Twitter's share prices have nearly tripled since the company went public in November. On Thursday Twitter rose nearly 5 percent, its fifth consecutive day of gains. To date, the company's share price has risen 182 percent and gained a $39.9 billion market capitalization, overtaking both Target and Time Warner Cable. The recent run up came despite skepticism from most stock analysts as investors put their faith in the company's future.
In other news around the markets:
- General Motors and SAIC Motor Corp, its Chinese partner, are recalling over 1.46 million Buick and Chevrolet cars produced between 2006 and 2011 as they've been found to have defective fuel-pump brackets. The recall is expected to begin on December 30th.
- With Anti-government protests escalating to violent confrontations between police and protesters, the Thai government has called on the military to supervise the country's February elections. Military forces will protect both voters and candidates as the nation goes ahead with an election which the opposition has refused to support.
- While on vacation with his family, US President Barack Obama signed a bipartisan budget deal which will prevent another government shutdown for at least the next two years. The deal is expected to ease the “sequester” budget cuts while still trimming government spending. The President also approved the annual defense policy bill, allowing the Pentagon a $526.8 billion budget in 2014.
- On Friday, a car bomb exploded outside an upmarket hotel in central Beruit and killed Mohamad Chata, the nation's former finance minister among others. Preliminary reports show at least five people have been killed and 15 were critically injured. No groups have claimed responsibility for the attack yet.
Asian markets climbed higher, the Shanghai composite gained 1.36 percent and the Shenzhen composite was up 1.69 percent. The Hang Seng index gained 0.27 percent and the South Korean KOSPI was up 0.15 percent.
European Markets
European markets were up across the board, the UK's FTSE was up 0.54 percent and the eurozone's STOXX 600 gained 0.57 percent. The German DAX was up 0.66 percent and France's CAC 40 was up 0.72 percent.
Energy futures were mixed, Brent futures were down 0.16 percent and WTI futures rose 0.08 percent. Gold lost 0.10 percent and silver gained 1.85 percent. Industrial metals were also mixed with copper down 0.43 percent and zinc up 0.88 percent.
The euro was strong against the dollar, up 0.83 percent and the pound gained 0.53 percent against the greenback. The dollar was flat against the yen and lost 0.27 percent against the Australian dollar.
Stocks moving in the Premarket included:
- Carnival Corp CCL gained 1.34 percent in premarket trade after rising 3.92 percent over the past week
- The Coca-Cola Co KO was up 0.32 percent in premarket trade after gaining 0.75 percent on Thursday
- Health Care REIT HCN lost 2.13 percent in premarket trade after rising 0.89 percent over the past five days
- Bank of America Corp BAC fell 0.32 percent in premarket trade after losing 0.32 percent on Thursday
No notable earnings releases expected on Friday.
Economics
Friday will be a quiet day for economic data with releases including the Spanish current account, French PPI, and Brazil's debt to GDP ratio.
For a recap of Thursday's market action, click here.
<p>Tune into Benzinga’s pre-market info show with Dennis Dick and Joel Elconin <a> http://optionshouse.benzinga.com/pre-market-show/ />here</a>.</p>
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