Weekly Market Wrap: 4/30/2010
U.S. markets dip and then bounce back this week on positive economic news and earnings reports. The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is moving towards the coastline, pulling down BP shares.
U.S. markets dip and then bounce back this week on positive economic news and earnings reports. The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is moving towards the coastline, pulling down BP shares.
(MarketNewsVideo.com) -- Hi. I'm SAYOKO MURASE. Welcome to the Weekly Market Wrap for Friday, April 30, 2010.
Major U.S. markets closed lower for the week. The S&P 500 closed lower for the week and the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped as well. The Dow Industrials fell for the week.
Crude oil futures were up for the week. Oil was trading around $86 a barrel on Friday afternoon.
The price of gold went higher this week to $1180 an ounce.
On the economic front, the Conference Board released its consumer confidence index for April on Tuesday, registering a 57.9 level and beating consensus estimates. Economists were expecting the index to come in at 53.5 for April.
Advance estimates of GDP growth for the first quarter of 2010 were released on Friday morning. The release was lower than expected, coming in at a 3.2 percent annualized rate of growth. The consensus estimate was 3.4 percent.
A massive oil spill threatens to hit the Louisiana coast after a rig leased by BP (BP) exploded in the Gulf of Mexico this week. Clean up efforts are already underway. The rig blast left 11 workers missing and who are presumed dead. BP shares are down over 13 percent for the week.
Earnings reports peaked this week with more than 900 companies reporting, including 167 of the firms in the S&P 500.
3M (MMM) reported earnings results on Tuesday, coming in at $1.29 a share and beating analyst estimates of $1.21.
Dupont (DD) topped consensus earnings estimates of $1.06 per share, reporting profits of $1.24 per share on Tuesday.
Ford Motor (F) cruised past wall street estimates for the first quarter with earnings of 50 cents per share, ex-items. The company was expected to post 31 cents.
On Wednesday, Proctor & Gamble (PG) turned in an impressive first quarter, reporting 89 cents a share, ex-items. Analysts were expecting 81 cents.
The world's largest gold miners, Barrick Gold (ABX) and Newmont Mining (NEM), reported street beating profits this week as well. Barrick reported 75 cents a share in profits, ex-items. Analysts were expecting Barrick to earn 63 cents per share for the first quarter. Newmont surprised everyone with earnings per share of $1.11, handily beating the consensus estimate of 70 cents.
On Thursday morning, Exxon Mobil (XOM) reported an earning's miss at $1.33 per share. Analysts were expecting $1.40 per share.
On Friday, Chevron (CVX) reported surging profits of $2.27 a share, handily beating analyst forecasts at $1.92 per share.
This is the Weekly Market Wrap for Friday, April 30. Please join us on Monday for the Week Ahead Market Report.
The preceeding is a transcript of the MarketNewsVideo.com video published at: http://www.marketnewsvideo.com/?id=201004WeeklyWrap043010&mv=1.
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