*from www.bloomberg.com, April 2, 2013 (To view original article click here.)
Take Away #1: U.S. stocks rose, as orders placed with U.S. factories increased in February and Cyprus received easier bailout terms.
Key Facts and Figures:
- The S&P 500 rebounded after yesterday’s decline, advancing 0.6% to 1,571.71 at 11:49 a.m. in New York.
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 92.64 points, or 0.6%, to 14,665.49.
- Trading among the S&P 500 shares was in line with the 30-day average at this time of day.
- Humana Inc. jumped 6.7% as health-care providers rallied the most among 10 groups in the S&P 500, after medical insurers won an increase in a key Medicare payment rate.
- Hertz Global Holdings Inc. added 6.3% to $23.29, as it forecast earnings above analysts’ estimates.
- Urban Outfitters Inc. added 3.8% to $39.85 and said comparative retail net sales have climbed at a high single-digit pace so far during the first quarter.
- Hewlett-Packard Co. fell 5.5% to $22.02 after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. advised selling the shares.
Take Away #2: U.S. stocks fell yesterday as a report showed American manufacturing expanded less than forecast, after the S&P 500 climbed to its highest closing level last week.
Key Facts and Figures:
- The S&P 500 Index has yet to reach the all-time intraday high of 1,576.09.
- The S&P 500 Index rallied 10% in the first quarter.
- The rally extended the recovery that has added more than $10 trillion of value to the world’s largest stock market.
- The Dow first passed its 2007 record on March 5.
Take Away #3: U.S. factory orders rose in February, boosted by a pickup in demand for motor vehicles and commercial aircraft.
Key Facts and Figures:
- The 3% gain in bookings, the biggest in 5 months, followed a revised 1% decline in January.
- The median forecast of 64 economists in a Bloomberg survey called for a 2.9% rise.
Take Away #4: In Europe, the Cypriot government completed talks on the terms of aid with the so-called troika of officials representing the IMF, the European Central bank, and the European Union.
Key Facts and Figures:
- Cyprus was granted two extra years, to 2018, to implement measures linked to its bailout.
- The accord will be discussed at a euro working group meeting of finance officials on April 4.
Take Away #5: The S&P 500 is trading at 14.2 times estimated earnings, lower than the monthly average over 10 years, and the VIX declines.
Key Facts and Figures:
- The S&P 500 traded at a monthly average over 10 years of 14.4 times earnings.
- Companies begin releasing their first-quarter results next week, with Alcoa Inc. scheduled to announce results on April 8.
- The VIX fell 5.2% to 12.88, and is down 29% for the year.
Take Away #6: Health-care stocks advanced 1.4% as a group and accounted for eight of the 10 biggest gainers in the S&P 500.
Key Facts and Figures:
- Humana, the second biggest private insurer, climbed 6.7% to $80.05 after the government announced a decision to do away with a planned rate reduction.
- Instead, insurers will receive a 3.3% increase in the rate that determines the payments they get for running the government’s Medicare Advantage plans.
- UnitedHealth Group Inc. advanced 6.2% to $62.60, and Aetna Inc. gained 4.1% to $54.50 on the decision.
Take Away #7: Nasdaq OMX plunged 11%, the most since August 2011, to $28.65 after agreeing to buy eSpeed from BGC Partners for about $750 million in cash.
Key Facts and Figures:
- eSpeed is an electronic trading system for U.S. Treasuries.
- Moody’s Investor Service and Standard & Poor’s warned that Nasdaq’s debt rating may be lowered.
- The deal gives the second-largest U.S. equity market a foothold in fixed income.
- Nasdaq will also issue about 15 million common shares over 15 years as a part of the acquisition.
- This pushes the potential value of the transaction to $1.23 billion.
- BGC Partners jumped 43% to $5.51.
Take Away #7: The Bloomberg U.S. Airlines Index lost 4.9%, the biggest drop since June, as Delta Air Lines Inc. declined 6.9% to $15.13.
Key Facts and Figures:
- Delta’s March passenger revenue per available seat mile missed its estimate.
- Delta expects system capacity to be down by 2 to 3 percent in the latest quarter.
*To view original article from www.bloomberg.com click here.