Late Market Roundup

Crude-oil futures fell $0.13 to $78.48 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), but remain above the crucial $78 per barrel mark. Crude-oil futures suffered as investors were concerned about the downgrade of BNP Paribas (OTC: BNPQY) by Fitch Ratings and an unexpected decline in the...

JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) may be able to close a deal to acquire Spanish ports belonging to Dragados, a subsidiary of builder ACS (OTC: ACSAF.PK), within a range of €700-€800 million, subject to debt financing. According to a source involved in the deal, "The enterprise value of the deal is...

The Treasury has announced that it will sell $108 billion in notes next week, down from $118 billion during April. The sale will start from June 22 with $40 billion in 2-year notes and will involve $38B in 5-year notes to be sold on June 23. The last day of the sale will involve $30 billion in 7-...

The pre-orders for Apple Inc’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone 4 were suspended by AT&T Inc (NYSE: T). T stated that it has suspended pre-ordering facility for the iPhone to enable it to meet the existing orders. AT&T reported a 10 times increase in the pre-orders sales yesterday, up from that in the...

After seesawing in early trading, gold futures strengthened today as its safe-haven status provided a degree of support for the metal. Gold for August delivery moved up 0.2% to $1,226.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). According to the analysts at...

Shares of JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ: JBLU) gained more than 6% after the analysts at Merrill Lynch upgraded JBLU from “neutral” to “buy.” According to the analysts, the budget carrier is benefiting from strong peak-demand months. The analysts say, "In recent quarters, JetBlue's yields have positively...

Shares of Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE: RDS.B) fell 0.06% following the purchase of 10,000 Royal Dutch Shell B shares by its director, Simon Henry. He bought the shares at around $27.30 per share for a total of $272,601. Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Donald Kohn would temporarily remain as Fed’s...

Yesterday, the Treasury Department sold $13 billion in 30-year bonds at the lowest level of yields since October at 4.182%. Investors had offered to purchase 2.87 times the amount of debt sold, up from the last four comparable sales of 2.69 times on an average. Indirect bidders, consisting of...

Shares of Caterpillar Inc (NYSE: CAT) gained 4% following the company's announcement that its board has raised the quarterly dividend by 5% from $0.42 per share to $0.44 per share. The company has been continuously paying dividends since 1925. The dividend has increased around 3-times since 1998....

The technology stocks, especially the large-cap ones, are dragging the market down. With the tech sector slipping for the second consecutive day, shares of Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) are down by 0.7%, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) by 1.9% and Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) by 2.5%. The rare gainers among the sector are...

Sanofi-Aventis SA (NYSE: SNY) has achieved “stunning” results in the last phase of human trial for its cancer drug aimed at breast and lung tumors. Chief Executive Officer Chris Viehbacher said, "As I look at the oncology unit, I see the transformation of Sanofi-Aventis." “We’ve seen some very...

The Dow Jones Industrial Average swung to the negative territory as its economically sensitive industrial and materials components lost ground. Although the Dow was nearly flat in the morning session, it was trading down 42.40, or 0.41%, at 10207.14 by 12:57 pm. DuPont (NYSE: DFT) and Alcoa (NYSE:...

Crude oil for July delivery gained 1.2% to $73.42 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) as concerns regarding worldwide demand for energy and economic recovery have almost disappeared. The home sales index moved up by 6% in April and US stocks are recovering. But, Jim Ritterbusch,...

The US markets are mixed, despite strong US economic data. The energy sector tumbled after BP plc’s (NYSE: BP) “top kill” operation to plug a leaking oil well failed in the Gulf of Mexico. Shares of BP dipped 12% to $38. While the consumer staples, technology, telecommunications and health-care...

The majority of the members surveyed by the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) have become bearish about the stock market for the first time since November 5. Investors with bullish sentiments over the next six months dropped to 29.8%, down 11.5 percentage points, and those with...