MARKETS AT A GLANCE
(Data as of approximately 5 p.m. ET)
LAST CHANGE % CHG
DJIA 16262.6 89.32 0.55%
Nasdaq 4034.16 11.47 0.29%
S&P 500 1842.98 12.37 0.68%
Japan: Nikkei 225 13996.8 86.65 0.62%
Hang Seng 22671.3 -367.54 -1.60%
Shanghai Composite 2101.6 -29.94 -1.40%
S&P BSE Sensex 22484.9 -144.03 -0.64%
Australia: S&P/ASX 5388.2 29.3 0.55%
UK: FTSE 100 6541.61 -42.15 -0.64%
PRICE CHG YIELD%
U.S. 2 Year 0/32 0.371
U.S. 5 Year -1/32 1.620
U.S. 10 Year 5/32 2.631
Australia 10 Year -7/32 4.009
China 10 Year 0/32 4.540
India 10 Year 4/32 8.967
Japan 10 Year 0/32 0.607
German 10 Year 16/32 1.475
LAST(MID) CHANGE
Australia $ (AUD/USD) 0.936 -0.0002
Yen (USD/JPY) 101.92 0.01
S. Korean Won (USD/KRW) 1041.5 0.02
Chinese Yuan (USD/CNY) 6.2208 -0.0003
Euro (EUR/USD) 1.3813 -0.0002
WSJ Dollar Index 72.97 0.01
LAST CHANGE % CHG
Crude Oil 103.75 -0.3 -0.29%
Brent Crude 109.38 0.31 0.28%
Gold 1302.6 -24.9 -1.88%
SNAPSHOT
U.S. stocks ended broadly higher after a volatile session marked
by disappointing economic data, some upbeat earnings and
geopolitical tensions. A clash at a military airport in Ukraine
gave Treasurys a boost. The dollar edged up on U.S. inflation data.
Gold dropped on China demand fears, and oil prices slipped as
supplies were seen ample.
OPENING CALL
Asian market watchers will be focused Wednesday on growth data
out of China. Economists expect China's economy to post a 7.3%
increase for the first three months of the year, below the official
7.5% expansion target. Tang Yonggang, analyst with Hongyuan
Securities, says despite expectations for a not-so-great number,
"the market's response may actually be positive if sentiment grows
positive on the roll out of reform measures."
EQUITIES
U.S. stocks ended a volatile session with broad gains, erasing a
sharp midday swoon that saw the Nasdaq Composite Index fall to
nearly five-month lows before recovering.
The intraday volatility came as investors digested disappointing
economic data, upbeat earnings from blue-chip companies and a
flare-up of tensions in Ukraine.
"It is a sloppy market," said Frank Cappelleri, a sales trader
at brokerage firm Instinet. "Overall, the market's pattern is still
fragile. The overall risk people are willing to take is lower given
the damage that has been seen" in the market of late, he said.
Mr. Cappelleri added that lighter volumes during a
holiday-shortened week increased the intraday volatility. The
Jewish holiday of Passover began this week, while the stock market
is closed Friday for Good Friday.
Stocks started strong Tuesday following upbeat quarterly reports
from components of the Dow industrials. Coca-Cola climbed 3.7%
after first-quarter adjusted earnings met estimates, while revenue
rose slightly above forecasts, amid an increase in world-wide case
volume. Johnson & Johnson rose 2.1% after reporting
better-than-expected first-quarter earnings and raising its
full-year outlook.
Fellow Dow member Intel, which reported better-than-expected
first-quarter earnings after the close, gained 1.7% in after-hours
trading.
Disappointing economic data contributed to the intraday swoon,
as they marked a stark change from the recent string of upbeat data
on the labor market and retail sales. The New York Federal
Reserve's Empire State index of manufacturing activity for April
fell to 1.3 from 5.61 in March, versus expectations of a rise to
8.0. Readings above zero indicate improving conditions.
Data also showed that home-builder confidence improved less than
economists expected, while consumer prices rose a touch more than
forecast in March.
