Here’s What Helped The Naz
Losses for International Business Machines
weighed on blue-chip stocks Monday, though other major indexes eked out gains as
the day wore on, infused by the energy and software sectors.
The June S&P 500 futures
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pivot of 1112.60. It seemed at this point it had nowhere to go but up, and that
it did. The SPM2 began to move higher and create a rally even though it was
negative for the good part of the day. The high of the day was just above the
pivot point (1127.00)Â at 1127.20. The June S&P’s closed at 1127.500 up
2.10.
The June Nasdaq 100
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help from the semis today. After getting off to a bad start opening at 1350.00
below the S2 pivot of 1356.33. The June Nasdaq 100 futures consolidated between
1350 and 1360 for a couple of hours then broke out and pulled back to the 1360
level. At about 12:30 PM EST the Nasdaq 100 took off and went slightly positive
putting in an intraday high at 1402.00 above its 1396.33 Pivot Point. The NDM2
closed at 1403.000 up 14.00 or 1.01%.
In late-afternoon trading, the June Dow Jones
Industrial Average futures
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but couldn’t quite get there closing at 10267.000 down 23.00.
Crude-oil futures climbed Monday after Iraq said it would suspend its oil
exports to force Israel to withdraw from Palestinian territories.
In midday trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, oil for May delivery was
up 62 cents at $26.83 a barrel. Earlier, the contract rose as high as $27.23
following Iraq’s announcement. Crude oil fro May
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$26.54 a barrel an increase of .33 cents or 1.26%.
May unleaded gasoline futures
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up 2.49 cents or 3.05%, while May heating oil
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cents to 69.30 cents a gallon.
The surprise move by Iraq was seen giving prices a short-term boost, but with
major oil producers expected to increase production to make up for the loss of
Iraqi oil, the longer-term effect is expected to be limited. Crude-oil futures
had retreated last week on a growing sense that concerns over potential
oil-supply disruptions stemming from the Middle East conflict may have been
overblown.
In other commodity markets:
June gold
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division of the New York Mercantile Exchange traded 30 cents higher at $301.30 a
troy ounce. Technical analysts said the metal was due for a dip, but that the
Mideast crisis and its implications for oil prices countered the downward
pressure. May silver
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copper
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Rainy weather in the U.S. winter-wheat belt sent wheat futures lower Monday on
the Chicago Board of Trade. Wheat for May
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4.25 or 1.53% cents at $2.73 a bushel. Soybeans also fell, with the May
contract
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inched up 1.00 cent to $2.01 1/5 a bushel. Some traders speculated that planting
delays may cause some farmers to switch more acreage to soybeans from corn.
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