Market Snapshot October 29, 2007, 5:20PM EST

Stocks Rise on Fed Hopes

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com/ticker/' rel='ticker'>UBS) reconfirmed that it will report an overall group loss for the third quarter on Tuesday between 600 million to 800 million Swiss francs. The Swiss bank said that the fourth quarter has had a good start but that its FICC business remains exposed to further deterioration in U.S. housing and mortgage markets, as well as rating downgrades for mortgage-related securities, which could lead to further write-downs. As a result, UBS isn't assuming that the fourth quarter will continue to be positive, or that current difficulties will be resolved soon.

Kellogg (K) posted an 8.5% rise in third-quarter earnings to 76 cents a share from 70 cents a share a year ago on a 6.4% increase in sales to $3 billion, driven by the international segment. The latest results included five cents a share in restructuring costs, three cents more than in the year-ago period. The maker of Special K cereal and Pop-Tarts said cited continuing challenges from rising grain and fuel costs.

RadioShack (RSH) managed to swing to a profit of 34 cents a share in the third quarter from a net loss of 12 cents a share a year ago, despite a 8.6% decline in same-store sales and a 9.4% drop in total sales. The electronics retailer pointed to a negative sales trend in the Sprint post-paid wireless and related wireless accessory businesses, partially offset by strong results in prepaid wireless phones and global positioning systems.

European equity indexes finished higher Monday. In London, the FTSE 100 index rose 44.7 points, or 0.67%, to 6,706. Germany's DAX climbed 60.5 points, or 0.76%, to 8,009.67. In Paris, the CAC 40 gained 41.32 points, or 0.71%, to 5,836.19.

Asian markets ended higher. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index advanced 1.17% to 16,698.08. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index jumped 3.89% to 31,586.90. The Shanghai composite index rose 2.83% to 5,748.00.

Treasury Market

Treasuries strengthened in price as a positive bias leading up to the FOMC policy statement Wednesday drove direction, reflecting speculation the Fed will lower the federal funds rate target by 25 basis points to 4.50%.

The 10-year note rose 06/32 to 102-31/32 for a yield of 4.37%. The 30-year bond rallied 21/32 to 105-17/32 for a yield of 4.65%.

Bogoslaw is a reporter for BusinessWeek's Investing channel . McCormack is senior producer for BusinessWeek.com's Investing channel .

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