Stocks ended little changed as a rise in planned home purchases offset disappointment over the G-20’s potential support for Europe. Global finance ministers said over the weekend that European Union leaders need to strengthen their financial firewall before other nations will back more money for the IMF. Pending home sales climbed 2% in January to the highest level since April 2010, compared to January 2011, pending home sales were up 8%. Also, the German Parliament approved the nation’s contribution to a second €130 billion bailout for Greece, as expected. Finland and the Netherlands are also expected to back the bailout this week. Tech stocks closed Priceline.com and Micron Technology among the sector’s advancers. Micron rose nearly 8% after one of its rivals, Japan’s Elpida Memory, filed for bankruptcy. Netflix was off by more than 2% after the rating downgrade at Raymond James. Nokia Corp gave up more than 6% after the co. unveiled several new smartphones, including the PureView 808, which has a built-in 41-megapixel camera. In the evening trade Priceline.com bounced up 6.3% and traded above $600 on upbeat financial results, while Sina slumped 4.4% as the co.’s sales forecast came in below expectations. Implied volatility inched higher on modest trading volumes.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Managed to post modest gains
Stocks ended little changed as a rise in planned home purchases offset disappointment over the G-20’s potential support for Europe. Global finance ministers said over the weekend that European Union leaders need to strengthen their financial firewall before other nations will back more money for the IMF. Pending home sales climbed 2% in January to the highest level since April 2010, compared to January 2011, pending home sales were up 8%. Also, the German Parliament approved the nation’s contribution to a second €130 billion bailout for Greece, as expected. Finland and the Netherlands are also expected to back the bailout this week. Tech stocks closed Priceline.com and Micron Technology among the sector’s advancers. Micron rose nearly 8% after one of its rivals, Japan’s Elpida Memory, filed for bankruptcy. Netflix was off by more than 2% after the rating downgrade at Raymond James. Nokia Corp gave up more than 6% after the co. unveiled several new smartphones, including the PureView 808, which has a built-in 41-megapixel camera. In the evening trade Priceline.com bounced up 6.3% and traded above $600 on upbeat financial results, while Sina slumped 4.4% as the co.’s sales forecast came in below expectations. Implied volatility inched higher on modest trading volumes.
