Index Futures Leading New Bull?
Buyers showed their
support en masse in stock index futures, fueling speculation that a new bull leg
of the markets is well in place and the economic downturn is even closer to
ending. Dow futures (DJZ1)
amassed a 200 point gain to recapture the elusive 10,000 barrier, finishing
trading at 10,127. Nasdaq 100 futures (NDZ1)
jumped 80 points higher to close at 1721, and the S&P futures (SPZ1)
gained 25.30 to 1173.
Treasuries took a dip as traders jumped aboard the
momentum bandwagon via the stock index futures. T-bonds (USZ1)
fell 2 ’13 to 103 ’22, while 10-year notes (TYZ1)
slipped 1 ‘260 to 107 ‘020.
Despite news of Russia cutting the number of its
prospective exports even further, December crude oil (CLF2)
fell 0.16 to 19.49. Natural gas (NGF2)
also lost in the session, down 0.007 to 2.494, while heating oil (HOF2)
was down 1.04 to 0.5314. Unleaded gasoline
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PowerRating) finished in the
negative, falling 0.014 to a close at 0.5300.
Softs were split, with March cocoa (CCH2)
trying to move out of a pullback from high, gaining 8 points to 1279. Sugar
(SBH2)
added 0.09 to close at 7.79, and coffee (KCH2)
rose to 46.00, a gain of 0.60. January orange juice (OJF2)
slipped 0.65 to 94.15, while cotton (CTH2)
also was lower, down 0.28 to 36.78.
Formerly bullish players in the hog contracts seemed to throw in the towel
Wednesday, driving lean hogs (LHZ1)
to a six-week contract low of 47.025. Pork bellies (PBG2)
fell in addition, losing 0.675 to close at 74.075. December live cattle (LCZ1)
rose 0.225 to end the session at 83.125, and January feeder cattle (FCF2)
gained a slight 0.025 to 69.875.
The British pound (BPZ1)
continues its meltdown, dropping another 0.0060 to 1.4144 in Wednesday trading.
The December dollar index futures (DXZ1)
are continuing to make Alan Greenspan correct after he stated that he did not
see any reason why the US currency would not remain strong. DXZ1 finished up
0.40 at 116.52. In the rest of the currency futures, the Japanese yen (JYZ1)
suffered losses again today, falling 0.000006 to a final level of 0.008054, and
the Canadian dollar (CDZ1)
dropped 0.002 to 0.6361. Swiss francs (SFZ1)
fell 0.0031 to 0.6016, as did the euro FX futures (ECZ1),
settling at 0.8166.
In the grains, January soybeans (SF2)
finished lower on light selling and very little threat of weather affecting
foreign export numbers, down 2 1/4 to 442 1/2. Corn (CZ1)
continues to appear technically weak, starting a fall out of a pullback from
low, down 2 1/4 to 209 3/4. December soybean oil (BOZ1)
fell 0.24 to 16.33, with soy meal (SMZ1)
losing 1.30 to finish in the red at 153.90. December wheat (WZ1)
rounded out the group, ending the day positive at 277 1/4, up 2 points.