The equity markets improved slightly as low volume due to a holiday shortened week. The S&P 500 Index increased less than a point, while the volatility in the Euro continued. The gasoline market continued to press higher after retracing since mid March. The S&P 500 made a new 52 week high close at 1173.
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Archive for March, 2010
Daily Market Review 03/29/10
The US equity markets continued to grind higher as fears related to Greek debt started to subside. Petroleum product, which includes gasoline and crude oil, rallied substantially today, as crude increased to $82.08 up more than $2 dollars per barrel or 2.5%. The Euro barely changed, and the pound increased on better than expect consumer-lending numbers.
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Daily Market Review 03/26/10
The melt up of the equity markets was put to the test over the past two trading session as indecision in Europe and divergent comments led investors into the dollar and created volatility for the Euro currency. The strength in the dollar and an overhang of inventory also pushed crude oil down on the day and created a close below $80 dollars a barrel. The S&P 500 Index closed up 1 point to 1166.
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Daily Market Review 03/25/10
Around 2 pm EST Comments from Jean-Claude Trichet, head of the ECB made the market swoon. The US equity market where riding high with the S&P 500 Index above 1180 making another 52 week high prior to the comments and the Euro was up on the day vs. the dollar. Over the course of the next 2 hours, the equity markets declined, with the S&P 500 Index closing down 2 points to 1165, and the Euro down against the dollar by 30 pips.
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Trading Opportunities 03/25/10
- Monday – March 29th, 2010 – EMU Consumer Confidence (900 GMT)
Confidence measures consumer sentiment in the Euro-zone nations. The figure is the result of Euro-zone consumer surveys personal finance, the job market, the likelihood of saving and expectations on the economy. High levels of consumer confidence bode well for the economy, indicating consumers are more likely to increase consumption spurring growth and potentially sparking inflation. Conversely
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Binary Options News 03/24/10
The Euro was on the defensive all day today after Fitch Ratings lowered Portugal’s sovereign credit rating one notch to AA- and warned of further cuts unless the government changes is fiscal course. The equity markets were pressured by the strength in the dollar, and commodities followed suit. The EUR/USD broke through technical support near 1.3450, and is set to test lower support near 1.29.
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Daily Market Review 03/23/10
Although today’s US economic data did not present an uplifting picture, riskier assets which in included the equity markets, and commodities continued to rally today. The dollar continues to climb against most major currencies, and the correlation between the equity markets and the movement in riskier currencies has seemed to have broken down. The S&P 500 Index closed up 8 points to 1174 making a new 52 week high.
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Daily Market Review 03/22/10
The equity markets in the US where under pressure for a solid 2 minutes this morning, and then responded with upward momentum in the form of short covering. Coming into the weekend, many market participants were convinced that passage of a health care bill in the US, would lead to profit taking and pressure on riskier assets. This situation did not come to fruition. The S&P 500 Index rallied to a new 52 week high closing up 6 points to 1166. The dollar index sold off, and crude and gasoline edged higher.
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Daily Market Review 03/19/10
The triple witching day created some minor volatility in the markets today as the S&P 500 closed lower at 1159 down 6 points. It was the first real down day in the past 12. The dollar and the commodity markets were the impetus for the down day as, the dollar rallied and crude oil and gold sold off. There were a couple of factors that put the markets on the defensive today, and one of them was the change in rates by the IRB.
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Daily Market Review 03/18/10
Although the dollar strengthened today against the European currencies, the equity markets and commodity markets continued to move forward. The Dow Industrial Average closed up for the 8th straight day making a new 52 week high closing at 10,779.
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Trading Opportunities 03/18/10
- Monday March 22nd , 2010 – BOJ Monetary Meeting (2350 GMT)
The Bank of Japan publishes a study of economic movements in Japan after the actual meeting. These meetings are held to review economic developments inside and outside of Japan and indicate a sign of new fiscal policy. Any changes in this report tend to affect the JPY volatility. Given that the BOJ determined the need for further stimulus to handle the deflationary issues affecting Japan, it will be interested to see what measures they have in store. This was a point of contention since the MOF, was the governmental body that leaned on the BOJ for further action.
