Stock Market News for April 8, 2011 - Market News
April 08 2011 - 5:10AM
Zacks
On Thursday markets fell slightly after Japan was hit by another
quake, reigniting fears about its nuclear power crisis.
Additionally, oil prices rose above $110 per barrel but better than
expected March chain-store sales kept losses in check.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.14% to
end at 12,409.49. The S&P 500 was down 0.15%, or 2.03 points,
to close at 1,333.51 and the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index also
slipped 3.68 points or 0.13% to close at 2,796.14. On the New York
Stock Exchange, NYSE Amex and Nasdaq, only 7.06 billion shares were
traded compared with last year’s estimated daily average of 8.47
billion shares. The fear gauge CBOE Volatility Index gained 1.2% to
close at 17.11.
On the economic front, the Commerce Department
said the number of people applying for jobless claims fellby 10,000
to 3,82,000. This was the third drop in four weeks and the decline
in applications suggests layoffs are stopping. On Thursday, the
Securities and Exchange Commission said that in case of a Federal
government shutdown, only basic investor services will be available
and the SEC will function with "an extremely limited number of
staff". The SEC also said it will
continue to investigate fraud and securities violations. Oil prices
rose above $110 a barrel in the afternoon, the highest level since
September 2008.
Meanwhile, a day after Portugal asked for a
bailout, the European Central Bank hiked its interest rate from 1%
to 1.25%. However, the Bank of England voted to keep its interest
rate at a record low of 0.5%. Like the Fed, both banks had kept
interest rates low during the financial crisis and recession to
spur economic activity. European markets also fell reacting to the
news of Japan’s quake with both London’s FTSE and Germany’s DAX
falling 0.6% and 0.5% respectively.
Moving on to sectoral news, departmental store
sales for March fell less than expected as a late Easter, cool
temperatures and high gas prices did not hurt results, as expected
by analysts. Sales figures of department stores were badly hit
during the recession as buyers and customers sought bargains.
High-end department stores continued to perform the best, with
Nordstrom and Saks reporting higher revenue. Revenue for Saks
(NYSE:SKS) from stores open for at least one year rose 11.1% ,
higher than the 0.8% gain expected by analysts. Nordstrom
Inc.’s (NYSE:JWN) share prices increased by 0.71 cents to close at
$46.61 after revenue figures rocketed 5.1% higher than analyst’s
expectations.
Coming to earnings news, shares of Bed Bath &
Beyond Inc (NASDAQ:BBBY) rocketed 10.5% after the company reported
better than expected fourth quarter earnings results, beating the
Street’s expectations. Wine and spirits maker Constellation Brand’s
(NYSE:STZ) shares gained 6.92% to close at $21.79 after the company
reported its earnings results beating expectations. Shares of
Limited Brands Inc (NYSE:LTD) increased 1.62% to $35.80 after the
company reported higher revenue figures because of strong sales of
its Victoria’s Secret Stores which surged by 14%. Costco
Wholesale Corp’s (NASDAQ:COST) share prices increased 4% after the
company reported its sales figures had increased 13%. Share
prices of Pier
1 Imports (NYSE:PIR) increased
10.53% after the company reported its earnings
results.
BED BATH&BEYOND (BBBY): Free Stock Analysis Report
COSTCO WHOLE CP (COST): Free Stock Analysis Report
NORDSTROM INC (JWN): Free Stock Analysis Report
LIMITED INC (LTD): Free Stock Analysis Report
PIER 1 IMPORTS (PIR): Free Stock Analysis Report
SAKS INC (SKS): Free Stock Analysis Report
CONSTELLATN BRD (STZ): Free Stock Analysis Report
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