Market News – Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), American International Group (NYSE:AIG), Verizon (NYSE:VZ), Mitsubishi Financial Group (NYSE:MTU), Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)
To start the news day, reports indicate that the housing market has continued to struggle early this year, but there’s some hope on the horizon. The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city home-price index is reporting a 0.7% decline for January of this year (compared to last year). But this also means a positive 0.3% seasonally adjusted increase from December to January, which is the 8th straight month of growth. David Blitzer of the S&P described the news as “mixed”. In other economic news, the Conference Board is reporting an increase in consumer confidence index. The index now sits at 52.5, from 46.4 in February. This is slightly above predictions; experts were expecting the index to increase to approximately 51 for March.
Stocks are up modestly to start this morning, based in part on the good news reported above. As of 10:20am, the Dow is up 0.33%, a climb to 10,932. The S&P 500 is also up , 0.10% to 1,174, and the NASDAQ has climbed approximately 0.20% to 2,409. Oil and Gold commodities are also up for the morning.
Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) is nearing its calculated resistance level of $18.35, according to TradingHuddle.com. This is modestly surprising, considering how the bank has recently pledged to eliminate billions of dollars a year in overdraft fees for repeat offenders. The bank has also recently announced plans to forgive certain debt to Massachussetts home owners who are in danger of defaulting, after pressure by the Commonwealth’s government.
It’s being reported that Pacific Century Group, a Hong Kong-based investment firm, has finalized its deal with American International Group (NYSE:AIG) to purchase the besieged giant’s PineBridge Investments. The sale brought in approximately $277 billion in cash to AIG, which will continue to manage $509 billion in assets of international investment operations.
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Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) has jumped well over 2% to start the day (As of 10:20am). The communications company is experiencing a positive move after news that a new iPhone model with CDMA compatibility, with a reported release set sometime in summer 2010, could work with Verizon’s current network. Previously, the iPhone had worked exclusively on AT&T’s mobile phone network. Apple stocks have soared in early trading on this iPhone news, as well as the pending release of its highly anticipated iPad computer. In other news, Verizon has announced that it will suspend its expansion of FiOS services to new cities, seeking instead to consolidate and expand in it’s current markets.
Mitsubishi Financial Group and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) have released news that they’ve concluded an agreement for integrating their securities operation in Japan. This means the two companies will collaborate on a number of product areas and business ventures in the land of the rising sun, starting May 1st. In the press release, the joint ownership operation says they’ll offer a range of services for brokerages and businesses in the country.
That’s all for the day, folks! Enjoy, and I’ll see you tomorrow for another articles in our popular market updates.
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