(NYSE: HOT) leaped $2.90 or 16.20% to $20.80 after the lodging company said in a regulatory filing that it has entered into a confidentiality agreement with real estate mogul Sam Zell's investment company, Equity Group Investments LLC.
Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA) and Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) Cable Inc. finally reached an agreement, settling a dispute over carriage fees and avoiding a blackout of 19 cable channels by Viacom. Shares of both the company climbed over 5% on Friday.
Semiconductor Industry Association said on Friday that sales of semiconductors plunged 9.8% to $20.8 billion globally in November.
Meanwhile, the Russian gas monopoly Gazprom cut off natural-gas supplies to Ukraine after the two countries failed to reach a consensus on the cost of the gas and on transit fees.
Investors shrugged off gloomy economic data.
The Institute of Supply Management's manufacturing index shrank for the fifth straight month to 32.4% in December, a level last seen in 1980. Economists on average had forecast a reading of 36.3%. Earlier in November, ISM index stood at 36.2. A reading below 50 indicates contraction in manufacturing activity.
Manufacturing activity in the euro zone contracted to a record low in December. The Markit Eurozone Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for the manufacturing sector tumbled to 33.9 in December, lowest since record began in 1997.
In China, CLSA's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) suggested that manufacturing sector shrank for the fifth month in a row. The index climbed to 41.2 from 40.9 in November, a record low.
Australia's manufacturing index on Friday registered a seventh month of contraction. Australian Industry Group and PricewaterhouseCoopers said in a report that the performance of manufacturing index rose 1 point to 33.7 from November, when it hit the lowest level since the records began in 1992. In India, manufacturing activity slowed for the second successive month in December to its lowest in more than 3-½ years. The ABN AMRO Bank purchasing managers' index (PMI) , based on a survey of 500 companies, fell to a seasonally adjusted 44.4 in December from 45.8 in December.
European stocks advanced. The U.K. FTSE rose 127.62 points or 2.88% to 4,561.79. The DAX index of Germany and French CAC surged 3.39% and 2.06% respectively.
Asian stocks settled with strong gains. The Nikkei 225 advanced 112.39 points or 1.28% to close at 8,859.56.Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 655.33 points or 4.55% to 15042.81.
NYMEX crude oil for February delivery soared $1.53, or 3.5%, to settle at $46.13 a barrel on continued violence in Gaza. The U.S. Energy Department plans to purchase 12 million barrels of oil to replenish the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Disclosure: Author does not own any of the stocks discussed here.
