26/05/09

FTSE 100	4365.29, +19.82	Dow	8277.32, -14.81
FTSE 250	7541.47, +29.1	Nasdaq	1692.01, -3.24
FTSE All Share	2227.98, +9.73	S&P 500	887.00, -1.33
Nikkei	9310.81, -36.19	Hang Seng	17019.28, -102.54
Oil (Crude)	$61.67	Gold	$958.90
Base Rate	0.5%	10 Yr Gilt	3.69%
£/$	1.585	Euro/Gbp	0.88

Markets

stocks finished lower on Friday in relatively thin trading ahead Memorial Day holiday. Investors continued to fret about the budget deficit while the dollar fell to a five month low against a range of currencies. The Dow Jones slipped 14.81 points to close at 8,277.32 while the S&P 500 fell 1.33 points to end at 887.00. The Nasdaq lost 3.24 points to finish at 1,692.01.

Financial stocks struggled after BankUnited FSB went under, becoming the largest bank failure of the year. Bank of America fell 3%, Capital One Financial slid 4.4% and American Express declined 3.1%.

The falling dollar helped to limit declines as investors bought multinationals which could benefit from the weaker dollar. McDonald's Corp gave the Dow its biggest lift, rising 2.5%.

In earnings news Sears Holdings, parent company of retailers Sears and Kmart, reported earnings that topped estimates to send shares 11% higher. Gap also beat expectations to give shares a 3% boost.

US light crude oil for July delivery gained $0.62 to $61.67 a barrel. COMEX gold for June delivery climbed $7.70 to $958.90 an ounce. Treasury prices fell, raising the yield on the 10 year note to 3.46% from 3.36%.

The Nikkei declined 36.19 points to 9,310.81 this morning as semiconductor shares slumped on concern falling demand will forestall a recovery in chip prices. NEC Electronics Corp, the nation’s fourth largest chipmaker, fell 3.7%, while Elpida Memory, Japan's top memory producer slipped 1.3%.

The Hang Seng is currently 102.54 points lower at 17,019.28 after news reports that North Korea fired two missiles a day after testing a nuclear device. Keeping losses in check were developers after a newspaper said Sino Land had started a new project.

The FTSE 100 is 27.14 points lower at 4,338.15 this morning. Pennon leads the index lower, down 3.6%, after Bank of America downgraded to company to Underperform from Neutral. Cable & Wireless suffers the same downgrade, but courtesy of Credit Suisse, with the broker citing results and outlook from the company as below expectations. Rexam climbs 2.5% after Goldman Sachs raised its rating on the company to Buy from Neutral.

Economics
US S&P/Case-Shiller home prices (Mar) 14:00 BST/ 09:00 EDT

Case-Shiller home prices have declined for the past 31 straight months. Analysts expect the composite-20 index fell 1.7% in March, after monthly declines of 2% or more since last October. That would take the year-on-year rate to -18.3%, from - 18.6% in February.

US Consumer confidence (May) 15:00 BST/10:00 EDT

The preliminary Michigan sentiment reading rose to 67.9 in May from 65.1 in April. There were big increases in the 12-month (71 from 54) and five-year business-condition (95 from 81) components, with each rising to the highest levels since late 2007. Analysts expect the Conference Board measure of confidence to rise to 43, up from 39.2 in April. Consumer expectations could rise by 4.5pts up to 54, after increasing by 19pts last month. Analysts think the present situation index could also edge higher up to 26, from 23.7 in April.

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