Greenspan Speaks Tomorrow…Here’s What Treasuries Have To Say About It
Yesterday’s Supreme Court
ruling, Mad Cow Disease and an elevated terror threat level threw a
wrench into today’s markets.
Equities
Equities fell for a second day as yesterday’s
Supreme Court ruling continued to weigh on the market. Restaurant shares slumped
midday after Canadian officials reported a case of mad cow disease in Alberta,
the country’s largest beef-producing region. And the government elevated the
terror threat level, putting more weight on equities. For the day, the Nasdaq
future contract
(
NDM3 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was up 4.50 to close at 1118.50. The S&P 500 contract
(
SPM3 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was
down by 3.20 to finish at 919.30,
and the Dow
(
DJM3 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was down by 7.00 to finish at 8483.
Fixed Income
Treasuries rallied today ahead of Mr. Greenspan’s
testimony before Congress tomorrow, as the market is expecting a less than
upbeat assessment of the economy by the Chairman of The Federal Reserve. Demand
for government debt rose further after US officials raised the terror threat
level to the second highest indicator. The 10-year futures contract
(
TYM3 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was
up 175 to close at 118-235; the 30-year
(
USM3 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
was up a 1-13 at 120-14; and the five-year note was up 120 at 116-04
(
FVM3 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating).
Metals
Gold was higher in response to a weaker dollar
and an elevated terror alert in the US. The July contract was up 2.10 to close
at 366.50
(
GCM3 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), and
silver
(
SIK3 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was down by 4.80 to close at 4.772. Base metals were
steady today. Copper was unchanged at 76.55
(
HGN03 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), and aluminum
(
ALM03 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was
up .0015 to close at .6565.
Energy
The petroleum market ended mostly higher as
concerns about stability in the Persian Gulf continues. June crude was up .45 to
close at 29.28
(
CL03M |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating). Natural gas prices were up .041 to
close at 6.056
(
NG03M |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating).
Currencies
The greenback was again lower for the day after
legendary currency trader George Soros announced that he was short US dollars
across the board. The USD index
(
DX03M |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was down by .50 and
finished at 93.40.