US stocks have staged five consecutive weeks of gains, but analysts asked investors to brace for a tough ride as earnings results of key recession-battered companies emerge in the coming weeks.
Shares ended the holiday-shortened week on a high note with the blue chip Dow index posting a stunning three-digit gain on Thursday on the back of projections by banking giant Wells Fargo of a record first-quarter profit.
Friday was a market holiday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.82 percent to finish the week at 8,083.38, its highest closing level in two months.
The Dow’s fifth weekly gain is the best performance since fall 2007.
The broad Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 1.67 percent to 856.56 over the week, while the tech-heavy NASDAQ was up 1.89 percent to 1,652.54.
The corporate earnings reporting season for the first quarter began on Tuesday with US aluminum giant Alcoa declaring a hefty US$497 million net loss on plunging prices for the key metal amid the global economic downturn.
Its second consecutive quarterly loss was higher than expected by most analysts and underscored the depth of the 16-month-old US recession flooding listed companies with red ink.
Following Alcoa’s result, the markets turned cautious on light trading ahead of financial results of other key companies, including financial institutions such as Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs the coming week.
But Wells Fargo, scheduled to announce its results on April 22, made a surprise announcement on Thursday that it expected a “record” net income of some US$3 billion for the first quarter, trouncing Wall Street estimates and sparking a rally before market closed the week.
The US budget deficit accelerated last month to hit a record nearly US$1 trillion just halfway through the current fiscal year, as the US government moved to bail out troubled institutions, government data showed on Friday.
The deficit for the first six months of the fiscal year which began on Oct. 1 was US$956.8 billion, according to the Treasury’s monthly statement of receipts and outlays.
Receipts during the six-month period to last month were US$989.83 billion, while outlays amounted to nearly US$1.95 trillion, the data showed.
Last month’s US deficit of US$192.27 billion was higher than the US$160 billion expected by most analysts, coming on the back of money poured by US President Barack Obama’s administration to rescue financial institutions.
All six months of the fiscal year so far recorded red ink. The last time the US plunged into a consecutive six month deficit was during the October 2003 to March 2004 period, officials said.
PLA MANEUVERS: Although Beijing has yet to formally announce military drills, its coast guard vessels have been spotted near and around Taiwan since Friday The Taiwanese military is on high alert and is closely monitoring the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) air and naval deployments after Beijing yesterday reserved seven airspace areas east of its Zhejiang and Fujian provinces through Wednesday. Beijing’s action was perceived as a precursor to a potential third “Joint Sword” military exercise, which national security experts said the PLA could launch following President William Lai’s (賴清德) state visits to the nation’s three Pacific allies and stopovers in Hawaii and Guam last week. Unlike the Joint Sword military exercises in May and October, when Beijing provided detailed information about the affected areas, it
Five flights have been arranged to help nearly 2,000 Taiwanese tourists return home from Okinawa after being stranded due to cruise ship maintenance issues, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced yesterday. China Airlines Ltd (中華航空), and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) have arranged five flights with a total of 748 additional seats to transport 1,857 passengers from the MSC Bellissima back to Taiwan, the ministry said. The flights have been scheduled for yesterday and today by the Civil Aviation Administration, with the cruise operator covering all associated costs. The MSC Bellissima, carrying 4,341 passengers, departed from Keelung on Wednesday last week for Okinawa,
US president-elect Donald Trump said he would “never say” if Washington is committed to defending Taiwan from China, but “I would prefer that they do not do it [ an attack],” adding that he has a “good relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). “I never say because I have to negotiate things, right?” Trump said in an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press host Kristen Welker after saying he would not reveal his incoming administration’s stance on Taiwan’s defense in the event of an attack. Asked the question again, Trump, in a reference to China, said: “I would prefer that they
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: MOFA demanded Beijing stop its military intimidation and ‘irrational behavior’ that endanger peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region The Presidential Office yesterday called on China to stop all “provocative acts,” saying ongoing Chinese military activity in the nearby waters of Taiwan was a “blatant disruption” of the “status quo” of security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. Defense officials said they have detected Chinese ships since Monday, both off Taiwan and farther out along the first island chain. They described the formations as two walls designed to demonstrate that the waters belong to China. The Ministry of National Defense yesterday said it had detected 53 military aircraft operating around the nation over the past 24 hours, as well
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