The Greek government submitted a revised 2011 budget to the Parliament on Thursday, pledging to prune deficit to 7.4 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), ensuring substantial bailout fund will flow without hiccups from the IMF and the ECB.However, desperate measures to squeeze through the tough austerity net might still not keep the threat of an eventual debt restructuring out of the door, analysts have said.
Silver rallied sharper than gold on Thursday and some analysts see the trend to continue as many big global players are yet to cover their huge short positions in the white metal. A broadly weak US dollar, growing expectations that Ireland will soon be bailed out by the EMU and an absence of fresh cues from China about it raising the policy rates also helped an across-the-board rise of commodities on the day.
UK factory orders rose more than expected in November, but the manufacturers expect the output growth to slow in the next three months.
GM will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange beginning today after a landmark intial public offering, from which GM is expected to raise as high as $23.1 billion.
The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: SmartHeat, Verigy, A-Power Energy Generation Systems, Sears Holdings, Legacy Reserves, Clean Energy Fuels, Hologic, Synchronoss Technologies, and Avanir Pharmaceuticals.
The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: LTX-Credence, Exelixis, DryShips, Dendreon, Aruba Networks, SodaStream International, Pan American Silver, Spreadtrum Communications, NetApp, and Canadian Solar.
Staples Inc., the world's largest office products company, reported 7 percent rise in quarterly profit, which also came in above market estimates, as it managed to keep a lid on its costs.
Rubber recovered most of the losses it suffered on China rate hike fears, partly helped by a broadly weak US dollar and speculative buying interest on the commodity. The benchmark April futures on Tokyo Commodity Exchange settled Thursday at 369.2 yen per kilogram, 7.1 yen up on the day and nearly 4.5 percent higher from Wednesday's close.
UK public sector borrowing rose more than expected in October, raising doubts over the coalition government's ability to meet its spending cut estimates.
Caterpillar Inc.'s (CAT) $7.6 billion-acquisition of rival Bucyrus International is likely to trigger a consolidation of the attractive mining equipment industry.
Futures on the S&P 500 gained 11.80 points to 1,189.30, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average are up 87.00 points to 11,082.00 and Nasdaq100 futures are up 25.50 points to 2,122.50.
London Stock Exchange Group said activity on the primary markets picked up with a more than doubling of the total number of new issues. The group lifted its interim dividend by 5 percent to 8.8 pence.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said on Wednesday that the State Council, China’s cabinet, is drafting measures to contain rising commodity prices.
The top after-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: SmartHeat, A-Power Energy Generation Systems, Legacy Reserves, Nxstage Medical, Popular, Career Education, Mattel, PetSmart, Sears Holdings, and BE Aerospace.
Investec Plc, the specialist bank and wealth manager, posted a "strong" operational performance in the first half, with five of its six core businesses recording a substantial increase in earnings. Third party assets under management grew 4.9 percent to 77.8 billion pounds.
The top after-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Cytori Therapeutics, Dendreon, DryShips, Sourcefire, Spreadtrum Communications, Netease.com, Xyratex, Aruba Networks, Exelixis, and Netlist.
Stocks finished mixed in choppy trading, after four days of losses, as investors become worried that Ireland will likely receive a huge bailout to clean up its banking system and repay its debt.
General Motors Co is inching closer towards returning to the U.S. market in one of the biggest IPOs in the U.S. history and could even become the world's largest.
S&P 500 Index edged up 0.68 points, or 0.06 percent, to trade at 1,179.73 at 09:53 a.m. EDT. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 8.47 points, or 0.08 percent, to trade at 11,015.03. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.24 percent.
The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: RINO International, Bank of Kentucky Financial, Human Genome Sciences, EDAP TMS, Patterson-UTI Energy, JA Solar Holdings, GT Solar International, Syntel, Acergy, and Sina.
Futures on the S&P 500 gained 3.50 points, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average are up 23 points and Nasdaq100 futures are up 7 points.
The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Ladish, BSD Medical, Clean Energy Fuels, Brocade Communications Systems, Baidu, Research In Motion, Fifth Third Bancorp, DryShips, Akamai Technologies, and Power-One.
U.S. consumer prices rose lower than expected in October mainly driven by a rise in gasoline prices.
Target Corp, the No.2 discount chain in U.S. behind Walmart, reported 23 percent rise in its quarterly profit as the retailer's attractive discount schemes have drawn more shoppers to its stores.
Commodities slid across the board on Wednesday on fresh signals from China that it will soon raise rates with lingering Euro area debt woes also helping keep investors away from risky assets. Gold and silver traded near their 2-week lows while copper and platinum fell to their lowest since late September. Also, December and January crude fell to its lowest since Oct. 29.
U.S. home loan demand fell sharply in the last week, as fixed mortgage rates rose from near all-time lows.
Swiss pharma giant Roche said it plans to cut 4,800 jobs worldwide over the next two years due to mounting cost pressures in healthcare -particularly in the US and Europe - and increasing hurdles for the approval and pricing of new medicines.
Chinese consumer confidence fell in the third quarter, recording a drop for the first time in six quarters, amid growing inflation concerns.
The number of unemployed people in the UK fell by 9,000 to 2.45 million during three months to September, bringing the unemployment rate down by 0.1 percent to 7.7 percent, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Wednesday.
British credit information group Experian Plc said its benchmark pretax profit grew 12 percent in the first half as it reported its best organic revenue growth in four years. The company lifted its first interim dividend by 29 percent to 9 cents.
