US Markets End Mixed, Dow Jones Up 12 pts
March 15th, 2010 by Cale McCulloch
Closing Data
| Current | Change | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dow Jones | 10,624.69 | 12.85 | 0.1% |
| NASDAQ | 2,367.66 | -0.8 | -0.0% |
| S P 500 | 1,149.99 | -0.25 | -0.0% |
| FTSE 100 | 5,625.65 | 8.39 | 0.1% |
| Nikkei 225 | 10,751.26 | 86.31 | 0.8% |
| ASX 200 | 4,818.00 | 3.9 | 0.1% |
| COMEX Gold - Dec 09 | 1,107.00 | -1.2 | -0.1% |
| COMEX Silver - Sep 09 | 17.035 | -0.125 | -0.7% |
| COMEX Copper - Sep 09 | 336.8 | -0.9 | -0.3% |
| WTI Spot | 81.44 | -1.02 | -1.2% |
| AUD-USD | 0.915 | -0.0001 | -0.0% |
| Aluminium | 2,216.00 | 21 | 1.0% |
| Copper | 7,470.00 | 85.5 | 1.2% |
| Lead | 2,251.00 | 10 | 0.4% |
| Nickel | 21,800.00 | 475 | 2.2% |
| Tin | 17,550.00 | 120 | 0.7% |
| Zinc | 2,330.00 | 23 | 1.0% |
The US markets ended the week on a mixed note, with the Dow up by 12 points, and the tech heavy NASDAQ off by 1 point. The market struggled with economic data, as retail sales came in stronger than expected up by 0.3% for the month of Feb, while revising lower the previous two months. Market commentators speculated that the unexpected rise in Feb was on the back of consumers overspending to stock up and rebuild after blizzards etc, and will now hibernate throughout the next couple of months, leading to a lower level of consumer spending in upcoming periods. We also saw consumer sentiment come in lower than expected on Friday night.
Locally we will not have a lot to drive the market today, with Base metals mixed, while Gold fell just USD 1.20 a Troy Ounce, and Oild gave back some of the recent gains to close lower by USD 1.02 per barrel at $81.44.
Markets will be driven by the flood of economic data due out in the US this week, beginning with industrial production and housing starts tonight, followed by the Fed meeting Tuesday which should to see the rates unchanged. Investors will look for any change in the language used, while later in the week we will also have data on both consumer and producer prices released.
As we move towards the end of the quarter, all eyes will be on the strength of the market rally which looks to have paused throughout last week, as the Junk companies including AIG which have led the recent rally started to roll over. The question is whether the fund managers will chase the market higher towards the end of quarter, or look to lock in profits. The next couple of days will set the tone for the remainder of the month after a number of sessions late last week of trading that saw tighter and tighter ranges. Since late last year we have seen continued strength in the markets on Monday night as money came in from the Mutual funds, but this trend looks to have been broken last week when the markets failed to climb towards the close, so failure to rally tonight would suggest the trend is likley to be down for the next week at least, while any strength should carry through to the end of quarter.
The market looks set to open flat this morning with the SPI futures closing just 1 point higher, any movement will be driven by trading in US futures throughout the session.
Contact your Freeman Fox Stockbroker on 07 3031 9960 or 1800 003 369 Ext 7.
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