Stocks: Wednesday’s review

Asian stocks swung between gains and losses amid concern a global slowdown will hit earnings at companies from Advantest Corp. to BHP Billiton Ltd., while Premier Wen Jiabao’s call for more investment lifted Chinese railway shares.

Nikkei 225 8,851 -6.73 -0.08%

S&P/ASX 200 4,096.54 -1.48 -0.04%

Shanghai Composite 2,175.38 +10.95 +0.51%

BHP Billiton, the world’s biggest mining company, slipped 0.5 percent in Sydney after Citigroup Inc. said slowing growth in China will hurt demand for iron ore.

Advantest, a maker of memory-chip testers, slumped 3.3 percent in Tokyo after a leading U.S. manufacturer of semiconductor equipment cut its sales forecast.

China Railway Group Ltd. paced gains among shares in the sector.

Most European stocks fell before the release of minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting, as investors waited for clues about further measures to spur economic growth.

Burberry Group Plc (BRBY) tumbled to its lowest this year after quarterly sales growth missed projections. UniCredit SpA and BNP Paribas SA led bank shares higher. Getinge AB (GETIB) rose 3.9 percent after saying it expects “significant improvement” in second- half earnings growth.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index dropped less than 0.1 percent to 255.59 at the close of trading. Two out of three shares on the gauge slid. The benchmark measure yesterday rose for the first time in a week as manufacturing in the U.K. and Italy unexpectedly rose.

National benchmark indexes fell in 11 of the 18 western European markets.

FTSE 100 5,664.48 +0.41 +0.01% CAC 40 3,157.25 -18.16 -0.57% DAX 6,453.85 +15.52 +0.24%

Tod’s SpA (TOD), the Italian maker of pink alligator loafers, lost 4.8 percent to 72.15 euros. LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA (MC), the world’s biggest luxury-goods company, fell 3.2 percent to 116.65 euros. PPR (PP) SA, the French owner of Gucci, retreated 3.5 percent to 109.50 euros.

Britvic, the maker of Robinsons fruit drinks, plunged 13 percent to 260.1 pence, the biggest drop since March 2006, after saying full-year results will be “at the bottom end” of analysts’ estimates and a recall of its Fruit Shoot products will hurt earnings further.

SBM Offshore NV (SBMO) slid 6.6 percent to 10.47 euros. SBM’s jack-up rig in the Yme oilfield in the North Sea was evacuated after cracks were found in cement supporting the legs, Upstream reported late yesterday.

Mediaset SpA (MS) retreated 3.3 percent to 1.31 euros.

UniCredit climbed 2.3 percent to 2.79 euros. BNP Paribas advanced 1.5 percent to 29.94 euros.

Getinge, a Swedish sterilization-systems maker, rose 3.9 percent to 179.90 kronor. The company said the earnings outlook for 2012 remained favorable as there will be a significant improvement in profit growth in the second quarter.

U.S. stock indexes rose significantly after the publication of the protocol of the last meeting of the Committee on the Federal Open Market, but still closed in the red on the session. Also on the dynamics of trade affected by the data on the trade balance, which is markedly decreased. As shown by the protocols, the heads of the Fed still disagree over how to run a regular program to stimulate the economy. A small number of allusions to the easing of monetary policy pushed the U.S. dollar to rise, and stock indices - to decrease. These reports indicated the absence of a hurry for a new round of quantitative easing. DJIA fell, oil prices fell, and the majority of high-yielding currencies weakened against the U.S. dollar, which is considered safe-haven currency. Minutes of the Fed left the possibility for a third round of quantitative easing, but he seems not to be launched soon. Some leaders of the U.S. Federal Reserve in June decided that the central bank may need to take further measures to support labor market. Meanwhile, other leaders of the Federal Reserve decided that such measures would be justified only if the economic recovery is losing momentum, or if inflation weakens.
As part of the index DOW 10 components are in positive territory. The maximum loss demonstrate the action Boeing Co. (BA, -2.36%), United Technologies Corp. (UTX, -2.23%), Microsoft Corporation (MSFT, -1.33%). Most of all shares rose Hewlett-Packard Company (HPQ, +3.32%), Bank of America Corporation (BAC, +1.87%).
Branches in the context of the S & P 500 sector shows mixed trends. Maximum growth of the sector shows the basic materials (+0.9%). The maximum loss demonstrates the sector conglomerates (-0.8%).
At the time of closure:
Dow 12,604.45 -48.67 -0.38%
Nasdaq 2,887.98 -14.35 -0.49%
S & P 500 1,341.44 -0.03 -0.00%