Stock Market News

Google will become exclusive text-based advertising provider for eBay’s (EBAY) international marketplaces. We view this this as another important win for Google just since Dec. 2005, following AOL and MySpace. And eBay’s Skype, which has over 113 million users, will distribute Google Toolbars. Google also announces it will enable enterprises to provide its end-users with free private-label Gmail, Google Talk and Google Calendar. We think this could moderately boost adoption and usage of these applications, but that Google is best served by focusing on search and advertising.

Source : BusinessWeek

The euro climbed to a record against the yen on speculation the European Central Bank will raise interest rates at a faster pace than the Bank of Japan.

Investors are taking advantage of Japan’s lower rates to borrow yen and sell it to buy securities denominated in higher- yielding currencies such as the euro. These sales contributed to the yen’s worst month against the European currency since March. The yield gap between two-year German and Japanese bonds today reached the widest in more than 3 1/2 years.

“The market is pricing in much faster tightening by the ECB than the Bank of Japan,” said Callum Henderson, global head of currency strategy at Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore. “The yen has taken somewhat of a kicking against the euro.”

Source : BloomBerg

Trilby Lundberg, publisher of the “Lundberg Survey,” attributed the 15.42-cent drop in surveys performed on August 25 and August 11 to “more than sufficient gasoline supply” and a modest softening in crude oil prices in recent days.

“It’s the largest drop since last September, when the country was coming off gasoline shortages caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita,” said Lundberg, whose survey tallies prices every two to three weeks at about 5,000 gas stations in all 50 states.

Historically high prices had already slowed or halted the growth in demand for gasoline, she said.

Source : CNN MONEY

Shares of Eli Lilly ended four straight sessions of stock gains last Friday after U.S. health regulators delayed a decision on Arxxant, an experimental treatment for diabetic retinopathy. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an “approvable letter” and requested additional data from the Indianapolis-based drugmaker. Street analysts expressed concern about whether the request would require a new clinical trial. Bearn Sterns said the FDA letter was “worse than it looks” and cut the 2010 sales forecast for Arxxant to $200 million from $785 million. Arxxant is an inhibitor of an enzyme called protein kinase C-beta, or PKC-beta.

Earlier in the week, shares of Lilly and Amylin Pharmaceuticals got a lift after the companies said diminished inventory levels for diabetes treatment Byetta were no longer a concern. The companies had asked physicians two months ago to stop putting new patients on the drug as rising demand outpaced manufacturing capability. Amylin shares ended the week with a gain of 13.6%; Lilly rose 1.2%.

Source : Forbes.com

Investors eked out Wall Street’s fifth-straight day of gains Friday, bucking concerns about lagging consumer sentiment and disappointing second-quarter results from Dell Inc.

Trading got off to a shaky start after the University of Michigan released its preliminary consumer sentiment index, which fell to 78.7 in August, down from 84.7 a month earlier. Wall Street had been looking for the index to slide to 83.8, and the greater-than-expected drop was viewed as a signal the economy may weaken too much.

The poor sentiment index threatened to stall the market’s rally this week, which came on evidence of lower inflation risk and a gently slowing economy. Yet the market’s recovery from its session lows — aided by a $36 billion stock buyback announced by Microsoft Corp. — shows investors remain optimistic that the Federal Reserve will keep the economy strong enough to withstand recession while keeping inflation contained.

Source : MSNBC.com