Stock Market News for Dec 22, 2010 - Market News

by Web Master, Benzinga Editor
December 22, 2010 9:07 AM | 3 min read |


Investors' optimism put the markets on the winning side with major indices achieving two year highs. Reports of strong earnings and a wave of merger and acquisition activities helped markets touch two year highs. 

On the international front, Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan said China supports European officials' efforts to negate the negative impact on the global markets, caused due to the euro-zone debt crisis. It was also reported that Fitch Ratings will probably downgrade Greece's ratings. It is also believed that Moody's Investor Service will lower Portugal's A1 rating by a couple of notches. But investors shrugged off any concerns arising out of these to take the markets modestly higher.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.48% to end at 11,533.16. The S&P 500 was up 0.60% to 1,254.60. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.68% to 2,667.61. On the New York Stock Exchange, breadth of the market favored the advancing stocks in the ratio of 2:1 to the declining ones. Volume was on the lighter side.
 
Coming to some earnings news, shares of Adobe Systems ADBE sprung 6.01% after the company's better-than-expected results. Electronics manufacturing services provider, Jabil Circuit JBL soared 10.7% after reporting a fourfold increase in its earnings. Cruise ship operator, Carnival CCL gained 4.46% on solid earnings release.
 
On to some mergers and acquisitions news, Martek Biosciences MATK surged 35.57% after it agreed to a bid of $1.09 billion or $31.50 a share, from the Dutch group DSM. Coal company Alpha Natural Resources ANR gained 2.78% after it offered to buy rival Massey Energy MEE. Shares of Massey Energy gained 1.24%. Toronto-Dominion Bank TD agreed to buy Chrysler Financial from Cerberus Capital Management, a private equity firm, for $6.3 billion. Shares of TD jumped 3.51%.
 
On a sectoral basis, materials and industrials traded higher. Key stocks, such as Posco PKX jumped 4.83%, Rio Tinto RIO rose 2.37% and Caterpillar CAT edged up 1.43% to end in green.

 
ADOBE SYSTEMS (ADBE): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
ALPHA NATRL RES (ANR): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
CATERPILLAR INC (CAT): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
CARNIVAL CORP (CCL): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
JABIL CIRCUIT (JBL): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
MARTEK BIOSCIEN (MATK): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
MASSEY EGY CPY (MEE): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
POSCO-ADR (PKX): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
TORONTO DOM BNK (TD): Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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