Traders said news of military activity in Ukraine also weighed
on sentiment in midday trading. A clash erupted at a military
airport in Eastern Ukraine Tuesday, with two pro-Russian militants
apparently wounded.
In other corporate news, Zebra Technologies slumped 10% after
the barcode-printing and asset-tracking company announced an
agreement to buy Motorola Solutions' enterprise business for $3.45
billion in cash. Shares of Motorola Solutions slipped 0.6%.
Yahoo surged 8.3% in after-hours trading after reporting
first-quarter earnings and revenue that topped analyst forecasts.
Yahoo has been one of the harder hit stocks during the recent
market weakness. Through Tuesday's close, the stock had lost 4.7%
so far in April and 15% this year.
Charles Schwab rose 3.2% after the discount brokerage reported
first-quarter earnings that rose above analyst forecasts, as new
assets and profit margins increased.
In Asian trading Tuesday, Chinese stocks shot lower amid growing
concerns over excess credit in the region's largest economy, while
Japan and Australia recovered from heavy selling in recent
sessions.
FOREX
The dollar edged higher against major currencies after U.S.
inflation data encouraged investors to think the Federal Reserve
could raise interest rates sooner than expected.
Inflation rose 0.2% in March from the previous month, the Labor
Department said. Consumer prices also increased 1.5% from a year
ago, approaching the central bank's target of 2%.
The Fed has said it is watching inflation to gauge when the U.S.
economy has recovered and it can raise interest rates. Investors
are attracted to dollars and dollar-denominated assets when
interest rates climb, as they would gain in value against the
currencies of countries whose interest rates don't.
But while March inflation was a positive signal for the Fed, a
survey of New York manufacturers, generally considered second-tier
data for the currency market, came in below economists' forecasts,
capping the dollar's gains.
BONDS
Treasury bond prices strengthened as rising geopolitical
tensions in Ukraine boosted demand for haven assets and sent the
benchmark 10-year yield to a six-week low.
Ukraine represents "the scare factor" that propped up U.S. bond
prices, said Thomas Roth, executive director in the U.S. government
bond trading group at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities USA in New
York.
The crisis in Ukraine returned to the market spotlight after
taking a back seat in recent weeks. Anxiety has risen again after
pro-Russian activists and militants extended their grip across
eastern Ukraine over the weekend, prompting the government to
mobilize the military as it struggles to prevent a replay of
Russia's takeover of Crimea.
Mary Ann Hurley, vice president of trading in Seattle at D.A.
Davidson, said one of the concerns is that the escalating crisis
between Ukraine and Russia could cast a cloud over the global
growth outlook at a time when uncertainty persists about whether
the U.S. economy will shake off its recent weakness and accelerate
its growth later this year.
"If a civil war breaks out in Ukraine, it would be reasonable to
expect growth would slow in Europe," said Ms. Hurley. "Weaker
growth there would have ramifications on global growth," which
would boost demand for Treasury debt.
COMMODITIES
Gold locked in its largest one-day percentage drop since
December as worries about weaker demand from China prompted some
investors to reduce their gold holdings.
The drop came as traders considered data showing
weaker-than-expected money supply growth in China, the world's top
gold consumer. China's money supply grew 12.1% in March from a year
earlier, missing the People's Bank of China's target of 13% growth
for the first time since April 2012.
China is due to release its first-quarter economic growth report
on Wednesday, and some traders are worried that that report will
also leave the market disappointed, said Graham Leighton, a metals
broker with Marex Spectron in New York.
"People are a bit nervous about the figure coming out from
China, especially after the money supply data we got today, and
they just wanted to take some money off the table," Mr. Leighton
said.
U.S. oil prices fell from a six-week high as traders expected
supplies to remain ample.
