By Palash R. Ghosh: Subscribe to Palash's RSS feed
July 12, 2010 8:34 PM EDT
Stocks eked out modest gains amidst light trading volume, as traders remained cautious ahead of debut of second-quarter earnings season with results from Alcoa (NYSE: AA) post-closing.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 18.24 points, or 0.18 percent, to close at 10,216.27. The S&P 500 Index edged up 0.79 of a point, or 0.07 percent, at 1,078.75, while The NASDAQ Composite Index added 1.91 points, or 0.09 percent, to finish at 2,198.36.
A spate of M&A deals was not enough to offset nervousness about the quality of second-quarter profits. Insurance giant Aon (NYSE: AON) proposed to acquire Hewitt Associates Inc (NYSE: HEW) for about $4.9 billion. Hugh Hefner seeks to take his media company Playboy Enterprises (NYSE: PLA) private; while Avon Products (NYSE: AVP) said it will buy Silpada Designs.
Market heavyweights Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) will announce its earnings results tomorrow, JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) on Thursday and Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Citigroup (NYSE: C) and General Electric (NYSE: GE) on Friday.
Bond prices rose as the yield on the benchmark 10-Year Treasury slipped to 3.05% percent. Oil prices fell to under $75 per barrel.
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UK/European stocks closed higher, boosted by strong trade data from China, allaying some fears of a slowdown in global economic recovery. China's customs agency reported over the weekend that June exports surged 35 percent year-over- year; while exports to Europe climbed 36 percent.
Britain's equities got a boost from BP plc, which surged more than 9 percent on reports it is planning some asset sales.
Britain's FTSE 100 rose 1.25 percent, France's CAC-40 climbed 0.37 percent and Germany's DAX gained 0.20 percent higher.
Asian markets were mixed. The Nikkei-225 of Japan fell 0.39 percent after the country's ruling party suffered a huge defeat in upper house elections. Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 0.44 percent; while Shanghai Composite index advanced 0.80 percent.
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