A silent night in December
December 16th, 2008 by Cale McCulloch
Closing Data
| current | change | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dow Jones | 8564.53 | -65.15 | -0.8% |
| NASDAQ | 1508.34 | -32.38 | -2.1% |
| S P 500 | 868.57 | -11.16 | -1.3% |
| FTSE 100 | 4277.56 | -2.79 | -0.1% |
| Nikkei 225 | 8664.66 | 428.79 | 5.2% |
| SPI Futures | 3566 | -38 | -1.1% |
| All Ords | 3,535.70 | 83.2 | 2.4% |
| Oil | 44.61 | -1.66 | -3.6% |
| Gold | 838.1 | 0.7 | 0.1% |
| Silver | 10.62 | -0.01 | -0.1% |
| Aluminium | 1466 | -59.5 | -3.9% |
| Copper | 2982 | -250.5 | -7.7% |
| Lead | 982 | -49 | -4.8% |
| Nickel | 10210 | -400 | -3.8% |
| Tin | 11505 | -745 | -6.1% |
| Zinc | 1042 | -42 | -3.9% |
A silent night in December
It was a quiet night in the States, as a lack of data and direction kept the Dow within a 200 point range, although large by 2007 stats, tight compared to the 600 point norm that has been established late in 2008. The Index pared losses late to close down just 69 points for the day on very light volume.
The only lead from an economic front came from weaker than expected manufacturing data, which of course renewed some fears about the worsening economy. This, combined with some down grades by brokers Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs on JPMorgan and Apple respectively, sparked an intitial fall on the overall index.
Talk of the U.S. Fed cutting interest rates a minimum 50 basis points, with some calling for 75, added to the downward pressure on the U.S. Dollar, and sent a small amount of cash into gold as a form of hedging.
OPEC is meeting on Thursday night to discuss production cuts, but this did not manage to maintain the strength seen in oil last week. Nymex Crude shed $1.47 (USD) or 3% in overnight trading, after being some $2 (USD) higher in the Asian session yesterday.
All in all it was a silent night on Wall Street, and looks like being a fairly quiet open on the Australian Market, which is set to open some 20 points lower this morning. Banks could follow their U.S. counterparts lower. Slight weakness in Base Metals over night could weigh on the mining sector, especially given their recent gains, making them an easy target for those wishing to take some profit in the lead up to Christmas.
Do I do that?
Our psychological conditioning hinders successful interaction with the stock market. The mind tends to use short cuts in all aspect of the collection, weighting, and interpretation of “facts”. By being wary of our instinctive behaviour, we are more likely to avoid common pitfalls.
Kerr Neilson
Contact your Freeman Fox Stockbroker on 07 3031 9960 or 1800 003 369 Ext 7.
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