US Stocks Slip 70pts
April 8th, 2010 by Katy Loi
Closing Data
| Current | Change | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dow Jones | 10,897.52 | -72.47 | -0.7% |
| NASDAQ | 2,431.16 | -5.65 | -0.2% |
| S P 500 | 1,182.44 | -6.99 | -0.6% |
| FTSE 100 | 5,762.06 | -18.29 | -0.3% |
| Nikkei 225 | 11,292.83 | 10.51 | 0.1% |
| ASX 200 | 4,960.90 | 7.2 | 0.2% |
| COMEX Gold - Dec 09 | 1,153.00 | 17 | 1.5% |
| COMEX Silver - Sep 09 | 18.165 | 0.234 | 1.3% |
| COMEX Copper - Sep 09 | 359.7 | -2 | -0.6% |
| WTI Spot | 85.63 | -0.96 | -1.1% |
| AUD-USD | 0.9268 | -0.0015 | -0.2% |
| Aluminium | 2,327.50 | -2.5 | -0.1% |
| Copper | 7,950.50 | 69.5 | 0.9% |
| Lead | 2,228.00 | 45.5 | 2.1% |
| Nickel | 24,550.00 | -925 | -3.6% |
| Tin | 18,350.00 | -340 | -1.8% |
| Zinc | 2,387.50 | 17.5 | 0.7% |
US stocks finished lower as there was a bigger decrease in consumer credit than expected. This indicates that Americans are resisting an increase to debt levels without better improvement from the labor market. Oil slipped from its highest level since October 2008 on higher than expected growth in inventories. Equities extended declines after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke omitted a reference to holding interest rates lower for an extended period. The equity rally may start to fall away slightly as corporate earnings season starts next week.
Furthermore, there may be an interest rate hike in China which could lead to some short term profit taking in the market. A good sign for the Australian market is that the recent rate hike on Tuesday, being the fifth 25 point hike in seven months, is the most aggressive tightening over a 7 month period since October 94, suggesting strong growth in Australia. Gold finished at a 2.5-month high overnight on fresh speculative buying interest with building upside technical momentum. Ongoing investor demand for physical gold is also underpinning this latest rally, despite a firmer U.S. dollar. Gold has also benefited from economic and financial woes in the European Union, which have pressured the European currencies and prompted more buying interest in gold as a hedge against those weakening currencies. There are ongoing concerns regarding Greece's ability to service its debt. In Euro currency terms, gold prices have hit a record high this week.
Today, our market is looking to open down 22 points as indicated by the SPI futures. Support may be found at 4930, resistance at 4970. Trading range today may be fairly tight, depending on the unemployment figures, out today, with consensus to be unchanged at 5.3%. The market is just off resistance from the January high at around 4970 but is still trading above moving averages and has been since mid February, so the uptrend is still strong. Whilst volatility is fairly low across the board, there are good buying opportunities in the market particularly for stocks with exposure to gold and iron ore prices which are showing good premium.
Contact your Freeman Fox Stockbroker on 07 3031 9960 or 1800 003 369 Ext 7.
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