Stock Market News for January 30, 2015 – Zacks Investment Research
Rebound in oil prices and positive earnings results helped benchmarks end in the green on Thursday. Shares of major companies including Facebook and Ford Motor gained following their solid earnings results yesterday. Meanwhile, rally in McDonald’s shares also had a positive impact on markets. Moreover, encouraging initial claims report also boosted investor sentiment.
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The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 1.3%, or 225.48 points, to close at 17,416.85. The Standard & Poor 500 (S&P 500) gained about 1% to close at 2,021.25. The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite Index closed at 4,683.41; rising 1%. The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) declined 8.2% to settle at 18.76. A total of about 7.7 billion shares were traded on Thursday, above last five sessions’ average of 7 billion. Advancers outpaced declining stocks on the NYSE. For 66% stocks that advanced, 32% declined.
Oil prices rebounded from initial losses to register moderate gains on Thursday. The prices of WTI crude oil and Brent crude oil gained 0.2% and 1.3% to $44.53 per barrel and $49.13 a barrel, respectively. Recovery in oil prices boosted the Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) to gain more than 0.3% yesterday. Key energy stocks including EOG Resources, Inc. (EOG – Analyst Report), Halliburton Company (HAL – Analyst Report), Schlumberger Limited (SLB – Analyst Report) and Chesapeake Energy Corporation (CHK – Analyst Report) rose 0.9%, 0.3%, 1.4% and 0.4%, respectively. All the 10 S&P 500 sectors registered gains on Thursday.
On the earnings front, shares of Harman International Industries, Incorporated (HAR – Analyst Report) surged 23.8% after declaring second quarter fiscal 2015 adjusted earnings per share of $1.79, outpacing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.29. Earnings per share soared 64% from $1.09 in the year-ago quarter. Company’s quarterly revenues of $1,584 million beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1,495 million and improved 19% year over year. Harman International was the biggest performer among the S&P 500 companies on Thursday.
Moreover, Facebook, Inc.’s (FB – Analyst Report) shares gained 2.3% after posting a 53% year-on-year increase in fourth quarter revenues to $3,954 million, comfortably beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3,790 million. The upside was driven by strong advertising revenues. In the fourth quarter, advertising revenues soared 58% year over year to $3.7 billion. Additionally, The Dow Chemical Company (DOW – Analyst Report) reported fourth quarter adjusted earnings of 85 cents per share, higher than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 68 cents. Shares of Dow Chemical climbed 4.6% following the earnings results.
Also, shares of Ford Motor Co. (F – Analyst Report) rose 2.7% after announcing fourth quarter earnings per share of 26 cents, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 22 cents. Additionally, PulteGroup, Inc.’s (PHM – Analyst Report) shares rallied 6% after posting fourth quarter adjusted earnings of 43 cents per share, ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 41 cents. Pulte also reported total revenue of $1.82 billion in the fourth quarter, up 9.6% year over year, and surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.78 billion.
Separately, both Apple Inc. (AAPL – Analyst Report) and The Boeing Company (BA – Analyst Report) extended their gains during Thursday’s session following impressive fourth quarter earnings results that boosted these stocks on Wednesday. Shares of Apple and Boeing gained 3.1% and 5.8% yesterday, respectively.
However, shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (BABA – Analyst Report) plunged 8.8% after reporting third quarter revenues of $4,219, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4,436 million. However, quarterly revenues increased 40% year on year.
Meanwhile, shares of McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) jumped 5.1% after announcing that CEO Don Thompson would step down from his post. Steve Easterbrook, the 48-year-old executive succeeding Thompson, will be the company’s third CEO in the past decade.
Separately, the U.S. Department of Labor reported that jobless claims declined 43,000 to 265,000 in the week ending Jan 24, significantly lower than the consensus estimate of 298,000. This was also the lowest level of initial claims recorded in 14 years. Moreover, this was the biggest decline in jobless claims number since Nov 2012.
However, according to the National Association of Realtors, the Pending Home Sales Index declined 3.7% in December from November’s reading to 100.7, in contrast to the consensus estimate of 1% gain. This was the biggest decline since Dec 2013. However, the index witnessed its biggest year-on-year gain of 11.7% in December since Jun 2013.
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Stock Market News for January 30, 2015 – Zacks Investment Research
