Stock indices closed higher as investors weighed corporate earnings reports.
Investors monitored closely a further escalation of the situation in eastern Ukraine.
Henkel AG shares climbed 4.8% after raising its forecast.
Vodafone Group Plc shares increased 6.1% after reporting the better-than-estimated services revenue in its second accounting quarter.
Indexes on the close:
Name Price Change Change %
FTSE 100 6,627.4 +16.15 +0.24%
DAX 9,369.03 +17.16 +0.18%
CAC 40 4,244.1 +21.28 +0.50%
U.S. stock-index futures were little changed, as investors weighed corporate earnings and equity valuations after benchmarks closed at a fourth straight record.
Global markets:
Nikkei 17,124.11 +343.58 +2.05%
Hang Seng 23,808.28 +63.58 +0.27%
Shanghai Composite 2,470.59 -3.08 -0.12%
FTSE 6,618.27 +7.02 +0.11%
CAC 4,243.66 +20.84 +0.49%
DAX 9,371.68 +19.81 +0.21%
Crude oil $77.53 (+0.14%)
Gold $1153.80 (-0.52%)
(company / ticker / price / change, % / volume)
AT&T Inc | T | 35.13 | +0.03% | 12.1K |
General Electric Co | GE | 26.48 | +0.04% | 2.9K |
McDonald's Corp | MCD | 95.15 | +0.04% | 0.1K |
Verizon Communications Inc | VZ | 50.74 | +0.04% | 0.7K |
United Technologies Corp | UTX | 109.07 | +0.06% | 0.1K |
Microsoft Corp | MSFT | 48.95 | +0.12% | 2.4K |
Pfizer Inc | PFE | 30.25 | +0.17% | 23.7K |
International Business Machines Co... | IBM | 163.80 | +0.19% | 1.9K |
Merck & Co Inc | MRK | 58.93 | +0.20% | 0.5K |
Cisco Systems Inc | CSCO | 25.21 | +0.24% | 56.5K |
Johnson & Johnson | JNJ | 109.10 | +0.26% | 0.4K |
Intel Corp | INTC | 33.37 | +0.33% | 3.0K |
Walt Disney Co | DIS | 90.20 | +0.47% | 5.2K |
Boeing Co | BA | 124.64 | 0.00% | 0.1K |
The Coca-Cola Co | KO | 42.39 | 0.00% | 0.3K |
Visa | V | 250.10 | -0.04% | 0.9K |
Procter & Gamble Co | PG | 89.40 | -0.06% | 0.1K |
Chevron Corp | CVX | 117.75 | -0.14% | 0.2K |
JPMorgan Chase and Co | JPM | 61.78 | -0.24% | 2.2K |
American Express Co | AXP | 92.16 | -0.26% | 0.1K |
Exxon Mobil Corp | XOM | 96.02 | -0.27% | 1.0K |
Upgrades:
Downgrades:
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) downgraded to Mkt Perform from Outperform at Keefe Bruyette
Other:
European stock indices are trading higher fir a second day in a row amid good corporate earnings. UK's FTSE 100 index is up 0.08% trading at 6,616.60 points. Germany's DAX 30 gained 0.25% at 9,375.53 points and France's CAC 40 is up 18.57 points, a plus of 0.25% currently trading at 4,20.59 points.
The DOW Jones and S&P 500 continued to rise in yesterday's trading session to all-time highs. The DOW Jones was up 39.81 points closing with a plus of 0.23% at 17,613.71, the S&P500 gained +0.31% closing at 2,038.26 points. Biotechnology and the transportation sector were the biggest winners.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.25% closing at 23,803.52, China's Shanghai Composite lost -0.12% closing at 2,470.59.
Japan's Nikkei closed strong with a gain of 2.05% at 17,124.11 hitting a seven-year high and the Japanese yen fell as there are speculations about Prime Minister Shinzo Abe postponing a rise in sales tax and snap elections being held.