Another Exciting Night
December 30th, 2008 by Cale McCulloch
Closing Data
| current | change | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dow Jones | 8483.93 | -31.62 | -0.4% |
| NASDAQ | 1510.32 | -19.92 | -1.3% |
| S P 500 | 869.42 | -3.38 | -0.4% |
| FTSE 100 | 4319.35 | 102.76 | 2.4% |
| Nikkei 225 | 8747.17 | 7.65 | 0.1% |
| SPI Futures | 3584 | -4 | -0.1% |
| All Ords | 3,554.20 | 39.2 | 1.1% |
| Oil | 39.89 | 2.31 | 6.1% |
| Gold | 875.3 | 4.1 | 0.5% |
| Silver | 10.81 | 0.28 | 2.7% |
| Aluminium | 1495.5 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Copper | 2770 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Lead | 900 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Nickel | 9500 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Tin | 10000 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Zinc | 1100 | 0 | 0.0% |
US stocks fell slightly overnight, ending down just under 32 points.
Dow Chemical led the falls, after Kuwait bailed on a deal that would have provided US$ 9 Billion in cash to fund the acquisition of Rohm and Haas. Ongoing financing issues for some of the biggest companies in the US are causing concern among investors.
Contributing to the downward pressure was the Retail sector, as those companies which rely heavily on discretionary spending fell. There is speculation that the after Christmas sales would not be able to provide enough of a cash injection to carry many through what has been a tough year for the retail sector. The Sales period is said to be the worst in some 40 years, and it is likely that the disappointing season will be the final straw for many in the discretionary sector, leading to bankruptcies and store closures in the New Year.
Providing some support to the index was the energy and precious metals sectors. Base metals were largely mixed keeping the bigger diversified miners relatively flat over night. Continued tensions on the Gaza strip, allowed the Oil price to climb further, trading up 6% at US$ 39.89 per barrel after earlier reaching $42.20 a barrel. The price of Oil is likely to continue its climb the longer that bombings continue, while any escalation on the part of Iran (backing Hamas) is likely to accelerate the price rise.
Meanwhile, the Gold price rose $12 an ounce, leading Gold stocks higher on the US market with Nemont mining closing up 4.7% and Barrick Gold rose just under 1%.
The SPI futures rose 16 points to close at 3604. This is a 16 point discount to yesterday’s close of 3620 – It looks like another uneventful day on the Australian market as the Holiday season continues!
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