Stocks surged, as sentiment about the global economy got a boost from a jump in the nation’s housing starts, improving German business data and a better Spanish bond auction. The number of new homes rose to an annual rate of 685,000 in November, with requests for building permits rising 1.8% to 681,000 compared to last year, while analysts expected housing starts to hit 627,000, and building permits to come in at 633,000 for November. Tech stocks also put in a strong performance ahead of quarterly results from Oracle and in the wake of AT&T saying it would drop its $39 billion bid to acquire T-Moble USA. However, Oracle fell more than 8% in after-hours trading as the co.’s results fell short of analysts’ estimates for a profit of $0.57 on $9.23 billion in revenue. Implied volatility inched lower on modest trading volumes.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Boosted on strong housing data
Stocks surged, as sentiment about the global economy got a boost from a jump in the nation’s housing starts, improving German business data and a better Spanish bond auction. The number of new homes rose to an annual rate of 685,000 in November, with requests for building permits rising 1.8% to 681,000 compared to last year, while analysts expected housing starts to hit 627,000, and building permits to come in at 633,000 for November. Tech stocks also put in a strong performance ahead of quarterly results from Oracle and in the wake of AT&T saying it would drop its $39 billion bid to acquire T-Moble USA. However, Oracle fell more than 8% in after-hours trading as the co.’s results fell short of analysts’ estimates for a profit of $0.57 on $9.23 billion in revenue. Implied volatility inched lower on modest trading volumes.
