Good afternoon, I’m Alison Kero and you’re watching Smartrend News. Today is Friday, December 9th and this is your market close wrap up. The major US equity indices closed higher Friday after European leaders agree to a fiscal compact but no clear solution to the debt crisis. Members of the EU met for two days to hopefully agree to a treaty which would enable the Euro to become stronger and avoid a possible European financial collapse. The summit agreed on stricter budget rules for the euro zone but failed to secure changes to the EU treaty among all the member countries
Themajor US equity indices closed higher Monday after headlines about Europe pushed markets higher in the early going, before pushing them lower late in the session. Stock futures were sharply higher in the pre-market trading session, as investors looked for the market to build on its rally from last week. In corporate news, Dollar General (NYSE:DG) reported Q3 EPS of $0.50, better than analyst estimates of $0.47, per share. Revenues for the quarter rose 11.5% year-over-year to $3.60 billion, better than consensus estimates of $3.57 billion. Insight Enterprises (NASDAQ:NSIT) has surpassed a significant milestone in the emerging area of cloud computing, having now sold more than 1 million seats in various cloud offerings, The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) gained 78.41, or 0.65%, to 12097.83; the Nasdaq advanced 28.83, or 1.10%, to 2655.76; and the S&P 500 rose 12.80, or 1.03%, to 1257.08.
Published on November 11, 2011 by neilwilliams2009
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Themajor US equity indices closed lower after a clearing house raised the deposits needed to trade Italian government bonds and securities. Borrowing rates in Italy surged on uncertainty over who would lead the country though its current issues once Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi resigns. In corporate news, General Motors (NYSE:GM) reported Q3 earnings before the market opened today, posting EPS of $1.03, topping consensus estimates for $0.96. Revenue for the quarter rose to $36.7 billion, which was also ahead of estimates for $36.6 billion.
Themajor US equity indices closed higher Monday as investors kept a close eye events in Europe. Italian borrowing costs rose amid unconfirmed reports that Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi might be forced to step down if he doesn’t win majority backing in a key budget vote. Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou agreed to step down on Sunday. European finance ministers plan to meet and work out a strategy for raising the region’s rescue fund. In corporate news, Dish (NASDAQ:DISH) reported Q3 EPS of $0.71, missing analyst estimates of $0.73 per share.
Themajor US equity indices closed higher Thursday following the ECB’s unexpected rate cut. The European Central Bank surprised markets by cutting a quarter of a point off its key lending rate, lowering it to 1.25%. Prime Minister George Papandreou cancelled his plan to hold a referendum on Greece’s new loan deal with the European Union, remove his previous offers to resign and opened reconciliation talks with his conservative opponents. In an address to his party’s central committee on Thursday evening, he said there was no need for a referendum now that the opposition New Democracy party had said it would back the debt deal. He invited that party to become “co-negotiators” on the new deal
Themajor US equity indices closed higher Wednesday following a statement from the Federal Reserve. The US Federal Reserve has predicted that inflation will remain low through 2014, providing a clear signal that it is likely to ease policy further, however, the Fed made no change to its monetary policy on Wednesday after two dramatic moves in August and September. In corporate news, MasterCard (NYSE:MA) reported Q3 EPS of $5.63, topping analyst estimates of $4.82 per share.
Themajor US equity indices closed higher Wednesday following a vote in Germany to expand the European Bailout Fund. German lawmakers authorized Angela Merkel to negotiate an expansion of the lending capacity of the fund to roughly $1.4 trillion, more than double its current size of about $610 billion. Rajat K. Gupta surrendered to the FBI Wednesday on criminal charges of leaking inside information to Galleon Group hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam, who was sentenced to 11 years in prison this month.
Themajor US equity indices closed lower Tuesday following a weaker-than-expected report on consumer confidence and ahead of the euro summit. The Conference Board reported that consumers became more pessimistic in October, as consumer confidence fell to the lowest level since March 2009. The index fell to 39.8 in October from a September level of 46.4, upwardly revised from a prior estimate of 45.4. Economists had expected a reading of 46 for the month. In corporate news, Xerox (NYSE:XRX) reported Q3 EPS of $0.26, better than analyst estimates of $0.22 per share
Themajor US equity indices closed higher Monday after France and Germany pledged to do everything necessary to support Europe’s banks, and as investors look ahead to the start of Q3 earnings season. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy said that they will reveal plans for a banking-sector recapitalization by early November. In corporate news, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares closed up over 5% after reporting that first-day orders for its new iPhone 4S topped 1 million. Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S) closed down 7.9% to $2.22 after several analysts downgraded shares of the company following their annual analyst meeting. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) closed 2.97% higher at 11433.18, the S&P500 (S&P 500 INDEX,RTH) iclosed 3.41% higher at 1194.89, and the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) closed 3.50% higher at 2566.05.