T-bonds Buoyed By High Productivity
March T-bonds [USH0>USH0] closed at a nine-day high, rallying 15/32 to 94 2/32 on a Labor Department report that showed productivity rose at an upwardly revised rate of 4.9%, the fastest pace in seven years. The report also showed that labor costs actually declined in the third quarter, falling for the first time in more than two years.
Stock indexes finished mixed. December Dow futures [DJZ9>DJZ9] and
December S&P futures [SPZ9>SPZ9] slumped 63.0 and 8.00, respectively, but a rally in Internet and networking equities left NASDAQ 100 futures [NDZ9>NDZ9] closing at yet another all-time high.
December dollar index futures [DXZ9>DXZ9] followed up yesterday’s dramatic loss by slipping another .23 to end at 100.82. Reports showing Europe is on the rebound economically, as well as the specter of another Bank of Japan intervention in the Forex market, weighed on the dollar. Swiss francs [SFZ9>SFZ9] edged higher, the British pound [BPZ9>BPZ9] rose .0054 and the Japanese yen [JYZ9>JYZ9] managed to add .0064 to .9779.
Energies finished mixed. January crude [CLF0>CLF0] fell .44 to 26.22 ahead of the American Petroleum Institute’s report scheduled for release after Tuesday’s close. Unleaded gas [HUF0>HUF0] rose .0028 to .7282, heating oil [HOF0>HOF0]
slumped .0153 to .6570 and natural gas [NGF0>NGF0] rose .047 to 2.271.
February gold [GCG0>GCGO] surged 7.2 to 285.4, erasing the past two days losses. March silver [SIH0>SIH0] moved 3.8 higher (in sympathy) to 519.3 but copper [HGH0>HGH0] fell out of a consolidation range to close down 1.25 at 80.25.
The grains also finished mixed. March wheat [WH0>WH0] lost 2 to close at 245 3/4, corn [CH0>CH0] fell 1 1/4 to 203 1/4 and January soybeans [SF0>SF0] gained 3 3/4 to 480 1/4.
In the meats, pork contracts broke ranks, moving in opposite directions.
February lean hogs [LHG0>LHG0] dipped 1.025 lower to 56.275 while pork bellies [PBG0>PBG0] rallied 1.075 to end at 76.775.
March cocoa [CCH0>CCH0] saw the most action on a percentage basis in the softs, rising 26, or 3%, to 873.
Finally, March cotton [CTH0>CTH0] gained .73 to close at 50.47.