Five Out Of Six For S&P Futures

The Standard & Poor’s 500
futures rose
, heading toward its fifth week of gains in six. After starting off
weaker in early trade and chopping around most of the session, S&P futures got a
boost from Citigroup
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, which sparked an afternoon rally amid
speculation that regulators and securities firms are nearing a settlement on
conflict-of-interest charges.

The S&P 500 futures Dec. contract
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rose 6.29 to 908.79. On
the daily chart, the SPZ2 closed above its resistance of 906/907, which is the
70.7% retracement line. This will serve as short-term support while the 915
area will be the new resistance point with 922 being secondary resistance.

Even though the S&P 500 Index
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has rallied 16% since its
five-year low on Oct. 9, it’s still down 21% this year and is set to record its
third year of losses.


The Dec. Nasdaq 100 futures
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also rallied at the
end of the day, shaking off bad news about the downgrade from Merrill Lynch on
Intel
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. The NDZ2 closed at 1065, up 13.50 or 1.28%.

In the Treasuries, the Dec. 10-year note

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lost -0 ‘02.5 to end the week at 113 ‘28.0 and the Dec. 30 year bond
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rose 0 ’01 to 111 ’08.

Crude oil for December delivery
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rose by .18 to $25.46 a barrel;
Dec. heating oil

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added 1.11 cent or 1.64% to 68.79 cents a
gallon; Dec. unleaded
gasoline

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closed lower by .16 of a cent to 69.59 a gallon and Dec.
natural gas

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rose .11 or 2.10%, to 3.98.

At the Chicago Board Of Trade (CBOT)
Dec. wheat futures
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dropped 1.25 cent to $3.89 a bushel. Jan. soybeans
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dropped 3.25 cents to $5.63 1/2 a bushel;

Dec. corn

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dropped .02 cents to $2.41 1/2 a bushel and Dec. soy meal

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dropped 1.19 to 164.40.

In the metals, Dec. gold

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was strong today, rallying up $2.79 to $320.89 a troy ounce. Dec. silver
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added 1.80 cent to end at $4.58 an ounce and Dec. copper
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gapped above the .72 resistance level and then closed at 71.79 a
pound, up .60.