Commodities Bull Market Rages On
With the markets closed
tomorrow for the Easter holiday, Thursday saw the release of a slew
of economic data. The Labor Department reported Import Prices fell in March,
with the number surprising economists
(report)
and that Initial Jobless Claims rose last week, the rise was not expected by
economists (report).
The Commerce Department reported Retail Sales rose in March, with the rise being
more than economists had expected (report).
Proving economics is not called the dismal science for nothing.
In a holiday shortened session, Treasury prices
closed lower after today’s data, pushing the yield on the 10yr T-note
comfortably above 5% for the first time since June 2002.
The US Dollar Index closed slightly higher, boosted by the Dollar’s gains
against the Australian and Canadian Dollar. For more on the Australian Dollar
read
Dave Floyd’s article from earlier today.
Gold futures closed just above $600, near contract
highs set earlier this week. Silver closed at a new contract high and Copper
continued to climb, closing at yet another new all-time high.
Crude Oil Futures Close At New
Contract High
June Crude Oil futures reversed
early losses to close higher. June Crude Oil ended the week at $70.82, a new
contract high. Natural Gas futures rose more than 4% despite today’s inventory
data.
The softs were mixed, Lumber, Orange Juice and Coffee rose, Sugar, Cocoa and
Cotton fell.
Pork Bellies was the only real mover among the meats, losing 3.72%.
The grains were also mixed, with none of the major contracts closing +/- 1% or
more.
Economic News
Import Prices Down 0.4%
For March (report)
Jobless Claims Up 12,000 To 313,000 (report)
Retail Sales Up 0.6% For March; Ex.-Auto Up 0.4% (report)
University Of Michigan Preliminary April Consumer Sentiment Index At 89.2
Business Inventories Unchanged In Feb.
EIA – Natual Gas Inventories Show Increase Of 19 BCF
For more reports and analysis go to our
Economic
News section.
Ashton Dorkins
Looking for ways to
improve your trading? Checkout TradingMarkets free
Upcoming Training Classes.