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Daily Market Review 03/17/10
The S&P 500 Index hit another 52 week high as the current market melt up continued to push riskier assets higher. Crude Oil gain some ground increasing $1.12 to $82.82, moving $1 away from a 52 week high, despite negative fundamental news from the Department of Energy. The Dow Industrials, the last of the major indexes to make a 52 week high, finally did today.
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Daily Market Review 03/16/10
Riskier assets continued to move higher after the US Federal Reserve decided to keep interest rates unchanged, and also stated that rates would remain low for an extended period of time. The S&P 500 Index moved higher by 9.2 points touching a new 52 week high at 1159.5.
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Daily Market Review 03/15/10
The equity markets consolidated again today, as the dollar reverse its recent course causing commodities to have a broad based selloff. Crude Oil fell more than a dollar per barrel to close $80 at $79.91. The Euro sold off more than a big figure as did the pound. The dollar index reclaimed the 80 level, but technically it looks very heavy. The S&P 500 closed up .5 points to 1150.49.
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Weekly Market Review 03/12/10
Riskier assets boasted a robust week as equities and petroleum surged forward and the dollar retraced. The Euro, the Aussie dollar, the loon and the pound all had solid returns and oil rallied $1.5 a barrel. The S&P 500 Index made a 2010 high, notching 10 straight higher closes and the Nasdaq is closing in on the highs made prior to the 2008 collapse.
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Daily Market Review 03/12/10
After a powerful week in the equity markets, the S&P 500 Index took a breather and closed basically unchanged after 10 straight up closes. The Euro had a solid rally today against the dollar, along with the Canadian dollar and the pound.
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Trading Opportunities 03/11/10
- Monday – March 15th 2010, European Monetary Union Employment Change (10 GMT)
The Employment Change released by the Eurostat is a measure of the change in the number of employed people in the Euro-Zone. Generally speaking, a rise in this indicator has positive implications for consumer spending which stimulates economic growth. Last month’s Employment Change was a -.5%, which is the current expectations for analyst going into next week. The output numbers this week where mixed where France did better than expected and Germany did worse, which make this number important to the EU.
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Daily Market Review 03/11/10
The combination of money on the sidelines and strong technical factors pushed riskier assets up again, which created a new closing 2010 high for the S&P 500 Index. The US equity indexes are up 8 of the last 10 days. The Euro rallied by a third of a big figure and oil prices inched up slightly.
Some news that helped the markets was a quarterly Federal Reserve report that said U.S. households’ total net worth climbed 1.3% in the fourth quarter, to $54.18 trillion from the third quarter’s $53.49 trillion. For 2009 as a whole, net worth rose 5.4%. Household net worth is assets, such as home equity, minus liabilities, such as mortgage debt.
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Daily Market Review 03/10/10
The markets continued to grind higher, with the S&P 500 Index creeping out a slight gain climbing 5 points to 1145. Again the Nasdaq market was the big winner on the day, moving up 18 points or .8%. Oil climbed slightly and the Euro gained half a big figure.
Traders were happy to see better than expected US inventory news. U.S. wholesalers’ inventories unexpectedly fell 0.2% in January, according to the Commerce Department, as surging demand pulled goods off shelves in the first month of the year. Wall Street analysts had expected inventories to rise by 0.2% in January. The unexpected decline followed a downward revision in December’s inventory level showing December inventories contracted by 1.0%, rather than the 0.8% drop originally reported. Sales by U.S. wholesalers in the first month of 2010 were up 1.3% to a seasonally adjusted $346.7 billion, the latest data showed. It was the tenth straight monthly increase in sales, according to the Commerce Department.
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Daily Market Review 03/09/10
The equity, currency and oil markets continued to consolidate today on overall low volume. The S&P 500 Index move up 2 points to 1140, while the Euro slipped 30 pips against the dollar. The Nasdaq market was the best performer moving up 9 points or .4%.
