US Stocks Recover, Gold Pulls Back On Profit Taking
December 10th, 2009 by Katy Loi
Closing Data
| Current | Change | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dow Jones | 10337.05 | 51.08 | 0.5% |
| NASDAQ | 2183.73 | 10.74 | 0.5% |
| S P 500 | 1095.94 | 4 | 0.4% |
| FTSE 100 | 5203.89 | -19.24 | -0.4% |
| Nikkei 225 | 10004.72 | -135.75 | -1.3% |
| ASX 200 | 4,638 | -32.7 | -0.7% |
| COMEX Gold - Dec 09 | 1121 | -22.4 | -2.0% |
| COMEX Silver - Sep 09 | 17.18 | -0.627 | -3.5% |
| COMEX Copper - Sep 09 | 312.75 | -3.75 | -1.2% |
| WTI Spot | 73.48 | 0.46 | 0.6% |
| AUD-USD | 0.9088 | 0.0049 | 0.5% |
| Aluminium | 2134 | 31 | 1.5% |
| Copper | 6960.5 | 40 | 0.6% |
| Lead | 2256 | -41 | -1.8% |
| Nickel | 15810 | -165 | -1.0% |
| Tin | 14960 | 10 | 0.1% |
| Zinc | 2291.5 | -9.5 | -0.4% |
U.S. equities recovered as analyst upgrades of 3M Co. and Sprint Nextel Corp. helped offset concern credit defaults will spread through the global economy. Treasuries fell after central banks bought the fewest securities since June. The Standard & Poors 500 Index added 0.4 percent at 4 p.m. in New York, reversing a 0.6 percent decline. The MSCI World Index of shares in 23 developed markets lost 0.2 percent after Spains credit outlook was reduced to negative at S&P. Benchmark equity indexes for Spain, Greece and Austria plunged more than 2 percent. Treasuries declined, sending yields on 10- year notes up to 3.42 percent. Oil slipped to a two-month low.
Gold fell sharply as hedge funds sold to exit positions and capture profits before year-end, perhaps prodded by the US dollar showing some stability lately. It seems we are entering that time where you have end-of-year position squaring by hedge funds. With the view that the Fed rate will not rise till 2011 at the earliest, even if the USD rallies from time to time, owning resource stocks are seen to still be a good place for the year ahead with interest rates so low.
Australian stocks looks to open fairly flat this morning, despite the late rally in the US. The SPI futures are at a 2.9 point discount to the 4,637.9 close in the S&P/ASX 200 index on Wednesday. Resources stocks may pull back today due to the fall in gold and oil while banking shares may help hold up the market after gains in their U.S. counterparts. Our market is well supported above 4600 and struggles to break 4800; today we may see an initial test of 4625 as buyers take advantage of entering positions at discounted levels – resistance today may be found above the 4675 with the last trading session being a technical reversal bar. Data to watch out for today is consumer inflation expectation, employment change (consensus 5.2k, previous 24.5k) and unemployment rate (consensus 5.9%, previous 5.8%).
In company news, Santos (STO) said reported gas demand could triple in eastern Australia over the next 10 years. Vice president for eastern Australia, Mark Macfarlane, also said that gas would increasingly be used as a cleaner alternative to coal in power stations.
A joint venture between Transfield Services Ltd and Worley Parsons Ltd has won a $76 million contract with Shell Philippines Exploration.
Contact your Freeman Fox Stockbroker on 07 3031 9960 or 1800 003 369 Ext 7.
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