Morning Brief - Aug 25 2010

US stocks declined, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to a seven-week low, as a record plunge in home sales cast further doubt on the viability of the economic recovery. The NASDAQ, Dow Jones and S&P 500 slipped 1.83%, 1.32% and 1.45%, respectively Boeing Co., Alcoa Inc. and Caterpillar Inc. lost at least 2.7% to lead declines in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Dell Inc. tumbled 3% amid reports it will increase its offer for 3Par Inc. Pfizer Inc. dropped 1.7% after its cancer treatment Sutent failed to improve overall survival in patients with a form of lung cancer.



UK stocks dropped for the fourth time in five days after home sales in the U.S. slumped more than estimated and CRH Plc forecast that its earnings will fall this year. The FTSE 100 slipped 78.89 points or 1.51% at 5,155.95. CRH, the world’s second-largest maker and distributor of building materials, posted its largest tumble on record. Wolseley Plc sank 5.1%. Rio Tinto Group and BHP Billiton Plc fell 4.3% and 1.5% respectively as metals prices retreated in London. WPP Plc sank 4% after the advertising company posted profit that missed estimates.


Mahindra and Mahindra said it would use its purchase of South Korea's Ssangyong Motor to become a global player in the sport utility vehicle market. (BS)

Indian Oil Corp and Oil India Ltd are in talks to buy 20% each in Essar group's gas block in Myanmar. (BS)

In a bid to offset high input costs, Hindustan Unilever said it has hiked the price of its Lifebuoy soap by over 6%, while reducing the pack size of popular soap brand Lux. The company confirmed that the price of its 120 gm Lifebuoy soap has been hiked to Rs. 16 from Rs. 15. (BS)
Economic and Political Headline

India on rejected a plan by UK-based mining group Vedanta Resources Plc to mine bauxite in Orissa over environmental concerns, a blow to the firm already facing hurdles to a planned USD 9.6 bn energy deal in the country. (BS)


Sales of existing houses plunged by a record 27% in July as the effects of a government tax credit waned, showing a lack of jobs threatens to undermine the US economic recovery. Purchases plummeted to a 3.83 million annual pace, the lowest in a decade of record keeping, figures from the National Association of Realtors showed. (Bloomberg)


European industrial orders rose more than economists forecast in June as strengthening global growth helped fuel the region’s fastest expansion in four years in the second quarter. Orders in the 16-nation euro area increased 2.5% from May, when they jumped 4.1%, the European Union’s statistics office in Luxembourg said. (Bloomberg)