U.S. stock index futures dip; eyes on IBM
* IBM’s quarterly results failed to impress investors used
to a robust showing from the tech bellwether, sparking worries
over lacklustre corporate IT spending. Its shares traded in
Frankfurt were down 4.6 percent.* Moody’s warned it may slap a negative outlook on France’s
Aaa credit rating in the next three months if the costs for
helping to bail out banks and other euro zone members stretch
its budget too much.* China’s economic growth slowed in the third quarter to its
weakest pace since early 2009 — with GDP rising 9.1 percent in
the quarter from a year earlier, down from 9.5 percent in the
previous quarter — although the data showed core domestic
drivers of growth remained solid.* On the macro front, investors awaited September’s Producer
Price Index, while on the earnings front a flurry of results
from companies including Apple , Intel , Goldman
Sachs , Bank of America and Johnson & Johnson
were expected.* U.S. plane maker Boeing Co on Tuesday predicted
more sales cancellations for its delayed Dreamliner 787, after a
Chinese airline scrapped 24 orders, but said the overall order
book for the new long-range aircraft remained strong.* U.S. stocks suffered their worst loss in two weeks on
Monday after comments from Germany’s finance minister caused
investors to fear Europe’s solution to its debt crisis may not
come fast enough.* The Dow Jones industrial average was down 246.58
points, or 2.12 percent, at 11,397.91. The Standard & Poor’s 500
Index was down 23.72 points, or 1.94 percent, at
1,200.86. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 52.93
points, or 1.98 percent, at 2,614.92.* The VIX is a 30-day risk forecast of stock market
volatility conveyed by S&P 500 index options; it generally moves
inversely to the S&P benchmark.
UPDATE 1-Thousands protest online after China’s Taobao Mall fee hike
Taobao Mall, China’s largest business to consumer (B2C)
e-commerce platform, said on Monday it will increase its annual
membership fees from 6,000 yuan ($944) to between 30,000 yuan to
60,000 yuan depending on the type and scale of the business.The fee hike caused thousands of Taobao Mall shop owners to
protest online Tuesday night by buying up goods from bigger
stores and then asking for refunds, Xinhua said. Asking for
refunds would lower the rankings of the shops and prompted some
big outlets to temporarily stop selling products, it said.On Wednesday, 40,000 people claiming to be Taobao Mall
businessmen gathered in an online chat room to discuss more ways
of disrupting the website, the report said.Taobao Mall said in a statement on Wednesday that the matter
has been referred to the police.”We are willing to accept any views and suggestions towards
our rules but we will not tolerate serious harm committed
against innocent businesses because of different views,” Taobao
Mall said in the statement.Alibaba Group, which is 40 percent owned by Yahoo Inc
, operates Taobao, Taobao Mall and Alibaba.com
.The business owners claimed that the fee increase would
cripple their businesses but will have little effect on the
bigger brands that have stores on the platform, Xinhua reported.A portion of the new fees will be returned to the shop
owners if they satisfy certain standards and criteria.Taobao Mall had 32.8 percent of China’s 54.2 billion yuan
B2C online marketplace in the second-quarter, according to data
from Analysys International. 360buy, Taobao Mall’s nearest
rival, had 12.4 percent of the market.
Akamai shares surge on Google deal report
Representatives from Google and Akamai said the companies do not comment on rumors.Akamai, whose shares closed Wednesday’s regular session down 57 percent from their 52-week high of $54.65, is a long-running subject of takeover rumors. Last week, there were reports that the company could be acquired by Verizon Communications or International Business Machines Corp, said Mark Kelleher, an analyst with Dougherty & Co.”Ever since I can remember there’s been theories of who could come in” and acquire Akamai, he said.Shares of Akamai rose more than 11 percent following the Google report, before trading up 9.1 percent at $25.45 in extended trading.
