In Asia, stocks closed lower amid ongoing EU debt crisis fears. European policymakers failed in calming market fears that the region’s debt crisis is worsening, with rising borrowing costs raising that could spur a credit crunch. Sentiment was definitely on the risk off side.
In Europe, equity markets were falling, poised to post their worst weekly decline in 2 months. On Thursday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that she would not soften her opposition to issuing joint euro zone bonds, which is seem by many as now the only way to stop contagion of the debt crisis in the region. Banks, which have been hammered due to their exposure to the debt crisis, were also falling in the session. The banking stock index hit a 2½-year low. Also yesterday, Portugal added to the woes, with Fitch lowering its credit rating for the country to a BBB-.
The euro was falling, trading below the 1.33 level. Crude oil was dropping 0.45% to $95.71 per barrel. Gold was losing 1% to $1681.8 an ounce, while silver was tumbling 2.55% to $31.15 an ounce. Meanwhile, copper was falling 0.88%.
Today’s Stocks to watch: Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), AT&T (NYSE:T), Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Chevron (NYSE:CVX), Gap (NYSE:GPS), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), and Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO).
Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), the largest online retailer, was falling 1.32% to $186.50 in pre-market trading, as U.S. consumer hit the stores on Black Friday. The company had join the flurry of deals for the day and not wait for cyber Monday, as it also hopes that more shoppers armed with smarthphones will be able to better compare deals in its site versus the brick and mortar store and driving additional traffic and sales to the online retailer. The company also expects that for this holiday season its newly released Kindle Fire tablet will be able to chip away on Apple’s iPad dominant market share. Year to date, Amazon is still up 5% after trading as high as $246.71, an all-time high. The stock has calculated support at $183.58 and resistance at $222.35.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), the maker of iPads and iPhones, was falling 0.28% to $365.97 in pre-market, trading very close to its calculated support at $365.91. The stock should received strong support at $363.85, its 200day moving average, as Apple has traded above this technical level for most of the year, with just a brief period in June, in which it dipped below it. Apple is joining the Black Friday Frenzy with a sale on it website and retail locations, offering its iPad 2 Wifi models with around an 8% drop in price, with the basic model sale price at $458. Earlier in week, Jefferies bumped its EPS estimates for the current quarter, despite cutting its iPad shipment forecast to 13 million from 17 million. Last week, Oppenheimer cut estimates on the tech giant to better reflect a more cautious iPad ramp, cutting shipment estimates for the tablet by 2 million in the current quarter. The firm said it had to account for product cycles, macro headwinds and rising competition.
AT&T (NYSE:T), the owner of the second largest U.S. wireless carrier, was falling 0.91% to $27.30 in pre-market, trading below calculated support at $27.55, after the company said that it was withdrawing its merger plan with T-Mobile from further consideration by the FCC. AT&T added that it would concentrate first on winning approval from the U.S. justice department, which sued to stop the purchase. In case the deal fails to get approval the company was setting aside $4 billion, as it expects to take this hit by paying Deutsche Telecom, T-Mobile’s parent company, this amount on breakup fees.
Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), the largest U.S. lender, was falling 0.39% to $5.12 in pre-market, trading very close to its multiyear low of $5.11 just posted on Wednesday’s session. The stock continues to be under pressure on debt crisis fears, after Italy sold 6-month bills at a record yield of 6.5%. The stock could also react to reports from sales on this Black Friday, as the company is seen as a proxy for the U.S. consumer, due to big exposure via credit cards and mortgages. Year to date, the stock has plunged 61.5%.
Chevron (NYSE:CVX), the second largest U.S. energy producer, will be in focus after closing below calculated support at $94.45 on Wednesday’s session and after the company announced that it would voluntarily suspend current and future drilling operations off the Brazilian coast. The company acknowledges that the Brazilian regulator posted a notice of suspension in its website, which comes after Chevron said that it estimated that 2,400 barrels of oil spill on Brazilian waters on one of its wells that was being operated by Transocean. Shares of Chevron were falling 0.19% to $93.57 in pre-market.
Gap (NYSE:GPS), the owner and operator of specialty retailers like Banana Republic and Old Navy, will be in focus on Black Friday and after the company said that it plans to triple its Gap branded stores in China next year, as it aims to targets the country’s rapid rise in consumer spending growth. The company aims to operate 15 stores by January 2012 and expand to 45 stores by the end of 2012. Last week, UBS raised its target price on the stock to $19 from $17 after beating on earnings expectation but missing on the revenue side.
Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO), the Internet media company that owns the second largest search engine, was jumping 2.48% to $15.31 in pre-market on reports that Microsoft has signed a confidentiality agreement with the company, joining other potential bidders for the company. Microsoft attempted to buy Yahoo three years ago, but Yahoo Founder Jerry Yang, making it one of the most famous blunders in business in recent history, rejected its offer of north of $30 per share. This time around according to reports Microsoft is unlikely to make a takeover attempt and rather participate in a consortium, providing financing for private equity firms to acquire the firm. Shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), the owner of Bing search engine and biggest software publisher in the world, were falling 0.41% to $24.37.For the latest updates on the stock market, visit Stock Market Today For the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today
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