Morning News Summary

US stocks reversed gains after a  report showed that sales of new US homes unexpectedly declined in December for the first time in four months, while figures released by the Labor Department showed thatinitial jobless claims for unemployment insurance payments climbed by +21,000 to 377,000 in the week ending January 21st. At last glance, theStandard & Poor’s 500 Indexwas down -0.3%, after rising +0.6% earlier in the day, while theDow Jones Industrial Averagewas up +0.2%.Home-builders,Toll BrothersandLennardropped -3.2% and -2.1% respectively.

AT&Tfell -2.2% after forecasting 2012 earnings that trailed analysts’ estimates as record demand for smart-phones such as the iPhone drive up subsidy costs.SanDisk, a maker of flash-memory cards plunged -9.6%, after its sales forecasts also came in below analysts’ expectations, citing lower prices for chips that store data in mobile phones. On a positive note,Time Warner Cableadvanced +7.1% after announcing a $4b share buy-back, whileNetflixsurged +22.0% after reporting 4Q profit that exceeded analysts’ expectations. The online and mail-order video-rental company also forecast improving margins in its streaming business. In other economic news, orders for US durable goods advanced +3.0% in December, exceeding the +2.0% growth estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists, and an index of US leading indicators rose in December for a third month, indicating the US economy will keep growing in early 2012.  

UKStocks Advance, Stoxx 600 In Bull Market

TheFTSE 100 Indexrose +1.3% led by gains in commodity producers as metal prices advanced.Rio Tinto,FresnilloandKazakhmysgained +4.9%, +4.3% and +7.3% respectively. In other company news,EasyJetrallied +10.0%, after reporting that revenue rose +17% in the quarter ending 31 December, offsetting fuel price increases and curbing a forecast 1H loss.

TheStoxx Europe 600 Indexgained +1.1% also led by gains in commodity producers. The benchmark gauge has rallied +20.0% from its low on September 22nd amid signs that theUSeconomy is recovering and speculation that the euro area will contain its debt crisis.Anglo Americanclimbed +3.1% after saying that iron-ore output increased +5.0% in the 4Q, while copper volumes jumped +10.0%.Petropavlovsk, a Russian gold-mining company, soared +11.0% on the back of its announcement that production in 2011 rose +24%. The company also increased its 2012 gold production forecast.   

Asian Markets Mixed

TheNikkei 225 Stock Averagefell -0.4% led by a -7.5% drop inFuji Electric. The device-maker slashed its FY net income forecast by -42% citing falling sales inChinaandEurope.  At the other end of the spectrum,Tokyo Electric Powergained +5.5% after the Yomiuri newspaper reported that the company will accept 1 trillion yen in public funding to avoid bankruptcy. TheMSCI Asia Pacific Indexgained +0.9% with all 10 industry groups on the measure advancing. Energy firms rose the most as crude for March delivery rose on the New York Mercantile Exchange.  

ASX 200 Closed For PublicHoliday

The ASX was closed on Thursday for Australia Day.

Crude And Gold Advance

Crude rose +1.7% to $100.77, while gold climbed +1.0% to $1,727.55.