Weekend Report: International Action Answers No Questions for U.S.
The financial world provided few clues this weekend to guide confused U.S. and U.K. traders when their holiday-shuttered markets reopen Tuesday.
In thin trading, the German
Dax
edged up 1.10 to 5069.83, while Paris'
CAC 40
hopped 36.25, or 0.8%, to 4351.29. Overnight, in follow-throughs from the U.S.' strong
Friday session, Japan's
Nikkei 225
jumped 138.97, or 0.9%, to 16,111.65 and Hong Kong's
Hang Seng
gained 87.87, or 0.7%, to 12,147.12.
All of which brings to mind
John Nance Garner's
dictum about the relative worth of the vice presidency and a bucket of warm spit. The U.S. markets won't trade off Monday's European and Asian market action. Instead they'll continue looking toward the week's key economic releases: the
National Association of Purchasing Management
index, coming Tuesday, and the May
TheStreet Recommends
employment report
, coming Friday.
Market players also will watch for any signs of a rebound or a further deterioration in Internet stocks, and here some weekend press may prove telling.
Barron's
went after
Amazon.com
(AMZN) - Get Amazon.com Inc. Report
-- or "Amazon.bomb," as the weekly put it -- in a harsh cover story. The story details Amazon's slowing revenue growth rate and its likely difficulty in making its multiple acquisitions pay off in profits.
In other holiday-weekend news:
The embattled euro has picked up some ground at last against the dollar amid chatter that the
European Central Bank
may intervene to support the
European Union's
common currency. The euro traded as high as $1.0484 Monday, having hit an all-time bottom of $1.0399 intraday Friday. Lately it was up a scant 0.0002 at $1.0423.
Yugoslavia confirmed that it has accepted a set of principles laid out by the
G8
powers, including the withdrawal of Yugoslav forces from Kosovo, the deployment of an international security force and the safe return of Kosovar refugees.
NATO
has responded with cautious optimism thus far but wants a direct statement from Yugoslav President
Slobodan Milosevic
.
Alcan Aluminum
(AL) - Get Air Lease Corporation Class A Report
announced plans for a rolled-aluminum joint venture in South Korea with
Taihan Electric Wire
.
Telecom Italia
(TI)
agreed to sell a majority stake in its
Stream
pay-TV service to a group led by
News Corp.
(NWS) - Get News Corporation Report
.
Cable & Wireless'
(CWP)
Cable & Wireless Optus
unit opted against pursuing its $979.5 million takeover bid for Australia's
AAPT
. The move clears the way for
Telecom Corp. of New Zealand
(NZT)
to take a stab at AAPT, according to
Dow Jones
.
As originally published, this story contained an error. Please see
Corrections and Clarifications.
