U.S. Stocks Erase Losses as Phone, Health-Care Shares Advance

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U.S. stocks erased losses as gains in phone and health-care companies offset a slide in small-cap shares and data showing manufacturing expanded less than forecast.

AT&T Inc. gained 1 percent. Weight Watchers International Inc. plunged 14 percent as the Russell 2000 Index lost 0.4 percent. Apple Inc. fell 1 percent to pace declines in technology shares.

The S&P 500 rose 0.1 percent to 2,061.01 at 3:49 p.m. in New York, after dropping 0.6 percent earlier in the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 34.84 points, or 0.2 percent, to 17,857.91. Trading in S&P 500 companies was 22 percent below the 30-day average for this time of the day.

The benchmark index fell on the last two days of 2014, giving it a monthly decline of 0.4 percent for the first December drop since 2007. That trimmed its third straight annual gain to 11 percent.

Stocks fell earlier today after a report showed manufacturing in the U.S. cooled in December, settling into a more sustainable pace of growth as the year drew to a close.

The Institute for Supply Management™s factory index dropped to a six-month low of 55.5 from 58.7 in November, a report from the Tempe, Arizona-based group showed. The reading in October matched a three-year high.

Source : Bloomberg

Japanese Stock Indexes Fall on First Trading Day of New Year

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Japanese stocks fell on the first trading day of the year, with investors returning after national holidays during which most overseas equity markets declined.

The Topix retreated 0.6 percent to 1,399.44 as of 9:01 a.m. in Tokyo, after climbing 8.1 percent last year. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average dropped 0.7 percent to 17,330.30. The yen rose 0.1 percent to 120.41 per dollar.

The Standard & Poor™s 500 Index has dropped 1.6 percent since Japanese stocks last traded. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index has fallen 0.9 percent in that span.

Futures on the S&P 500 fell 0.3 percent today. Data on Jan. 2 showed that U.S. manufacturing cooled in December, with the Institute for Supply Management™s factory index dropping to a six-month low of 55.5 from 58.7 in November.

Source : Bloomberg

Asian Stocks Decline, Led by Japanese Shares as Trading Resumes

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Asian stocks fell, led by a decline in Japanese shares as trading resumed after a three-day holiday.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index decreased 0.4 percent to 137.44 as of 9:03 a.m. in Tokyo. The gauge slipped 2.5 percent in 2014, its first annual decline in three years, as commodity companies tumbled amid signs of slowing expansion in the region™s biggest economy. A Chinese factory index fell to an 18-month low in December, adding pressure on policy makers to do more to support growth.

Japan™s Topix index dropped 0.5 percent. South Korea™s Kospi Index slid 0.3 percent. Australia™s S&P/ASX 200 Index added 0.4 percent and New Zealand™s NZX 50 Index rose 0.1 percent. Futures on the Hang Seng Index fell 0.6 percent in their most recent trade, with cash markets in China and Hong Kong yet to open.

Futures on the Standard & Poor™s 500 Index fell 0.3 percent. The benchmark equity index fell less than 0.1 percent on Jan. 2 after a report showed U.S. manufacturing expanded less than forecast in December.

Source : Bloomberg

Euro Extends Slide While Japan, U.S. Index Futures Slip With Oil

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The euro slid to an almost a nine-year low against the dollar amid speculation European policy makers will undertake a concerted program of government-bond purchases to stoke growth. Japanese and U.S. index futures fell with Tokyo trade resuming after holidays, while oil and gold declined.

The 18-nation currency sank 0.5 percent to $1.1948 by 8:51 a.m. in Tokyo, touching 1.1864, its weakest level since March 2006. The pound and Swiss franc slipped with the Australian and New Zealand currencies. Nikkei 225 Stock Average futures were bid down 0.5 percent in the Osaka pre-market as contracts on the Standard & Poor™s 500 Index fell 0.2 percent. Oil declined for a third straight day as gold and copper futures retreated.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said in an interview published Jan. 2 that he couldn™t exclude the risk of deflation in the euro-area, igniting a selloff in the euro amid prospects he™ll embark on large-scale quantitative easing. Germany is projected to report slowing inflation today.  Markets from China to Thailand start trading for the new year, with gauges of manufacturing in Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam due. U.S. crude slid 46 percent in 2014, its worst year since 2008.

Source : Bloomberg