Buck Buckles On Resurgent Europe
Dollar index futures [DXZ9>DXZ9] took one of their biggest dives of the year following a barrage of reports from Europe showing a stronger-than-expected continental economy. From Germany, manufacturing orders rose an unexpected 3.2% in October while the European Union said Monday that unemployment slipped below 10% for the first time in seven years and the news helped send the December contract down 1.48 to 101.05.
The Euro [ECT9>ECT9] rebounded from its lowest level since inception eleven months ago on the buoyant European economic data, springing .02000 higher to close at 1.02290.
Both the Swiss franc [SFZ9>SFZ9] and British pound [BPZ9>BPZ9] gapped up and moved higher, closing up .0110 and .0182, respectively.
March T-bonds [USZH0>USH0] consolidated at a five-day high, adding 6/32 to 93 19/32.
Stock index futures closed mixed. December S&P futures [SPZ9>SPZ9] made good on their Turtle Soup Plus One Sell set up below 1433 (the old 20-day high), falling 13.00 to end at 1425.50. December Dow futures [DJZ9>DJZ9] also fell 92.0 to 11,233.0 while NASDAQ 100 futures [NDZ9>NDZ9] gained 30 to close at 3204.50.
Crude oil and its products (from the Pullback Off Highs List) posted solid gains, despite comments from Gulf analysts saying OPEC will increase production if crude remains above $25 a barrel in New York. January crude [CLF0>CLF0] rose .85 to 26.66, unleaded gas [HUF0>HUF0] gained .0229 to .7254 and heating oil [HOF0>HOF0] rose .0123 to .6723. January natural gas [NGF0>NGF0], from the Implosion-5 List, sank .107 to 2.224 on continued mild weather in the major consuming regions.
Also from the Implosion 5 List, February gold [GCG0>GCGO] fell 3.9 to 278.2 after the Netherlands said they would increase bullion sales over the next five years.
In the grains, March wheat [WH0>WH0] rose 5 to 247 3/4, corn [CH0>CH0] gained 3 to 204 1/2 and January soybeans [SF0>SF0] gained 4 to 476 1/2.
March coffee [KCH0>KCH0] slipped 9.50 from contract highs to 134.55.