U.S. AVERAGES
Early gains were shadowed by the higher oil prices and the major averages are now each posting a slight advance.
Commodity shares offer the biggest help to the early gains. Tech shares and disk drive segments are also among the advancers.
LanVision Systems (
LANV: chart) is among the biggest percentage advancers after it posted a 2Q profit vs. a loss last year. The stock is currently 35% higher.
Maytag shed 3 cents to $18.68, and
Whirlpool advanced 52 cents to $82.35 as traders expected confirmation whether Whirlpool would indeed acquire its rival.
OSI Pharmceuticals said it agreed to buy Eyetech for $20 per share, a 20 percent premium to Eyetech's Friday closing price.
Eyetech shares gained 28.5%, to $17.98, while
OSI declined 20.4%, to $32.47.
Merck & Co. continued to drop after the unfavorable jury verdict late Friday. Merck's shares lost almost 8% and slid 34 cents to $27.72.
On the earnings front,
H.J. Heinz's fiscal 1Q earnings fell 19%, dragged down by reorganization charges, higher commodity prices and a decline at the company's European frozen-foods unit. Heinz's earnings and sales topped analysts’ views and the company’s shares gained 42 cents to $36.72.
J.M. Smucker's (
SJM: chart) 1Q profit dropped 9% as sales growth was overshadowed by higher marketing costs, expenses related to establishing the company's new distribution network and other items. The company’s shares are currently down 5.74%.
The HIV drug developed by
Panacos (
PANC: chart) helped boost the company's share price 56%.
ECONOMIC NEWS
No economic reports are due
Monday.
Existing home and new home sales, weekly jobless claims, durable goods orders and monthly consumer sentiment are on economic calendar for the week.
On
Tuesday the National Association of Realtors is expected to report that July existing home sales have declined to 7.25 million from 7.33 in June and 7.14 million in May. National median price on housing in June was $219,000. On Wednesday, Commerce Department is expected to report new home sales of 1.325 million from 1.374 million in June.
On
Wednesday the Commerce Department is also scheduled to report July durable goods orders declined by 1.2% after rising 1.4% in June, 6.4% in May, and 1.5% in April. If the orders do decline then this will be the first decline since March 2005.
On
Thursday Labor Department is to report weekly unemployment for the week ended August 20 to rise to 320,000 from 316,000 in the previous week. The initial claims after peaking in March 2005 at 455,000 have been on steady decline.
On
Friday Fed’s Chairman is scheduled to report on the health of the economy at the Fed’s annual meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Final read on August consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan is expected to match the initial estimate of 92.7.
INTERNATIONAL MARKET NEWS
Asian markets closed higher Monday as Japanese shares reached their highest level since July 2001, led by gains in banking and oil companies. The Nikkei 225 index rose 160.78 points, or 1.3%, to 12,452. Among advancers, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index closed 1.2% higher, Sydney's All-Ordinaries index rose 0.7% to 4,462, Singapore's Straits Times index closed 0.6% higher to 2,300 and the Shanghai Composite index added 0.7% to 1,158.
Japanese stocks climbed to a new 4-year high Monday as continued confidence in the nation's economic recovery encouraged traders to buy issues sensitive to domestic demand. On the Tokyo Stock Exchange the Nikkei 225 index gained 160.78 points, or 1.30% to 12,452.51 points, its highest level since July 5, 2001 when it reached 12,607.30 points.
