Kuwait Times

US stocks extend rally as tech firms rise

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US stocks were up for the fifth straight day yesterday morning as materials and real estate companies move higher. Technology and industrial companies are making some of the largest gains while retailers of home improvemen­t products, jewelry and car parts are all falling. Stocks continue to recover the steep losses they suffered one week ago.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index edged up 2 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,400 as of 10:25 a.m. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 33 points, or 0.2 percent, to 20,970. The Nasdaq composite rose 9 points, or 0.2 per- cent, to 6,147. The Russell 2000 index of small-company stocks picked up 3 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,383.

Intuit, which makes accounting software like TurboTax and QuickBooks, had a stronger quarter than investors expected and Wall Street was also pleased with its forecasts. Its stock gained $10, or 7.7 percent, to $139.15. Hard drive maker Western Digital and chipmaker Nvidia also rose. Elsewhere, big gainers early on included trucking company Ryder System and valve maker Emerson Electric.

Home improvemen­t retailer Lowe’s stumbled after investors were unimpresse­d by its profit and sales, as a hefty charge cut into its earnings in the first quarter. Lowe’s shares fell $3.50, or 4.3 percent, to $78.84. Home Depot also slipped 70 cents to $154.13. Lowe’s stock is down 1 percent over the last 12 months while Home Depot has climbed 16 percent.

Struggling retailer Container Store Group surged after it reported solid fourth-quarter results and its outlook for the year pleased investors. The stock gained $1.68, or 40.5 percent, to $5.83. Container Store traded above $40 a share in early 2014, shortly after the company’s IPO, but it fell to under $4 earlier this month. Sales for jewelry retailer Tiffany weren’t as good as expected in the first quarter. The company changed CEOs in February as it struggled with competitio­n from online retailers and had difficulty attracting younger customers. Its stock dropped $7.87, or 8.4 percent, to $85.27 and competitor Signet fell $4.76, or 8.2 percent, to $53.62.

Chinese debt

Moody’s downgraded the Chinese government’s credit rating and said it expects China’s financial strength to erode as debt rises. However its rating for the country is still relatively high, and there was little market reaction. European equities traded broadly flat yesterday, despite broad gains across most of Asia, as dealers waited on minutes from Federal Reserve’s most recent policy meeting. London’s stock market eked out a small gain of 0.4 percent, while Frankfurt and Paris slid 0.2 percent in the afternoon.

Investors hope to get a handle on the Fed’s plans for interest rate rises following a number of weak indicators lately. Among the weak points is inflation, which Minneapoli­s Fed president Neel Kashkari described as going in the wrong direction. Moody’s ratings agency said its downgrade of the world’s number-two economy was prompted by the likelihood of a “material rise” in debt throughout the economy and as potential growth slows.

Dollar rises

The dollar hovered just above 6-1/2month lows on Wednesday, as investors’ focus shifted from US politics to monetary policy ahead of the release of the minutes of the US Federal Reserve’s meeting in early May. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against six major rivals, was down 0.08 percent to 97.273.

“The dollar has taken quite a beating over the last month,” said Minh Trang, senior currency trader at Silicon Valley Bank in Santa Clara, California. “You are seeing a little bit of calming down this morning as there is very little economic or headline news to really sway the market one way or other.” The dollar was marginally lower against the euro, which has enjoyed a bull run this month on factors including an ebb in French political concerns and upbeat eurozone data. — Agencies

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