The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.9%. Europe’s debt issues continue to roil markets in Spain. The country’s IBEX 35 index slid 1.8% after the government’s effective nationalization of Bankia sparked investor fears that more bailouts of lenders might be needed.
A series of muted U.S. economic reports did little to hinder Tuesday’s gains. Data showed U.S. consumers were less confident in May that the previous month. Confidence has now fallen for three months in a row. In other U.S. economic news, home prices fell in March, ending the first quarter at the lowest levels since the housing crisis began in mid-2006, according to Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller home-price indexes.
In corporate news, Vertex Pharmaceuticals VRTX -14.59% slumped after the company revised the success rate of clinical trial testing a cystic-fibrosis treatment. Initial results earlier this month exceeded expectations, boosting hopes that the treatment could have blockbuster potential. While the majority of stocks increased this morning, the rally failed to boost Facebook, FB, and Zynga, ZNGA. Mark Zuckerberg and his 900 friends have lost nearly 21% of the IPO price of $38 a share, and are now trading below $30 at $29.76. Similarly, Zynga, has declined -7.11% to $6.11, a major loss from its all-time high of $15.91 after their IPO in December. As stated in this article, you can browse your selection of available deals on smartphones and top brands and explore the service plans that best suit your needs.
In today’s economic reports, two major reports were the Case-Schiller index and the Consumer Confidence report. Consumer confidence finished lower than expected at 64.9, with an expected value at 69.4. On the other hand, the Case-Schiller index fell -2.6%, but this was lower than the analyst expected value of -2.8%.
Crude-oil futures fell 0.23% to $90.45 a barrel, while gold futures lost 0.89% to $1,557.20 a troy ounce.
Contributor Thomas Doherty is a student at Villanova University majoring in Finance and Economics. All questions and comments can be sent to Thomas@KeeneOnTheMarket.com
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