Stock market fixing:
Nikkei 225 +9.02 +0.1%
13,376.81
Topix +0.63 +0.1% 1,303.62
DAX 30 +19.44 (+0.3%) 6479.56
САС 40 +5.02
(+0.11%) 4405.57
FTSE 100 -8.80 (-0.16%) 5411.90
Dow -205.67 (-1.78%) 11378.02
Nasdaq -4.17 (-0.18%) 2325.55
S&P -16.88 (-1.31%) 1267.38
10YR +26/32 3.94% 99 13/32
NYMEX Crude Oil -2.69 (-2.12%) $124.08
Most
Japanese stocks advanced, paring a monthly decline, as investors sought haven
in companies whose earnings can weather a global economic slowdown.
Kansai
Electric Power Co., which hasn't recorded an annual loss in more than a decade,
climbed the most since January. Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., Japan's largest
drugmaker, gained after boosting its net income forecast by a quarter. Limiting
gains, Nintendo Co. plunged the most in six months after a disappointing profit
forecast.
Kansai
Electric, the nation's second-largest power producer, surged 5%. Larger rival
Tokyo Electric Power Co. jumped 4.6%.
Kansai
Electric reported a 27.5 billion yen ($255 million) net loss for the first
quarter after the close of trading as higher fuel costs eroded profitability.
Takeda
jumped 4.2% percent to 5,750 yen. The company lifted its net income forecast
for the current year by 25 percent to 200 billion yen as it integrates its $8.8
billion acquisition Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc. Daiichi Sankyo Co., Japan's
third-largest drugmaker, jumped 3.9%.
NTT DoCoMo
Inc. added 1.7%. The country's largest mobile phone operator boosted quarterly
profit in spite of declining revenue, while analysts had expected price
competition among mobile operators would erode profitability.
European stocks fell, sending
the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index to its third straight monthly drop, as reports
showed the U.S.
economy expanded at a slower-than- estimated pace and profits at Unilever
trailed projections.
Unilever,
the world's second-largest consumer-products company, had its steepest slump
since June 2003 after earnings slipped 20 percent. Sanofi-Aventis SA, France's
biggest drugmaker, retreated as a decline in sales dragged profit below
estimates. BT Group Plc sank the most in eight years after reporting a fourth
consecutive quarterly drop in earnings.
Outokumpu
tumbled 32% this month after the world's fourth-biggest stainless-steel maker
reported profit below analysts' estimates. SBM Offshore, the largest producer
of floating oil production platforms, is down 38%.
Unilever
dropped 8.4%. Net income fell to 909 million euros ($1.4 billion) from 1.14
billion euros a year earlier, the company said, below the 914.5 million- euro
median estimate of analysts.
Sanofi-Aventis
sank 4.7%. The drugmaker reported second-quarter earnings that missed estimates
as savings from job cuts failed to offset a decline in sales. Sanofi raised its
earnings guidance for the year.
European stocks had advanced earlier
Thursday after earnings from AstraZeneca Plc, the U.K.'s second- largest drugmaker, and
HBOS Plc exceeded projections.
AstraZeneca
climbed 3.3% as the company reported second-quarter profit of $1.62 billion,
topping the $1.45 billion median estimate in a survey.
HBOS added
7.1%, paring this year's decline to 60%. Britain's biggest mortgage lender
said net income dropped to 931 million pounds ($1.84 billion) from 2.1 billion
pounds a year earlier. That beat the 792 million-pound average estimate of analysts.
GDP, Exxon disappointments and jump in jobless claims drag on Wall Stree
yesterday.
A government report that showed the
economy grew at a slower-than-expected pace in the second quarter hit
sentiment, as did a surge in initial jobless claims. Exxon Mobil, which
reported sales and profit that fell short of forecasts, also dampened the mood.
The weak opening comes on the heels of a big two-day rally for stocks.
In the news on Thursday:
The economy grew at a faster pace in the second quarter than it did in the
first quarter, but the pace of growth was not as fast as economists had forecast.
The Commerce Department reported that GDP grew at an annual rate of 1.9% in the
three months ended in June, up from a revised first-quarter growth rate of
0.9%. GDP for the fourth quarter of 2007 was revised lower, to a decline of
0.2%.
Exxon Mobil: The world's largest publicly traded oil company reported
the largest quarterly profit in history, but missed expectations. Exxon
reported net income of $11.68 billion. Analysts were looking for a profit of
$12.1 billion. Exxon reported revenue of $138 billion, which missed analyst
expectations of $144.4 billion.
Motorola announced modest profits for the second quarter, despite
slumping handset sales. The tech giant posted earnings of 2 cents per share,
excluding one-time charges, which was better than expected.
