Wall Street posted a small gain on Friday despite the Labour Department report showed the US unemployment rate broke above 10 per cent in October, up from 9.8 per cent in September. But the number of jobs lost narrowed to the lowest level in more than a year.
Overnight the Dow index and S&P's 500 index posted their biggest falls in three months as the worse-than-expected manufacturing activity data in September and new jobless claims led to a broad sell-off. These figures overshadowed improvements in pending home sales, personal spending and construction spending, and dampened investors confidence on the economy recovery.
Overnight the US stocks slid over disappointing data in regional economy, as well as worries on the crucial data ahead including personal income, consumer spending, weekly jobless claims, manufacturing and home sales.
The US market fell into mood swings and closed in the red last week. On Friday, the disappointing sales by BlackBerry maker Research In Motion dragged the technology companies lower. For the week, the Dow index lost 155 points, or 1.58 per cent. This week the market will be tested by crucial data including September non-farm payrolls, final second-quarter gross domestic product and several other big economic reports.
Wall Street overnight extended its losses after a disappointing non-farm payrolls report in August, which raised concerns over the coming key reports on employment this week. US private sector slashed 298,000 jobs in August, a faster rate than economists' forecast.
LANXESS AG (ETR:LXSG)(PINK:LNXSF) significantly increased earnings in the second quarter in comparison to the weak first quarter of 2009 despite the ongoing difficult economic conditions worldwide. The specialty chemicals company posted EBITDA pre exceptionals of EUR 112 million, in line with its published guidance of EUR 100-120 million. The operating earnings figure was down 50 percent year-on-year but rose 70 percent from the first quarter of 2009 due to substantial volume increases, notably in Asia, as well as savings yielded by the "Challenge09" package of measures.
Japan's Mitsubishi Rayon (TYO:3404) plans to set up a joint venture in Saudi Arabia with major local chemical producer Saudi Basic Industries Corp (Sabic) to produce material used for acrylic glass, a Japanese media reported. The factory is expected to begin operations in 2013.
