar and a measure of profit-taking dented the week's impressive rally. At the close of open outcry trading, LME three-month copper was 1.7% lower at $8,219 a metric ton, well below the fresh four-month high at $8,428.50/ton it hit earlier in the session.
Prices in dollar a metric ton.
3 Months Metal Bid-Ask Change from
Thursday PM kerb
Copper 8219.0- 8220.0 Dn 141
Lead 2184.0- 2185.0 Up 2
Zinc 2013.0- 2014.0 Dn 17
Aluminum 2217.0- 2218.0 Dn 14
Nickel 20450.0-20455.0 Up 265
Tin 21845.0-21850.0 Dn 5
Aluminum Alloy 2090.0- 2100.0 Dn 40
Aluminum Alloy-NASAAC 2245.0- 2250.0 Dn 15
FOREX:
The EUR/USD opens lower early in Asia after talks between Greece and its private-sector creditors over a debt write-down plan stall over the weekend. The sticking point is new disagreements over how much Greece would pay its bondholders in the future. The EUR/USD was last at 1.2885, down from 1.2935 late Friday in New York.
INTERBANK FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES: Latest Previous % Chg
Close
USD/JPY 76.95-7.20 76.95-7.20 +0.07
EUR/USD 1.2914-34 1.2914-34 -0.06
GBP/USD 1.5571-82 1.5571-82 +0.01
USD/CHF 0.9340-47 0.9340-47 -0.34
USD/CAD 1.0127-38 1.0127-38 +0.00
AUD/USD 1.0483-88 1.0483-88 +0.01
NZD/USD 0.8059-66 0.8059-66 -0.01
Interbank Foreign Exchange Rates at 2050 GMT.
AUSTRALIAN STOCKS:
Australian Market Report - Local Markets Likely Higher On US Leads
Local markets are likely to open up slightly stronger following the positive US moves on Friday.
Ahead of the local open the March SPI futures were 6 points lower at 4,213.
AUSTRALIAN & NZ CORPORATE & ECONOMIC CALENDAR:
LOCAL TIME/GMT
1130/0030 AUS Q4 PPI
Source: Dow Jones Newswires."
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