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(CEP News) - Ford said it burned through less cash than market watchers were expecting in the first quarter, leading to optimism that some portion of the U.S. automotive industry can survive the recession.
Ford posted a loss of 60 cents per share, compared to the $1.23 per share loss that analysts were expecting. The company's cash burn slowed to $3.7 billion, about half of the fourth quarter pace. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 51 points to 8008, the S&P 500 was up 6 points to 858 and the Nasdaq was up 13 points to 1665. In Canada, the S&P/TSX composite index is up 88 points to 9498. The U.S. Commerce Department said durable goods orders excluding transportation posted a drop of 0.6% in March despite forecasts for a 1.2% decline. The improvement was offset by a large downward revision to February's data. Paul Ashworth, economist with Capital Economics, said after falling sharply towards the end of 2008, the pace of decline in U.S. durable goods is beginning to slow. "This fits within the broader pattern that we are seeing: the severity of the recession is easing gradually, but any actual recovery is still some way off," he said. European stock markets closed with the Stoxx 50 up 35 points to 1969, the UK FTSE 100 up 99 points to 4117 and the German DAX up 108 points to 4646. U.S. two-year yields are up 2.5 bps to 0.95%, with five-year yields up 4.7 bps to 1.92%, 10-year yields up 5.6 bps to 2.98% and 30-year yields up 7.2 bps to 3.86%. The Eurodollar September 09 contract is up 2.5 ticks to 98.91. The yield curve is steeper, with the 10/2-year spread up 3.2 bps to 202.52 bps. Yields on two-year Canadian government bonds are flat at 0.99%, with five-year yields flat at 1.94%, 10-year yields up 3.5 bps to 3.04% and 30-year yields up 2.6 bps to 3.78%. The September 09 BAX contract is down 1.0 tick to 99.59. In Germany, returns on two-year German bonds are down 4.8 bps to 1.40%, with five-year yields down 3.4 bps to 2.41%, 10-year yields down 3.3 bps to 3.19% and 30-year yields flat at 3.97%. Yields on UK two-year bonds are down 5.2 bps to 1.24%, with five-year yields down 1.9 bps to 2.49%, 10-year yields down 1.0 bps to 3.51% and 30-year yields down 3.5 bps to 4.39%. The Canadian dollar is up 0.0067 to 0.8242 against the U.S. dollar (1.2135 USD/CAD) and down 0.01 to 80.09 against the yen. The U.S. dollar is down 0.76 to 97.21 against the yen and the Dollar Index is down 0.820 to 84.549. The euro is up 0.0128 to 1.3271 against the U.S. dollar, up 0.0029 to 1.6104 against the Canadian dollar, up 0.0081 to 0.9008 against the pound sterling and is higher by 0.25 to 129.00 against the yen. The pound sterling is up 0.0010 to 1.4732 against the U.S. dollar and down 0.0128 to 1.7876 against the Canadian dollar. WTI crude oil is up $1.38 to $51.00. The front month gold contract at the Chicago Board of Trade is up $0.80 to $907.30 per ounce. All data taken at 9:49 a.m. EDT. By Adam Button,
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, edited by Stephen Huebl,
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