Best Week In Seven Months
Today, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov
announced that Russia will take the cap off oil production as it feels that
oil has reached a stable price per barrel. Russia is the
second-largest oil producer behind the Saudis. Russia is not an OPEC member, but
when OPEC asked it to cut back on its production, it complied. Ceasing cutbacks
may allow Russia’s economy to benefit from the price of oil through increased production.
This
initially sent the July crude
oil
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territory at $27.15 a barrel, up .07.Â
Crude oil set the tempo for the rest of the
energies, helping July unleaded gasoline
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cents a gallon, a .74 cent move upward. July heating oil also was profitable,
adding .44 to 69.10 and natural gas was the spoiler today in the energies giving
up .01 to end at 3.68.
On this expiration day for May, the broader index
futures managed to push out some gains topping off a positive week. However, many
traders remain unconvinced that we are out of the woods. See Mark Boucher On the Big
Picture.
June S&P futures
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edged up 6.09 to 1105.20. The 1100.00 level is key support. The tech-heavy June
Nasdaq 100 futures
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winners circle adding 6.09 to close at 1326. And the Dow Jones Industrial
Average
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As we have witnessed in the past, a down U.S.
equity market will give way to rising foreign currencies. However the U.S.
markets had an up week. The Nasdaq alone had the best week it has seen in seven months. Today in the
currency market, several foreign currencies had been pulling back from their
highs and today had positive days to the upside.Â
The
June British pound
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the highs. The British pound rose .26 to 145.68. The June Swiss franc
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chart. Today the Canadian dollar rallied .33 or .51% to end at 64.64.
The Japanese yen for June
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today, rising 1.43 or 1.84% to end at 79.59. The June euro
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at .92 up .01. The June dollar
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July 2001 lows at 113.18 down 1.15 or 1.01%.
In the precious metals, June gold
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put on a positive session closing up .80 to $310.90 an ounce. July silver
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weaker, giving up 1.00 to close at 72.85 a pound.