Stocks, Commodities Rise, Treasuries Drop on Economic Data
By Whitney Kisling and Matthew Brown
April 5 (Bloomberg) -- Stocks and commodities rose, while the dollar and Treasuries fell, as growth in American jobs and service industries boosted optimism the world’s largest economy is strengthening. Treasury yields were the highest since June.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 0.7 percent to 1,186.75 at 11:08 a.m. in New York, above its highest close since September 2008. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose to the highest level in more than 19 months, driven by Japan. Oil and copper rose to at least 17-month highs. The dollar fell against 11 of 16 major counterparts and the yield on the benchmark 10- year Treasury note increased 5 basis points to 3.99 percent.
U.S. payrolls gained last month by the most in three years, a “solid report” indicating “the economy is now creating jobs,” Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said in a Bloomberg Television interview. Industry reports today showed that pending home sales unexpectedly increased and the Institute for Supply Management’s index of service industries topped economists’ estimates.
“Overall, we are seeing positive signs about the global economy,” said Hiroaki Muto, a senior economist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management Co., which manages $111 billion. “While developing nations are leading global growth, they are waiting for the U.S. to rebound. Recent reports are suggesting that the U.S. labor market and consumer spending are improving.”
Markets in Europe, Australia, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan and New Zealand were shut for holidays.
Apple Inc. rose 0.5 percent to $237.21 after saying it sold more than 300,000 iPads on the device’s first day of availability over the weekend.
Energy Rally
Exxon Mobil Corp. and Schlumberger Ltd. paced gains in 39 of 40 energy stocks in the S&P 500 as crude oil climbed as much as 2 percent to a 17-month high of $86.57 a barrel in New York.
Brazil’s Bovespa index of equities increased 0.6 percent as Petroleo Brasileiro SA and OGX Petroleo & Gas Participacoes SA advanced. Canada’s S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 0.4 percent as Suncor Energy Inc. and Barrick Gold Corp. gained.
Oil prices have established a floor of $75 a barrel and there is no need for OPEC to increase production, Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said April 2. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries pumps about 40 percent of the world’s oil and slashed output in January 2009 to prevent a glut. The group left its production targets unchanged when ministers met in Vienna on March 17.
Venezuela, the group’s sixth-largest producer, is seeking a price band between $80 and $100 a barrel, Ramirez told reporters in Caracas on April 2.
Copper, Hogs
Copper for May delivery advanced as much as 1.2 percent to $3.6265 a pound in New York, the highest level since Aug. 1, 2008.
Hog futures rose, extending a rally to the highest price since in almost 13 years. Hog futures for June settlement gained 1.6 cents, or 1.9 percent, to 84.975 cents a pound on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the highest for a most-active contract since May 12, 1997.
A benchmark indicator of U.S. corporate credit risk fell to the lowest in more than two weeks. The Markit CDX North America Investment Grade Index Series 14, which investors use to hedge against losses on corporate debt or to speculate on creditworthiness, declined 1.1 basis point to a mid-price of 84 basis points as of 7:51 a.m. in New York, according to Markit Group Ltd. The index dropped to its lowest since March 18, when it was 83.98 basis points, CMA DataVision prices show.
Shares of Canon Inc., which gets 28 percent of its revenue in the Americas, climbed 2.5 percent in Tokyo. Toyota Motor Corp., which derives 31 percent of its revenue in North America, increased 1.1 percent.
‘Growth Optimism’
Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan said yesterday on ABC’s “This Week” that the chances the U.S. economy will retrench after recovering from the worst recession since the 1930s “have fallen very significantly in the last two months.”
“There is increasing growth optimism now given that the job situation in the U.S. is getting a little more relaxed,” said Roger Groebli, Singapore-based head of financial-market analysis at LG Capital Management, part of the group that oversees $84 billion. “Exporters will benefit from that.”
Samsung, Hynix Climb
Samsung Electronics Co. rose 1.5 percent after Maeil Business Newspaper said the company will add a new semiconductor chip line. Asia’s biggest chipmaker also rose after the price of the benchmark DDR2 dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, chip rose on April 2, ending a four-day decline, according to Dramexchange Technology Inc. Hynix Semiconductor Inc., the world’s second-largest computer-memory chipmaker, advanced 3.4 percent.
Malaysia’s FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index rose 0.4 percent, advancing for a 10th day, the longest winning streak in 16 years. CIMB Group Holdings Bhd., Malaysia’s second-biggest bank, climbed 1.1 percent to a record. The company said the size of its initial share sale for its dual listing on the Thai exchange has been raised to as much as 50 million shares from 35 million.
Indonesia’s benchmark stock index, Asia’s best-performing major market this year, climbed to a record on expectations the central bank will keep interest rates at a record low tomorrow, helping to boost the economy.
The Jakarta Composite index jumped 2 percent to 2,887.246, above its previous record close of 2,830.26 on Jan. 9, 2008. The measure has climbed 14 percent this year as the central bank raised its economic growth forecast and Standard & Poor’s upgraded the nation’s sovereign debt ratings.
Yen, Pound
The dollar fell the most against the Canadian and British currencies, losing 0.8 percent and 0.6 percent respectively.
The yen snapped four days of losses against the dollar, on speculation Japanese exporters bought the nation’s currency after it touched a seven-month low. The pound gained versus all major counterparts after polls eased concerns that political turmoil will derail the nation’s economic recovery.
The pound rallied after a YouGov Plc poll for the Sunday Times showed that the opposition Conservative Party holds a 10 percent lead over Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s Labour party, before elections that are likely to be held next month. The Conservatives have 39 percent of the vote, while Labour had 29 percent and the Liberal Democrats 20 percent, the survey showed, reducing the likelihood that they will fail to win the parliamentary majority that some think is necessary to tackle the U.K.’s budget deficit, the largest in the Group of 20 nations. The pound strengthened 0.6 percent to $1.5293.
‘Heading Toward Stabilization’
A survey for the Sunday Express newspaper by Canadian pollsters Angus Reid put the Conservatives at 38 percent, 11 points ahead of Labour’s 27 percent, with the Liberal Democrats at 20 percent.
“The polls seem to suggest that the U.K. political situation is gradually heading toward stabilization,” said Toshiya Yamauchi, senior currency analyst in Tokyo at online currency trading company Ueda Harlow Ltd. “Signs of political stabilization, combined by waning expectations for additional quantitative monetary measures amid the plethora of positive data, will support the currency.”
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