How Patience Was Rewarded Friday
On the last
day of the trading week, US stocks rose, finishing a third straight week of gains, as
drug and computer-related shares climbed.
The futures opened the regular session slightly lower, but then kicked up a
notch before falling into a choppy trading session.
Patient traders were treated to a big bar break out above the key 890
intraday resistance zone. This move was good for 5 to 8 points just before the
close.
The Dec. S&P 500 futures
(
SPZ2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) rallied
2.04% to make a positive end in the regular session and grabbed 18 points,
closing at 898.50, just below the resistance level of 900.00.
The Dec. Nasdaq 100
(
NDZ2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) futures were
even more exciting, as it rallied 25.50 or 2.64% to 992.50. This close is right
above the 78.5% retracement level.
Dec. crude oil
(
CLZ2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) dropped 1.05 or
3.72% to end the session at $27.14 a barrel. Dec. unleaded gasoline
(
HUZ2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) followed crude into negative territory on the day, closing at 76.50
cents a gallon down .25 of a cent. Dec. heating oil
(
HOZ2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) lost 2.93
cents or 3.82% to end at 73.79 a gallon and Dec. natural gas
(
NGZ2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
fell.11 or 2.56% to 4.19.
There were no big moves to speak of in the beans
and grains today. Dec. wheat
(
WZ2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) rose back above its 4.00 support
level. WZ2 added 3/4 cent to end at $4.10 1/2 a bushel. Dec. corn
(
CZ2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was unchanged at $2.50 1/4 a bushel. Nov. soybeans
(
SX2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
rose .50 a cent to 5.57.
Despite the rally in the markets, the precious
metals, which will often move inverse to equities, managed to stay positive into
the close. Dec gold
(
GCZ2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) rose 2.60 to close at $313.89 a troy
ounce. Dec. silver
(
SIZ2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) rallied up 4.79 cents or 1.10% to $4.407
an ounce. Dec. copper
(
HGZ2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) climbed up 1.14 cents or 1.64% to 71.45
a pound. The next level of resistance for copper is at .72.