Stock Market News for February 9, 2012 - Market News
February 09 2012 - 4:06AM
Zacks
US markets advanced on Wednesday,
but lingering doubts on the European front limited gains. Investors
also opted to take a cautious stance and refrained from betting big
bucks, choosing to wait for the ultimate outcome of Greece’s debt
negotiations. There was a fair bit happening on the earnings front,
but otherwise the day lacked any domestic action.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average
(DJI) moved up by just 0.04% to settle at 12,883.95. The Standard
& Poor 500 (S&P 500) edged up 0.2% to finish yesterday’s
trading session at 1,349.96. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.4%
and closed at 2,915.86. The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX)
moved up 2.9% to settle at 18.16. For 56% of the advancing shares
on the New York Stock Exchange, 40% of the stocks were on the
declining side. The remaining stocks were left unchanged.
Consolidated volumes on the New
York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, were
once again low at 6.97 billion shares, well below last year's daily
average of 7.84 billion. Since last week’s robust employment data,
volumes have remained below average and thus trading has mostly
been lackluster. This is primarily due to the absence of any
significant domestic economic data and major news on the home
front. More importantly, investors are refraining from placing
their bets until Greece ultimately inks the debt deal.
For a considerable time now, Greece
has been in the spotlight, starting with its bond swap deal with
private creditors, which was rejected by euro-zone ministers. An
impasse over this agreement then followed and eventually the Greek
government resumed talks with its creditors. Thereafter, the
European leaders, including the French and German leaders, laid out
strict economic measures for Greece, which have to be adhered to if
Greece wishes to receive the next tranche of its bailout package.
Amidst these developments, while the nations’ politicians delayed
from taking a stance, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said: “Time
is running out”. These developments affected the markets’ modest
swings and the overall sentiment received a boost on Wednesday
following reports that Greece was close to inking a deal with
private creditors. Greece's government is now preparing a list of
economic measures that will qualify them for the next bailout
payment.
Finally after three days of delays,
Greek leaders gathered at Athens yesterday to brainstorm about the
spending cuts they need to accept to qualify for financial aid. The
parties were thus making an effort to strike a deal and clear the
air about whether it will receive the crucial amount from
international lenders. Reportedly, yesterday morning three major
political parties, the conservative New Democracy, PASOK socialists
and LAOS, were handed the 15-page document that detailed the
principles of the bailout and its conditions.
Coming to the domestic arena, there
were few if any economic reports which could affect market
sentiment. However, some important earnings results were
released. After decent first quarter results from The Walt
Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) on Tuesday, diversified media
conglomerate Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX) came out with
better-than-expected fourth-quarter 2011 results and also hiked its
dividend by 11%. However, shares of the company gained only 0.03%.
Separately, Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) impressed with higher net income
and revenue in its third quarter fiscal 2012. Subsequently, its
shares gained 9.2%. Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWLD) leapt
17.1% after reporting strong fourth quarter 2011 results, powered
by strong top-line growth. However, telecom major Sprint Nextel’s
(NYSE:S) drive of subsidized iPhones took a heavy toll on the
company’s financials and its losses increased during the fourth
quarter. The company managed to beat estimates but its shares
dropped 1.6%.
BUFFALO WLD WNG (BWLD): Free Stock Analysis Report
DISNEY WALT (DIS): Free Stock Analysis Report
RALPH LAUREN CP (RL): Free Stock Analysis Report
SPRINT NEXTEL (S): Free Stock Analysis Report
TIME WARNER INC (TWX): Free Stock Analysis Report
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