Wall Street Finishes On A Positive Note, Dow Up 9pts
March 29th, 2010 by Cale McCulloch
Closing Data
| Current | Change | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dow Jones | 10,850.36 | 9.15 | 0.1% |
| NASDAQ | 2,395.13 | -2.28 | -0.1% |
| S P 500 | 1,166.59 | 0.86 | 0.1% |
| FTSE 100 | 5,703.02 | -24.63 | -0.4% |
| Nikkei 225 | 10,996.37 | 167.52 | 1.5% |
| ASX 200 | 4,910.20 | 13.3 | 0.3% |
| COMEX Gold - Dec 09 | 1,100.90 | 8 | 0.7% |
| COMEX Silver - Sep 09 | 16.89 | 0.149 | 0.9% |
| COMEX Copper - Sep 09 | 340.25 | 2.2 | 0.7% |
| WTI Spot | 80.06 | -0.06 | -0.1% |
| AUD-USD | 0.9041 | -0.0035 | -0.4% |
| Aluminium | 2,200.00 | 24 | 1.1% |
| Copper | 7,490.50 | 143.5 | 2.0% |
| Lead | 2,090.00 | 64.5 | 3.2% |
| Nickel | 23,650.00 | 975 | 4.3% |
| Tin | 17,630.00 | 130 | 0.7% |
| Zinc | 2,240.00 | 25 | 1.1% |
Wall St managed to finish the week on a positive note, even if it was by just 9 points on the Dow. The NASDAQ was slightly weaker. We saw a lot of information coming through for investors to work through, with the European Union coming through with an agreement for a 22 Billion Euro package to be set aside in order to assist any of the cash strapped Euro nations should they fall into debt problems.
The IMF will contribute to the stash of cash, but Germany will be providing a large portion of the funds if they are needed, along with France. This news hit the market as the USD was sold off, along with news that a South Korean ship was sunk (although it turned out not to be a North Korean attack) shook the markets loose of some 65 points of gains accrued earlier in the session to close back virtually where they opened.
The Unrest in global markets Friday night brought about some safe haven buying, taking the price of Gold higher by some USD 8 an Ounce, while Oil closed lower by just 6c a barrel. Base metals were stronger as investors bought on the back of the week US dollar, with Zinc the only one to buck the trend, closing down 0.7%. The strength in the Metals should provide some support to the domestic market this morning, with BHP closing in NY at the AUD equivalent of 43.47 a share compared to AUD 43.28 domestically on Friday.
In Economic data this week, look for the retail trade numbers for the month of Feb, Building approvals, private sector credit and lending data, along with Home prices all due out on Wednesday. Thursday we have manufacturing data along with Job vacancies. Markets are closed on Friday for Easter. Although there is a swag of data out Wednesday and Thursday, it should be a fairly light week in terms of volume on the ASX, the main reason being that fund managers will have finished squaring up their end of quarter positions for the most part on Friday, due to T+3 settlement.
With fund buying in the lead up to the end of quarter coming to an end, this week should be an indicator of market direction for April. Although a dramatic decline is not expected we can expect some consolidation in the weeks to come.
Contact your Freeman Fox Stockbroker on 07 3031 9960 or 1800 003 369 Ext 7.
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