NEW YORK, 29 March 2005 — US stocks rose yesterday, as a retreat in oil prices eased concerns about lowered corporate profits, while a deal to acquire financial technology company SunGard Data Systems Inc. boosted hopes of more acquisitions to come.
SunGard, an S&P 500 constituent, jumped about 10 percent to $34.58 after a group of private equity investment firms agreed to buy the company for about $10.8 billion plus the assumption of debt in the biggest leveraged buyout in more than 15 years. There was little immediate reaction to news of an 8.2 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra Island, traders said.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 48.77 points, or 0.47 percent, at 10,491.64. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was up 4.18 points, or 0.36 percent, at 1,175.60. The NASDAQ Composite Index was up 7.45 points, or 0.37 percent, at 1,998.51.
US light crude fell $1.24 cents to $53.60 a barrel before recovering to $54.18, handing back much of last Thursday’s $1.03 gain. Prices were more than $3 below the all-time peak of $57.60 set on March 17.
Asian stocks closed mixed yesterday. The Tokyo Stock Exchange’s benchmark Nikkei-225 index rose 31.20 points to 11,792.30. In Seoul, The KOSPI index closed up 12.40 points at 977.70, off a high of 981.54 and a low of 969.48. Hong Kong stock market was closed yesterday. In Singapore, the Straits Times Index fell 7.09 points to 2,144.36. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index gained 2.04 points at 885.44.
Meanwhile, the dollar was higher in thin Asian trade yesterday, continuing to build on recent gains but trade was slow due to holidays, dealers said.
The dollar rose to 106.93 yen in Tokyo afternoon trade from 106.29 yen in New York late Friday. The euro fell to 1.2905 dollars from 1.2953 dollars while rising to 138.03 yen from 137.74 yen.
In early afternoon trade, the dollar fell to 54.320 Philippine pesos from 54.355 on Thursday but firmed against the other Asian units. The dollar rose to 9,438 Indonesian rupiah from 9,415, to 31.624 Taiwan dollars from 31.427, 1,017.2 South Korean won from 1,011.9, 1.6506 Singapore dollars from 1.6447 and to 39.125 Thai baht from 38.770.