Apple has Apple has a 50% increase in profits after seeing a bumper Christmas period, in which sales of iPhones doubled from a year ago. Net income rose to $3.38bn (£2.08bn) in the three months to 26 December, from the $2.26bn it made the previous year. Apple said it sold 8.7 million iPhones in the quarter. Sales of Macs also rose 33%, although iPod sales fell by 8%. On Wednesday, the firm will announce a new product, widely expected to be a touch-screen "tablet" computer. The company has previously used January launches to unveil products including the iPhone and the MacBook Air. Apple shares rose $5.33, or 2.7%, to close at $203.08 in New York before the results came out. In extended trading the shares rose a further $1.28 to $204.36. 'Phenomenal sales' Sales in the first quarter rose to $15.7bn from $11.9bn in the same period a year ago.
Sales of the iPhone were boosted by its roll-out in China, the world's biggest mobile phone market. Mac sales rose to 3.36 million during the quarter while sales of iPods fell to 21 million. Analysts were impressed with the results. "It was a very good quarter, as expected. It's a continued sign that Apple has great products that consumers want despite this recession," commented Daniel Ernst from Hudson Square Research. "Mac sales were phenomenal as well... Macs continue to gain share and what's interesting is that it only has 3.6% share globally so there's a lot of headroom." Apple forecast sales for the current quarter of between $11bn and $11.4bn. "The new products we are planning to release this year are very strong, starting this week with a major new product that we're really excited about," said Apple chief executive Steve Jobs. Earlier this month, Microsoft and HP unveiled a touchscreen slate computer, ahead of Apple's much rumoured device launch. |
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Apple profits increase 50%, boosted by iPhone sales
FOREX: US Dollar, Japanese Yen finish week higher versus Majors on Risk Aversion
The U.S. dollar and Japanese yen surged higher in forex trading this week against the other major currencies while the U.S. stock markets had their worst week in 10 months. Risk aversion was the dominant theme of the week and was triggered by numerous factors including Greece’s continuing financial woes, Barack Obama’s plan for tighter regulation on banks, disappointing earnings and fears that China may slow bank lending.
The dollar surged higher versus the euro for the second straight week as the euro (EUR/USD pair) fell to its lowest exchange rate since July 30th on Thursday at the 1.4029 level. The dollar also increased for the week versus the Swiss franc, British pound, Canadian dollar and New Zealand dollar and Australian dollar while falling versus the Japanese yen.
The largest gain for the dollar this week was against the Canadian dollar with a 287 pip increase followed by a 282 pip advance versus the New Zealand dollar (see chart). The dollar also rose by over 200 pips against the euro and the Australian dollar.
The Japanese yen, meanwhile, gained ground for the second straight week versus these other major currencies with the exception of the U.S. dollar, which the yen has climbed against for three weeks in a row. The yen increased by over 300 pips this week versus the euro (+360 pips), the Canadian dollar (+329 pips) and the New Zealand dollar (+322 pips).
The yen also rose by 297 pips over the British pound, by 286 pips against the Australian dollar, by 230 pips versus the Swiss franc and by 95 pips against the U.S. dollar.
The U.S. stock markets ended the week with three straight negative sessions as the Dow fell by roughly 217 points on Friday and finished the week 537 points lower. The Dow’s 4.1 percent drop for the week marked the largest decline since March when stocks started 2009’s remarkable uptrend. The Nasdaq decreased by 60.41 points on Friday and declined by 3.6 percent for the week while the S&P 500 dropped by 24.72 points on Friday to a 3.9 percent weekly decline.
Next week will be another interesting and potentially volatile week in the forex markets with many major economic releases coming out. Interest rate decisions by the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Bank of Japan and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand are all due in the middle of the week while there will Gross Domestic Product reports from Canada, the U.K. and the U.S. There will also be new and existing homes sales data, durable goods and consumer confidence data out the U.S.
The dollar surged higher versus the euro for the second straight week as the euro (EUR/USD pair) fell to its lowest exchange rate since July 30th on Thursday at the 1.4029 level. The dollar also increased for the week versus the Swiss franc, British pound, Canadian dollar and New Zealand dollar and Australian dollar while falling versus the Japanese yen.
The Japanese yen, meanwhile, gained ground for the second straight week versus these other major currencies with the exception of the U.S. dollar, which the yen has climbed against for three weeks in a row. The yen increased by over 300 pips this week versus the euro (+360 pips), the Canadian dollar (+329 pips) and the New Zealand dollar (+322 pips).
The yen also rose by 297 pips over the British pound, by 286 pips against the Australian dollar, by 230 pips versus the Swiss franc and by 95 pips against the U.S. dollar.
The U.S. stock markets ended the week with three straight negative sessions as the Dow fell by roughly 217 points on Friday and finished the week 537 points lower. The Dow’s 4.1 percent drop for the week marked the largest decline since March when stocks started 2009’s remarkable uptrend. The Nasdaq decreased by 60.41 points on Friday and declined by 3.6 percent for the week while the S&P 500 dropped by 24.72 points on Friday to a 3.9 percent weekly decline.
Next week will be another interesting and potentially volatile week in the forex markets with many major economic releases coming out. Interest rate decisions by the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Bank of Japan and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand are all due in the middle of the week while there will Gross Domestic Product reports from Canada, the U.K. and the U.S. There will also be new and existing homes sales data, durable goods and consumer confidence data out the U.S.
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