Off Again, On Again
Energies bobbed higher and then sold off, initially
erasing a portion of Wednesday’s 5% loss in crude oil before plunging to a
two-day cumulative decline of 8%. The market opened higher in response to
thoughts that Saudi Arabia would not be forthcoming in increasing oil
output as indicated by Saudi Oil
Minister
Ali al-Naimi on Monday.
Early reports on Thursday indicated that the largest OPEC member would raise production only after
consulting other cartel members. But a report later in the day by Reuters that
the Saudis would increase output in coming days by about 500,000 barrels a day
threw August crude oil
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a .68 loss to 29.99. Unleaded gasoline
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energies, dropping 4.2%, or .0403, to .9202.
Economic reports Thursday morning were also mixed,
providing inconclusive data about the Fed’s next potential move on interest
rates. Factory orders for the month of June posted their largest
monthly gain in over seven years. The rise in factory orders shows that the manufacturing sector
remains healthy, growing and potentially inflationary despite a flurry of
data recently depicting an economic slowdown. Friday’s unemployment figures are
forecast to have dropped 4% in June from 4.1% in May. Lower levels of
joblessness could add to inflation by driving wages higher. In other economic
news, retail sales slowed as the Fed’s one-year campaign of interest rate rises,
as well as rising oil prices, worked to dampen consumer demand.
September T-bonds
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Sell setup. September T-bonds
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11/32 and
September10-year notes
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In stock index futures trading, the
September S&P futures
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falling initially and then rallying through and using as support the 1463-64
area before rallying the final two hours of trading. The Spoos closed 10.40
higher at 1473.70 and
NASDAQ 100 futures
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could not overcome a 3 7/16 decline in IBM
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component stock Intel
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lower, down 3.0 at 10,593.0.
Corn, wheat, soybeans and bean oil–futures
contracts filling out the TradingMarkets.com’s Implosion-5 List–sold
off with November soybeans
soybeans
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dragged wheat
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new contract low, also down 4 to 200.
Â
Pork bellies
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Exchange-approved warehouses. Lean hogs are also rallying on the news.
In softs and fibers, September sugar
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the Momentum-5
List, rallied back to a near-contract high while December cotton
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went the other way, making good on its standing on the Implosion-5 List
to end .47 lower at 56.32.