All eyes focus on US economy

As a conclusion to the war in Iraq becomes increasingly likely, investors have returned their concentration to the actual state of the US economy.

While war and talk of war dominated the headlines for months, the focus is now swiftly shifting to corporate earnings and economic data. The markets closed the week on a slightly negative note.

By the end of Thursday’s session, the tech-laden Nasdaq had been worst hit, shedding 1.29% since last week to close at 1365.61. Around the same time, DJIA had shed 0.67% and closed at 8221.33.

The FTSE 100 stood at 3826.30, early on during Friday’s session, up by less than 1% since last week.

The start of the new quarter meant that earnings results began to filter in. Internet company, Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO) put a smile on investor faces following news that it had a profitable quarter.

The company saw Q1 revenues rise by 47%. On the down side, media company, Fox Entertainment (NYSE: FOX) saw its shares take a hit following news that Rupert Murdoch of News. Corp, one of the companies it holds a stake in, was to buy a US satellite television service.

In London, investor sentiment mirrored that of the US, anxiety over the war subsided. There was also a spate of corporate news. Accounting software maker, Sage (SGE.L) announced that its half year results met analysts’ expectations. Retailer, Tesco also announced that its online service, tesco.com saw a 26 percent increase in sales and made a profit of STG12m.

Irish company, Riverdeep (RDG.I) saw its MBO deal finalized during the week. By Friday last week, more than 95% of shareholders had backed the EUR1.40 per share deal. The remainder of the shares will be compulsorily acquired. Riverdeep now expects to cancel its ISEQ listing on May 7.

IONA (Nasdaq: IONA) said that it anticipated a larger loss than expected and cut its revenue forecast. It now expects to report total revenues in the range of USD16.5 million to USD17.0 million.

The company also saw a spate of resignations during the week. Bob Potter, Executive Vice President of Business Operations resigned his post as did John Giblin, Senior Vice President of Engineering and Customer Services. The vacant positions will now be filled by current COO Steve Fisch and James Watson, previously vice president of professional services. This week, Iona shares rose by 6.92 percent to close at USD1.39 following the announcements.

ParthusCeva (Nasdaq: PCVA) announced that it had become a member of IBM’s Blue Logic IP Colloboration Programme a programme that promotes close working relationships with third party Intellectual Property (IP) vendors and their ASIC customers. ParthusCeva shares fell by 6.98% during the week to close at USD 3.26.