|
Stocks end up on banks { July 14 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://asia.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=businessNews&storyID=3087341http://asia.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=businessNews&storyID=3087341
Stocks End Up on Banks; Altria Off
Mon July 14, 2003 06:12 PM ET
By Vivian Chu
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks ended higher on Monday after robust profits from banking heavyweights Citigroup Inc. C.N and Bank of America Corp. BAC.N renewed Wall Street's optimism that this week's deluge of earnings reports will show corporate America is recovering from an economic downturn.
Citigroup, the world's largest financial services company, and Bank of America, the No. 3 U.S. banking company, reported earnings that topped Wall Street estimates. Shares of both companies jumped to fresh 1-year highs, pushing the Standard & Poor's banks index .GSPBK up 1.7 percent, and ranking among the day's top-performing sectors.
"Financial stocks are the focus today because they've held up pretty well in the downturn, and both Citigroup and Bank of America came through with strong second-quarter earnings," said Jeff Swensen, an equity trader at John Hancock Funds in Boston.
Citigroup made upbeat comments about its retail business, which "reflects a strengthening economy and shows us that the stimulus from the Fed, the lower interest rates and tax relief, is starting to take effect and boost the economy," Swensen said. "Everyone's breathing a sigh of relief and thinking things may be looking up in the second half, as expected."
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI ended up 57.56 points, or 0.63 percent, at 9,177.15, after earlier rising 158.82 points to an intraday high of 9,278.41. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX rose 5.72 points, or 0.57 percent, to 1,003.86.
The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC added 20.89 points, or 1.20 percent, to 1,754.82, based on the latest available figures, and marking its highest close since April 22, 2002.
Volume was active, with about 1.43 billion shares changing hands on the New York Stock Exchange and roughly 1.96 billion shares traded on the Nasdaq. Advancers outnumbered decliners by a ratio of 20 to 13 on the NYSE, and by about 21 to 12 on the Nasdaq.
The market dropped sharply in the late afternoon and then quickly recovered. After the closing bell, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange CME.N said it canceled about 200 transactions in its actively traded mini Standard & Poor's 500 equity futures contract, after a sudden drop in the futures price. There were rumors the decline was prompted by a trading error, but the exchange said it was not an error trade.
ALTRIA FLIP-FLOPS AFTER HOURS
When trading resumes on Tuesday, blue-chip stocks may take a clue from Altria MO.N , which swung up and down in Monday after-hours trading on Instinet after winning a legal victory in a Nevada case -- only to have the judge send its "light cigarette" case back to an Illinois judge to reconsider a bond.
Altria, one of the 30 stocks in the Dow average, last traded on Instinet at $41.75, down from its NYSE close of $41.96. Before news of the judge's decision to send Altria's "light cigarette" case back to the Illinois judge, Altria shares had risen after hours to $42.30.
This week and next mark the most hectic period of the second-quarter earnings reporting season. Investors are hoping profits will help justify the stock market's double-digit run-up since major market gauges hit 2003 lows on March 11. Since then, the broad S&P 500 has climbed more than 25 percent, while the Nasdaq has soared more than 38 percent.
Bank of America shares rose 58 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $83.46, after hitting a 52-week high of $84.90 during the session. Its second-quarter net profit rose 23 percent, on greater credit card sales and a quadrupling of mortgage banking income.
Citigroup, which reported a 5 percent increase in quarterly profit and hiked its dividend 75 percent to 35 cents a share, jumped 2.1 percent, or 97 cents, to $47.12. Shares of Citigroup, a Dow member, earlier reached a 52-week high of $47.95 and ranked among the NYSE's most actively traded.
Intel Corp. INTC.O helped boost the Dow and the Nasdaq, as its shares jumped 2.93 percent, or 68 cents , to $24.02 after Merrill Lynch upgraded its rating on Intel to "buy" from "neutral."
OfficeMax Inc. OMX.N surged $1.42 or 19.78 percent, to $8.60 after paper and building materials maker Boise Cascade BCC.N agreed to buy the company for $1.15 billion. Boise Cascade sank 6.66 percent, or $1.56, to $21.87.
|
|
