S&P 500 Rises Toward Record as Forest Labs Offsets Data

Most U.S. stocks rose, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPX) climbing to within eight points of a record, as a $25 billion deal to acquire Forest Laboratories Inc. offset slower growth in New York-area manufacturing.

Forest Laboratories surged 28 percent after Actavis Plc agreed to buy the maker of the Alzheimer’s drug Namenda. Coca-Cola Co. dropped 3.8 percent as fourth-quarter profit fell. D.R. Horton Inc. and PulteGroup Inc. lost more than 1.2 percent as a gauge of homebuilder confidence declined by the most on record in February amid bad weather that hurt sales.

The S&P 500 added 0.1 percent to 1,840.76 at 4 p.m. in New York, near its record close of 1,848.38 set last month. The Dow (INDU) Jones Industrial Average fell 23.99 points, or 0.2 percent, to 16,130.40. About 6.3 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, in line with the three-month average. The U.S. market was closed yesterday for the Presidents’ Day holiday.

The S&P 500 finished its best week of the year within 0.5 percent of its all-time high on Feb. 14, amid better-than-forecast earnings and continued confidence in the strength of the world’s biggest economy.

(Source: bloomberg)               

Asian Stocks Outside Japan Advance After China’s Lending Data

Asian stocks outside Japan gained, with a regional gauge heading for an almost three-week high, after a report showing China’s new credit increased to a record in January. Japan’s Topix index fell after the nation’s economic growth missed estimates and the yen strengthened.

Rio Tinto Group (RIO), a mining company that gets about 32 percent of sales from China, rose 1.6 percent in Sydney. Newcrest Mining Ltd., Australia’s biggest gold producer, advanced 3.2 percent as bullion’s price rose to a three-month high. Rakuten Inc., a online retailer controlled by billionaire Hiroshi Mikitani, dropped 9.5 percent in Tokyo after announcing plans buy the Viber Internet messaging and calling service for $900 million.

The MSCI Asia Pacific excluding Japan Index added 0.3 percent to 457.27 as of 9:54 a.m. in Tokyo. The measure climbed 2.7 percent last week as trade data from China beat estimates and Janet Yellen’s first official address as head of the Federal Reserve buoyed optimism about the U.S. economy. The broader MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.1 percent to 135.31, paring gains of as much as 0.5 percent.

(Source: Bloomberg)

Currency Volatility Drops Before Yellen Testimony; Krone Jumps

A gauge of major currency volatility fell to the lowest level in more than two weeks before Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen gives her first monetary-policy report to Congress tomorrow as the central bank weighs the pace of the economy and additional cuts to its monthly bond-buying.

The yen rose versus most of its 16 major counterparts even as the Ministry of Finance said the nation’s current-account deficit widened to a record. Norway’s krone jumped the most in three weeks against the euro after inflation quickened. The Australian dollar fell as Toyota Motor Corp. (7203) said it will stop building cars there in 2017. Hungary’s forint and South Africa’s rand led losses among emerging-market currencies.

“Focus this week will be very much on Janet Yellen’s first round of congressional testimony as Fed Chairman,” Robert Lynch, a currency strategist at HSBC Holdings Plc in New York, wrote in a client note. Yellen’s limited comments in recent months “suggest she favors the more gradual pace of tapering currently in place and can easily point to the recent softening in the jobs data and some other economic indicators to support her view.”

The JPMorgan G7 Volatility Index fell to 7.83 percent at 5 p.m. in New York, the lowest level on a closing basis since Jan. 22.

The yen was little changed at 102.26 per dollar after sliding to 102.64, the weakest level since Jan. 31. Japan’s currency was little changed at 139.54 per euro after dropping 1.6 percent during the previous two days. The euro added 0.1 percent to $1.3646.

(Source: Bloomberg)