U.S. AVERAGES
Market spent the morning hovering around the middle of their intra-day ranges. In general, the tech sector is higher, the disk drive segment is less than 1% higher, while the semiconductor segment is up 1.1%.
Internet stocks posted a modest drop and the housing sector is also among the decliners on Monday, though it is down less than 1% only.
Climbing oil prices could weigh on the rally. Light, sweet crude recently advanced 36 cents to $66.15 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on reports of possible supply disruptions from the Middle East.
CP Ships (
TEU: chart),
PetroKazakhstan (
PKZ: chart) and
SBS Broadcasting (
SBTV: chart) have each climbed to new 52-week peaks on merger and acquisitions news.
Emmis Communications (
EMMS: chart) reached a fresh high after the news that it has agreed to sell 9 TV stations.
OSI Pharmaceuticals (
OSIP: chart) hit a 52-week low, losing 20% after announcement of its deal to buy
Eyetech Pharmaceuticals (
EYET: chart).
Northwest shares added about 4.5% as reports said the nation's No. 4 airline has suffered little damage from a strike by its mechanics that started Saturday.
Merck shares lost another 2% Monday after Friday's 8% decline on the $253 million verdict against the Vioxx maker.
Panacos Pharmaceuticals (
PANC: chart) surged more than 60% after the company announced that its experimental HIV drug cuts the level of the virus in the blood by 90%.
Treasury prices were lower, raising the yield on the 10-year note to 4.23% from the 4.21% level late Friday.
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.
European stocks advanced at mid-day Monday, as oil and mining stocks gained strength, while drug makers were under pressure. The German DAX 30 added 0.24% to 4941, the French CAC 40 gained 0.09% to 4491 and the British FTSE 100 index advanced 0.15% to 5320.
ENERGY, METALS AND CURRENCIES MARKETS
The
dollar weakened vs. the euro and the yen Monday, after the greenback had rallied last week on positive U.S. economic reports and expectations of higher interest rates. The greenback traded at 109.55 yen, off from 110.40 yen late Friday, while the euro advanced to $1.2232 vs. $1.2164.
Gold futures were higher in morning trade, reviving from Friday's drop. December gold gained $2.60 to $444.80 an ounce, while September
copper added 1.8 cents, or 1.1%, to $1.677 a pound.
Gold closed at $437.55 an ounce on Monday in Hong Kong, down $1.2 an ounce versus Friday's close of $438.75.
The benchmark 10-year
Treasury dropped 5/32, or $1.56 per $1,000 invested, to yield 4.23% Monday. The 30-year bond lost 7/32 to yield 4.44%.
EARNINGS NEWS
Heinz Company (
HNZ: chart) posted earnings for 1Q 2006, excluding special items, of 52 cents per share vs. 55 cents per share in the same period a year ago. Analysts expected earnings of 49 cents per share for the quarter. Sales for the first quarter totaled $2.110 billion vs. 2.003 billion prior in the year.
