Dow Jones Down 122 pts
May 31st, 2010 by Cale McCulloch
Closing Data
| Current | Change | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dow Jones | 10,136.63 | -122.36 | -1.2% |
| NASDAQ | 2,257.04 | -20.64 | -0.9% |
| S P 500 | 1,089.41 | -13.65 | -1.2% |
| FTSE 100 | 5,188.43 | -6.74 | -0.1% |
| Nikkei 225 | 9,762.98 | 123.26 | 1.3% |
| ASX 200 | 4,457.50 | 78.3 | 1.8% |
| COMEX Gold - Dec 09 | 1,212.20 | 0.3 | 0.0% |
| COMEX Silver - Sep 09 | 18.422 | -0.046 | -0.2% |
| COMEX Copper - Sep 09 | 310.45 | -5.4 | -1.7% |
| WTI Spot | 73.97 | -0.58 | -0.8% |
| AUD-USD | 0.8472 | -0.0043 | -0.5% |
| Aluminium | 2,037.00 | 33.5 | 1.7% |
| Copper | 6,926.00 | 50.5 | 0.7% |
| Lead | 1,821.00 | 44 | 2.5% |
| Nickel | 21,555.00 | -45 | -0.2% |
| Tin | 18,105.00 | 380 | 2.1% |
| Zinc | 1,895.50 | 20 | 1.1% |
US markets fell on Friday ahead of the three day weekend, with the Dow ending the session lower by some 122 points. The tech heavy NASDAQ fell about 0.9%, and the broader S&P500 finished the session lower by 1.24%. The sell off Friday took the Dows monthly fall to a whopping 871 points, or close to 8%, taking the market to a year to date loss of 2.8%.
Financial and energy sectors led the market lower on the back of concerns about tax changes for investment funds, and a drop in energy prices respectively. Data released early in the session showed that consumer spending was flat for the month despite low prices. What shook the market the most was a rating downgrade for Spain from Fitch Ratings. Fitch dropped the countries rating from AAA to AA+, bringing back the ongoing concerns about the sovereign debt issues in the Euro zone that investors and traders alike had been trying to put out of their minds.
Base metals were broadly weaker, seeing falls of as much as 2% for the session. Lead was the only exception and managed to just scrape in to the green. Crude Oil settled the week lower by about 0.8%, but strong at the end of week after trading below USD 70 per barrel earlier in the week. Precious metals were flat for the session, with Gold closing at USD 1214 a Troy Ounce, well supported throughout the week by the ongoing turbulence.
It is the weakness in base metals that will drag the local market down today, with BHP trading in NY finishing the week off at an AUD equivalent of 38.26 per share, compared with some 38.97 a share locally on Friday. Look for some selling in this sector this morning.
All eyes will be on the RBA tomorrow, with rates likely on hold for the next couple of months, as the first round of hikes begin to take their toll on the Australian consumers. The SPI futures have us opening lower by 42 points this morning.
Contact your Freeman Fox Stockbroker on 07 3031 9960 or 1800 003 369 Ext 7.
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