US Markets Manage To Close In Positive Territory Following A Slide Of 167pts Earlier In The Session
February 8th, 2010 by Cale McCulloch
Closing Data
| Current | Change | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dow Jones | 10,012.23 | 10.05 | 0.1% |
| NASDAQ | 2,141.12 | 15.69 | 0.7% |
| S P 500 | 1,066.18 | 3.07 | 0.3% |
| FTSE 100 | 5,060.92 | -78.39 | -1.5% |
| Nikkei 225 | 10,057.09 | -298.89 | -2.9% |
| ASX 200 | 4,514.00 | -107.5 | -2.3% |
| COMEX Gold - Dec 09 | 1,054.00 | -9 | -0.8% |
| COMEX Silver - Sep 09 | 14.88 | -0.47 | -3.1% |
| COMEX Copper - Sep 09 | 285.75 | -2.15 | -0.7% |
| WTI Spot | 71.73 | -1.55 | -2.1% |
| AUD-USD | 0.8684 | 0.0041 | 0.5% |
| Aluminium | 1,949.00 | -103 | -5.0% |
| Copper | 6,242.00 | -329 | -5.0% |
| Lead | 1,925.00 | -80 | -4.0% |
| Nickel | 17,350.00 | -905 | -5.0% |
| Tin | 15,665.00 | -955 | -5.7% |
| Zinc | 1,981.00 | -101.5 | -4.9% |
US stock Markets managed to close in positive territory after slipping some 167 points early on in the session on concerns about the European economies. German Industrial production unexpectedly slumped by 2.6% versus the expected rise of 5%. This news reiterated concerns about further weakness in the EU. The US dollar hit an eight month high against the Euro which weighed heavily on the London Metals Exchange. At the close the London FTSE 100 was lower by 1.53%.
The weakness in the Euro zone spilled over onto the US markets as they opened, dropping sharply to trade as low as 9835 on the Dow and 1044 on the S&P 500 index. The Job numbers that were released were not as great as had been expected, but there were revisions to December numbers and January numbers. The November numbers had first shown 4000 people finding work, this was increased to 64,000 while in December the previous data showing a loss of 85,000 was increased to 150,000. We did see the unemployment rate easing which helped the market along.
Gold for April delivery slid USD 9 to 1054 per Troy ounce, while Oil fell USD 1.55 per barrel to close at $71.73 a barrel. Weighing on the price of Gold and Oil was the strength of the US dollar, while base metals were pushed lower, with all metals closing lower by between 1.45 and 4.5%.
Despite the weakness in the Metals, the mining stocks managed to claw higher through the session with BHP trading in NY closing at the AUD equivalent of 39.85 compared with 39.55 domestically. The big miners should provide support to the Australian market on the open.
It is a big week for Company reporting, with both BHP and RIO due to set the tone for reporting season on Wednesday and Thursday respectively, while another announcement to look out for is the Macquarie Bank operational briefing due out on Tuesday. Cochlear is set to report on Tuesday, and CBA will report alongside BHP on Wednesday.
In economic data we have the NAB Business survey for January due out on Tuesday, ABS housing finance for December due out on Wednesday, January labour force data due out Thursday, and RBA credit and credit card data due out Friday.
The SPI futures have us opening lower by some 11 points this morning, but the turnaround in US markets late on Friday night is likley to provide some buying support, along with some short covering after the steep falls seen late last week.
Contact your Freeman Fox Stockbroker on 07 3031 9960 or 1800 003 369 Ext 7.
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