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I'm Amy Anderson for OptionRally TV. Let's take a look at the global markets and
news that all traders and investors should be aware of.
Netflix soars Icahn wants EBay and PayPal to split
And Chinese manufacturing data tumbles
Let's take a quick look at what is happening in the global markets now.
Europe's main stock markets closed mixed; with London sliding after a bigger-than-expected
drop in British unemployment takes it close to the central bank's threshold to begin raising
interest rates. UK unemployment surprising fall from 7.4% to 7.1%. London's FTSE 100
ended down 0.12 per cent. With little data or news flow US stocks remained mixed following
the latest batch of mediocre fourth quarter corporate earnings reports.
IBM fell over 3 per cent after beating earnings expectations by 14 cents per share, but falling
short on revenue. It released its results at the end of the trading day yesterday. In
simple words IBM was able to cut expenses but was not able to increase sales.
Netflix stocks soared 16% on huge subscriber growth adding more than 2.3 million new American
households enrolling for the streaming service, its best quarterly performance in three years.
Shares of eBay soared in after-hours trading after the online auction website revealed
that activist investor Carl Icahn is urging the company to break up. In its fourth quarter
earnings release, eBay said Icahn wants the tech giant to spin off PayPal into its own
company.
In The foreign exchange markets the euro dipped to 1.35-57 as traders continue to ask "Where
is the recovery?" The dollar rose for an eighth day, the longest winning streak since 2012,
amid bets an improving U.S. economy will encourage Federal Reserve policy makers to dial back
stimulus when they meet next week. The Bank of Japan said it was winning the war against
deflation and delayed injecting fresh stimulus into Asia's number two economy. The JPY eased
against the dollar to trade at 104.62. The Aussie dropped about half a cent after a report
signaled a slowdown in Chinese factory activity, taking the currency back to levels it was
trading at before Wednesday's strong local inflation data.
Moving to the commodities market as geopolitical tensions ease and the global economy recovers
with central bankers keeping inflation in check there is no support for gold , except
for some speculators that are hoping for a bounce to book profits and those holding gold
for wealth preservation. Gold is trading at $12-31.86 it's lowest in two weeks.
Crude oil rose nearly 2 percent Wednesday as oil started flowing through a new pipeline
to the Gulf Coast and traders anticipated another decline in U.S. supplies. U.S. crude
rose $1.76, or 1.9 percent, to close at $96.73. Oil last closed above $96 a barrel on Dec.
31.
This is Amy Anderson from OptionRally signing off. Follow me on Facebook and watch for our
new financial terms of the day and our weekly events news.