The increase in new home sales was due in large part to substantial sales growth in the Northeast, which saw a 50 percent increase in new home sales. New home sales in the Midwest rose 9.8 percent, while sales in the South and West fell 2.7 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively. The report also showed that the median sales price of new houses sold in March was $254,000, up from $251,800 in February. Additionally, the Commerce Department said that the seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of March was 545,000, which represents a supply of 7.8 months at the current sales rate. There was 8.1 months of supply in the previous month.


[R]9:45AM U.S. markets opened higher. The Dow hit 13,000-point milestone.[/R]
Wall Street opened higher, with the Dow Jones hitting the 13,000-point milestone for the first time in history, helped by strong corporate profits, stronger-than-expected economic data, and Alcoa’s plan to explore strategic alternatives for its packaging and consumer businesses. Amazon (AMZN: chart) led the tech sector higher, jumping 19% on more than doubled Q1 profit. Apple (APPL: chart) rose 1% ahead of earnings release after the close. Alcoa (AA: chart) was the main blue-chip gainer, rising 5%.

Shares of IBM (IBM: chart) and Hewlett Packard Co. (HPQ: chart) rose 0.9% and 0.4%, respectively, after their rival Sun Microsystems Inc. (SUNW: chart) reported quarterly sales below expectations. Shares of Sun Microsystems slipped 10%. Financial stocks were also in the spotlight after a consortium led by the Royal Bank of Scotland said it would offer $100 billion for ABN Amro (ABN: chart), sending the Dutch bank shares up 4.6%. RBS said its bid will be launched provided that ABN’s unit LaSalle is halted. On Monday, ABN agreed to sell LaSalle to Bank of America (BAC: chart) for $21 billion.

In the first half-hour of trading, the Dow was up 53 points at 13,009, crossing the key level for the first time at the open, as 24 of its 30 components advanced. The S&P 500 gained 5.64 points to 1,486, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 5.5 points to 2,530.

[R]Durable goods orders rose 3.4% in March.[/R]
Wednesday morning, the Department of Commerce released its advance report on durable goods orders in the month of March, showing that orders increased by much more than economists had been expecting. The report showed that orders for durable goods rose 3.4 percent in March following an upwardly revised 2.4 percent increase in February. Economists had expected orders to rise 2.5 percent compared to the 1.7 percent increase originally reported for the previous month. The increase in orders for durable goods, which are goods meant to last at least three years, was partly due to strong growth in orders for transportation equipment. Excluding orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders rose by a more modest 1.5 percent.

The Commerce Department said orders for transportation equipment rose 8.0 percent in March after surging up 10.2 percent in February. A 37.6 percent increase in orders for commercial aircraft and parts helped to offset a 48.8 percent drop in orders for defense aircraft and parts. Notable increases in orders for non-defense capital goods, communications equipment, and machinery also contributed to the overall increase in durable goods orders. At the same time, the report showed that orders for defense capital goods showed a significant decline. Excluding defense, new orders for durable goods increased 4.5 percent. The report also showed that shipments of durable goods rose 0.8 percent in March following a 1.4 percent decrease in February. Additionally, inventories of durable goods rose 0.3 percent in March after edging up 0.1 percent in the previous month.


[R]9:30AM The FTSE 100 advances Wednesday on merger activities.[/R]
The UK market was higher on Wednesday. By mid-day, the FTSE 100 was up 30.9 points to 6,460.4.

Advancers

Shares in Sainsbury led the advancers as 250 million shares were traded this morning, equivalent to about 14% of the grocer, though details about the name of the purchaser remained officially undisclosed. Reports suggest that Qatar-based group Three Delta is behind the deal. Sainsbury shares were up 7%.

Although losing to RBS, Barclays rose 2%. Investors consider that there is little chance of Barclays sweetening its offer as they think its current bid is fully priced, while shareholders are unlikely to be convinced of the benefits of an improved offer.

Benefiting from updates, Punch Taverns rose 1.6% as Numis Securities issued a buy note on the pubs group. International Power added 2% as the group continued to benefit from a rise in power prices in Australia, where it operates several power stations.

Decliners

Royal Bank 72 billion pound cash and shares offer for ABN Amro created lots of interest. The proposal, made with partners Santander and Fortis, is 13% more than Barclays bid launched Monday. RBS has made the retention of US bank LaSalle a component of its offer. Royal Bank of Scotland lost 1.7%.

A number of stocks declined as they moved ex-dividend, including Northern Rock, down 4.4%, and Drax Group, off 1.6%.

Reuters was in line with forecasts for underlying revenue in the first quarter, but the weak dollar meant revenues overall fell by 1.1%. Underlying revenue growth was 6.5%, up from 4% at the same time last year. Full year revenue and margin guidance is unchanged. Reuters lost 0.8%.

[R]9:15AM Asian markets finish lower Wednesday on weak export-oriented stocks.[/R]
Asian markets ended lower Wednesday. The Nikkei 225 ended 1.2% lower at 17,236.16. Export-oriented stocks plunged with Sony down 1.9%, Matsushita Electric falling 2.1%. Canon bucked the downtrend, advancing 1.5% after the digital camera and office-equipment maker posted group quarterly net profit increase of 21%, and raised its full-year earnings forecast.

Worries about the likelihood of more tightening measures from Beijing and U.S. home sales data saw the Hong Kong stock market decline. Hong Kong Hang Seng Index closed 0.2% lower at 20,536.78. Chinese financial stocks in Hong Kong dipped with China Construction Bank off 0.4%, ICBC down 0.5% and China Life declining 0.2%.

Elsewhere around the region, markets also finished lower. Sydney S&P/ASX 200 settled 0.3% lower at 6,188.20, while South Korean Kospi index was off 0.7% to end at 1,545.55. Taiwan Weighted Price Index slipped 0.8% to close at 7,984.65 while Shanghai Composite Index in China bucked the trend and ended up 0.7% at 3,743.95.