LONDON (ShareCast) - Wall Street remains firmly above 9,200, a level not seen for over eight months on falling continuing jobless claims and well-received company results.
The market welcomed a bigger than expected dip in the number of Americans
filing unemployment claims for at least a week to 6.2m from 6.23m the week before.
Investors shrugged off a rise in weekly jobless claims to 584,000, with just four of the 30 companies that make up the Dow Jones (news) in negative territory.
General Electric (NYSE: GE - news) , industrial holding company and owner of the NBC Universal entertainment company, leads the blue chip gainers, up over 7% after Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS - news) upgraded the stock to "buy" from "neutral".
The Dow is up 146 at 9,217, the tech focused Nasdaq (NASDAQ: news) is 23 higher at 1,991, while the broader S&P 500 is 16 better at 992.
Mobile phone maker Motorola (NYSE: MOT - news) is doing well after it saw second-quarter EPS of 1 cent per share, versus flat figures a year ago. Sales slid to $5.5bn from $8bn.
Household products group Newell Rubbermaid (NYSE: NWL - news) is wanted after better than expected second quarter earnings figures. The company, which makes Paper Mate pens, improved earnings by 14% year-on-year, helped by improved margins and lower restructuring costs. The company has raised its full-year earnings guidance by $0.15 to the $1.15 to $1.30 range.
The withdrawal of two generic competitors to heart drug Toprol XL helped AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN.L - news) boost second quarter sales and raise full-year earnings targets. Anglo-Swedish firm Astra posted a 9% increase in sales at constant exchange rates (CER) to $7.96bn. Pre-tax profit for the three months to 30 June rose 14% to $2.6bn and core profit leapt 32% to $3.4bn.
Oil giant Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM - news) has weakened though, retreating after second quarter profit plunged 66% on sharply lower crude prices and weaker demand. The group made just $3.95bn (£2.4bn) in the three months to 30 June, much less than the $11.68bn (£7.1bn) earned last year.
Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW - news) lost $486m in the second quarter against earnings of $762m in the same period last year due to charges related to the buyout of rival Rohm (Frankfurt: 869082 - news) & Haas and poor sales of chemicals. The chemical and plastics firm's results exceeded analysts' expectations, however. Net profit was 5 cents a share, excluding restructuring costs of $662m and other one-offs, which was better than the 7 cent loss predicated by analysts.
PC utilities maker Symantec (NASDAQ: SYMC - news) crashed after its current quarter earnings guidance statement, released yesterday evening, disappointed. The company is predicting earnings per share, excluding various charges, will be 32 to 34 cents per share for the July to October quarter.
Send Article by Email
Send Article by IM
Blog This with Y! 360
Printable View
