US MARKET & NEWS 15.7.2009

Stocks gained Tuesday after a choppy session in which investors welcomed Goldman Sachs' better-than-expected results but showed caution ahead of all the quarterly reports due in the weeks ahead. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.3%(+27.8 pts, close 8,359.5). The Nasdaq gained 0.4% (+6.5 pts, close 1,799.7) and the S&P 500 index gained 0.5% (+4.8 pts,
close 905.8). In currency trading, the dollar gained versus the euro and fell versus the yen. U.S. light crude oil for August delivery fell 17 cents to settle at US$59.52 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. (CNNmoney)
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U.S. businesses cut inventories again in May, according to a report signalling firms are making slow progress toward reducing excess supply but that more work lies ahead adjusting to lower sales. Inventories fell more than expected, Commerce Department data yesterday showed. The 1.0% drop from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted US$1.368trn followed a revised 1.3% decrease in April. Originally, April inventories were seen down 1.1%. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires forecast a 0.8% decline in May inventories. Business sales dipped by 0.1% to US$966.1bn in May. Sales in April fell an unrevised 0.3%. (Dow Jones Newswires)
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Surging gasoline costs spurred gains in U.S. retail sales and wholesale prices in June, while a drop in spending outside of auto dealers and service stations reinforced concern an economic recovery will be limited. Sales at retailers rose 0.6% from May, more than forecast and the biggest gain since January, Commerce Department figures showed yesterday in Washington. Excluding autos and gas, purchases dropped for a 4th consecutive month. The Labour Department’s producerprice index gained 1.8%, twice as much as anticipated. Yesterday’s figures indicate that consumer spending likely fell last quarter, with little momentum heading into the latter part of the year. Job losses and declining home values are weighing on households, leaving them with little appetite to spend more, other than on necessities. (Bloomberg)
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Industrial production in the 16 countries that use the euro posted its first m-o-m rise in nine months in May, in one of the first signs that the economy could be on the road to recovery. According to figures released yesterday by the European Union's statistics agency Eurostat, industrial production rose by 0.5% from April - the first monthly increase since August 2008
and also the largest monthly increase since a 1% rise in April 2008. Production in May fell by 17.0% y-o-y. The annual drop was the smallest since January this year, Eurostat said. The report of a rise in the monthly measure of output, as well as a slowdown in the pace of the y-o-y slump, suggests that the recent improvements reported in the more timely purchasing
managers manufacturing survey are now evident in the official indexes. In the 27 countries that are in the European Union, output rose 0.1% on the month and fell 15.9% on the year, Eurostat said. (Dow Jones Newswires