US stocks closed higher on Wednesday as investors scooped up shares battered in the previous sessions selloff, and sorted through Lehman Brothers steep quarterly loss and restructuring plans. Strong earnings forecasts from FedEx and Texas Instruments, a firmer dollar and lower oil and gas prices lent additional support. But continued worries about the financial sector limited gains for the blue chips. The DJIA closed 38.19 points higher at 11268.92, the Nasdaq added 18.89 points to finish at 2228.70 and the S&P500 closed 7.53 points higher at 1232.04.
Lehman Brothers reported a near $4bn fiscal third quarter loss, its biggest quarterly loss since it went public in 1994. The company also said it will spin off part of its commercial real estate assets and slash its dividend. Additionally, Lehman plans to sell a 55 percent stake in its investment management division, which includes profitable money manager Neuberger Berman. Investors became nervous on Tuesday when reports said Lehman's talks with the state run Korea Development Bank had dried up, with no partnership announced. The stock closed 45 percent lower. Lehman calmed some of those fears Wednesday, when it said it was in advanced talks with a number of potential partners. The stock was choppy on the news ending lower, after rising nearly 10 percent in the morning and almost 30 percent in pre market trading. Other firms that made bad mortgage bets and are potentially in need of capital, saw their shares tumble. They included Washington Mutual and Wachovia.
FedEx offered some encouraging news late Tuesday, saying it expects higher fiscal first quarter earnings of $1.23 per share versus current expectations for a profit of 95 cents, largely because of lower commodity costs. FedEx is often seen as a proxy for the economy. The stock gained 3.7 percent.
Texas Instruments closed higher after the company narrowed its earnings and sales forecast to a range that meets or beats analysts forecasts. The announcement was part of its scheduled mid quarter update last Tuesday.
Research in Motion jumped after it introduced a flip phone version of the Blackberry Pearl phone.
The Pentagon said it is delaying its decision on a $35bn Air Force refuelling tanker contest until the next administration takes office. Northrup Grumman was initially awarded the deal, which Boeing contested as unfair. The government agreed, initially reopening bidding, before deciding to end the current contest and have the decision made by the next administration. Northrop and Boeing both fell.
ImClone said it has received a $70 per share buyout offer from a large pharmaceutical company, topping an earlier offer of $60 per share from Bristol-Myers Squibb. Bristol already owns a 20 percent stake in the company. ImClone gained 6.7 percent.
US light crude for October delivery fell 68 cents to settle at $102.58 a barrel on NYMEX, the lowest close since April 1.
Gas prices rose overnight, breaking a nine day losing streak.
Treasury prices tumbled, raising the yield on the 10 year note to 3.63 percent from 3.57 percent.
The dollar rallied versus the euro and the yen.
COMEX gold for December delivery fell $29.50 to $762.50 an ounce.
The Nikkei average fell 2 percent to a nearly six month closing low today, with banks like Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group suffering after Lehman Brothers failed to alleviate worries about its ability to survive the credit crisis. Canon dropped amid uncertainty about the health of the global economy, while sharp slides in other Asian equity markets during the afternoon added impetus to the Nikkei's decline. The Nikkei average ended 244.13 points lower at 12102.50, its lowest close since March 18.
UK stocks closed lower on Wednesday as weak Lehman Brothers results focused investors on financial sector jitters, hurting UK banks, while falling metal prices hit commodity stocks. The FTSE100 closed 49.4 points lower at 5366.2. Lehman Brothers said its plans to sell a majority stake in its investment management unit and spin off commercial real estate assets and posted a third quarter loss of $3.93.bn. Banks were the heaviest losers taking about 22 points off the index with HBOS, Lloyds TSB, Barclays, RBS and Standard Chartered falling between 2.8 and 5.3 percent. Adding to the gloom, Old Mutual fell 3.5 percent on news its chief executive Jim Sutcliffe is to resign and the insurer is to take writedowns of around £135m in the value of preferred stock of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Broker comments weighed on Enterprise Inns, the days biggest loser, down 11.6 percent after Morgan Stanley cut its rating to underweight from equal weight in a corporate sector review. The stocks demotion from the FTSE100 in the latest quarterly indexes review was confirmed by FTSE after the close. Ferrexpo. ITV and Carphone Warehouse will also be relegated from the start of business on September 22. Inmarsat, Fresnillo, Autonomy and Stagecoach will replace them.
Next closed 2 percent lower after it posted a 12 percent fall in first half pretax profit. Marks and Spencer lost 4 percent. Kesa Electricals dropped 9.8 percent after reporting weaker than expected first quarter sales.
Metal prices were lower, Kazakhmys, Xstrata and Rio Tinto falling between 2.7 and 8.8 percent.
ITV added 6.6 percent as bid speculation about a takeover bid was reignited by the appointment to the board of Virgin Media, which has previously failed to bid for the broadcaster.
GlaxoSmithkline rose 2 percent. The company is paying as much as $1.5bn to develop new drugs against inflammatory disease with Cellzome.
British Land and Land Securities closed 4.8 and 3.3 percent higher respectively, supported by positive broker comments.