Cisco Systems Inc. unveiled a heavy-duty router for managing Internet traffic, as it seeks to regain market share it has lost in the arms race to manage telecommunications networks. Cisco said Tuesday its new CRS-3 router has 12 times the capacity of rival equipment. For example, executives said the device can handle simultaneous video calls for every person in China. AT&T Inc., a key Cisco customer, said Tuesday it completed a trial with the router, which allowed its long-distance Internet backbone to carry data traffic at 100 gigabits per second, or roughly 10,000 times faster than the average household cable or DSL connection. Cisco had another powerful rally moving up almost 4% in the past week.
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Daily Market Review 03/08/10
The markets consolidated after the large run up on Friday, on low volume and very little volatility. The range for the day on the S&P 500 Index was 4 points and the market settled down .20 points to 1138.50. Today is what most analyst consider the 1 year anniversary of the bull run in equities as the market seem to bottom 1 year ago today. Implied volatility which is a measure of how much traders believe the markets will move over the course of a year also hit a 52 week low today.
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Weekly Market Review 03/05/10
The equity markets had a powerhouse finish to the week, capping off a robust trading week for the S&P 500 Index. The benchmark index finished the week up 34 points or 3%. The UK FTSE Index hit a new 52 week high and is sitting on resistance at the 200 week moving average. Oil and Gasoline, had solid gains and could be the impetus for a break of the top of the recent trading range. The Euro and the Pound where unchanged for the week as investors are still fearful of European debt issues.
The week started off with strong data out of the United Kingdom. The PMI survey released Monday showed the purchasing managers index for the U.K.’s manufacturing sector was unchanged at a 15-year high of 56.6 in February. A second straight reading at this lofty level help list the FTSE and the US indices.
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Trading Opportunities 03/04/10
- Monday March 8th, 2010 – Sentix Investor Confidence (930 GMT)
The Sentix Investor Confidence release by the Sentix GmbH shows a study of investor confidence towards the Euro-zone economy. An increasing number of investments is seen as positive prospect of the Euro-Zone economy (or bullish sentiment for the EUR), while a decreasing number is seen as negative (or bearish). Last month’s confidence number was -8.8, and the market expects a slightly negative number again for March. With the Greek debt situation still on the minds of investors, a weaker than expected number will hurt the currency, as well as, the bond and equity markets.
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Daily Market Review 03/05/10
The week was capped off with a solid gain in the equity markets with the US charging ahead after a better than expected employment number. The S&P 500 surged 15 points closing the week up 33 points or 3%. The Nasdaq composite rallied 32 points and created a new 52 week high. The FTSE also made a 52 week high on Friday, and the Russell 200 Index also joined the party.
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Daily Market Review 03/04/10
The US equity markets continue to move higher as the S&P 500 recorded another solid gain finishing the day up 4 points to 1123. Market participants were not willing to buck the trend prior to the US employment report that will be released tomorrow at 1330 GMT. Expectations are for a decrease of 40 thousand jobs, but given the poor weather during February on the East Coast of the US, the market would not be surprised to see a larger number.
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Daily Market Review 03/03/10
The equity markets continued to grind higher while oil and gasoline rallied and the Euro and Pound rebounded from very depressed levels. The S&P 500 index finished up .5 points to 1119. The trading day provided a plethora of economic releases from around the globe. The Russell 2000 Index of small caps stocks made a 52 week high.
Daily Market Review 03/02/10
The equity markets continued to grind higher, moving into the black for 2010, while oil rebounded and the Euro edged higher against the dollar. For the session, the S&P 500 Index climb 2.6 points to 1118.
The RBA pursued its rate normalization process and hiked interest rates by another 25bp overnight (to 4%, bringing the cumulative tightening of monetary policy to 100basis points). The RBA is probably not done yet on the rate hike front, but the central bank will remain cautious in its policy actions and there was nothing in the statement suggesting that another rate rise is likely in April, with Governor Stevens just reiterating that rates should move closer to ‘average’.
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Daily Market Review 03/01/10
Despite continued worries about European debt issues, the US equity market performed well. The S&P 500 Index reached a critical technical level of 1115. This was not the case for other risky assets, as Crude Oil finished the trading session down $1 per barrel and both the Euro and the Pound were down on the day. The pound has come under heavy pressure today falling below $1.48 and the move could prompt talk of a UK crisis.
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