TODAY'S HEADLINES
Clash Erupts at Military Airport in Eastern Ukraine
Two pro-Russian militants were apparently wounded in a clash at
a military airfield as armored Ukrainian units began moving into
the restive east, part of a military operation to take back control
of cities seized by separatists.
Yahoo Shows Signs of Growth
Yahoo reported its revenue, minus commissions paid to partners
for Web traffic, rose 1% in the first quarter after four straight
quarters without growth. Overall, Yahoo reported earnings of $311.6
million, or 29c a share. Adjusted earnings were flat at 38c.
Intel's Profit Slides as PC Market Shrinks
Intel reported a 4.8% decline in first-quarter profit to $1.95
billion, or 38c a share, as the Silicon Valley chip maker continues
to share the pain of the shrinking personal-computer market.
Results beat Street views.
Yellen Sees Room for Stronger Capital Rules
Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen said the largest and
most complex financial institutions may be able to strengthen their
balance sheets further by raising more capital than regulators have
required to date.
U.S. Home Builder Confidence Still Subdued in April
An index of builder confidence in the market for new
single-family homes rose one point to a seasonally adjusted 47 in
April, the National Association of Home Builders said. Economists
surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expected it would rise in April
to 50.
U.S. Consumer Prices Rise 0.2% in March
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The consumer-price index advanced a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in
March from the prior month. Core prices, which strip out volatile
food and energy costs, also rose 0.2%. Both gauges were expected to
increase by 0.1%.
Coke's Profit Drops But Volumes Improve
Weak soda volumes, foreign-exchange headwinds and bottling
divestments shrank Coca-Cola's profit and revenue, even as the
company staged a rebound in key emerging markets and sales of
non-carbonated drinks picked up.
Credit Suisse Subpoenaed in Tax-Evasion Probe
New York's top financial regulator is said to have sought
numerous documents from Credit Suisse in an ongoing tax-evasion
probe of the Swiss bank.
Foreign Investors Step Up Treasury Buys
Foreign investors scooped up Treasury notes and bonds in
February at the fastest pace in more than two years, a sign of
continued confidence in the world's ultrasafe and most liquid bond
market.
No Signs of Missing Jet in Seabed Search
Initial data from an unmanned submersible launched to scan the
Indian Ocean seabed for wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
revealed nothing related to the missing plane, authorities
said.
RECENT DJ DOMINANTS
Moelis Sells 6.5 Million Shares for $25 Each in IPO, Source
Says
ADM Sale of Chocolate Business Possible Within 5 Months, ADM
President Says
Ford Plans to Overhaul Infotainment System, Source Says
Stockbroker Records to Receive More Scrutiny
Royal Bank of Canada To Turn Proprietary-Trading Arm Into Hedge
Fund
TODAY'S CALENDAR
(Times in GMT, followed by country and event)
0030 AUS Feb Westpac-Melbourne Institute Indexes of Economic
Activity
0200 CHN Q1 GDP
0200 CHN Mar Fixed Assets Investment
0200 CHN Mar Industrial Output
0200 CHN Mar Retail sales
0430 JPN Feb Revised Industrial Production
0800 ITA Feb Foreign Trade EU
0800 EU Feb Euro area balance of payments
0830 UK Mar UK monthly unemployment figures
0900 EU Mar Harmonised CPI
0900 EU Q4 Balance of payments - 2nd release
1100 US MBA Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey
1230 US Mar New Residential Construction - Housing Starts and
Building Permits
1230 CAN Feb International transactions in securities
1230 CAN Q1 Investment in non-residential building
construction
1315 US Mar Industrial Production & Capacity Utilization
1400 CAN Bank of Canada interest rate announcement
1430 US EIA Weekly Petroleum Status Report
1625 US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen speech at the
Economic Club of New York
1645 US FRB Dallas President Richard Fisher speech at the 'Texas
at Turning Point' event
1800 US U.S. Federal Reserve Beige Book
2245 NZ Q1 CPI
2301 UK Mar Knight Frank House Price Sentiment Index
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