Keep On Moving
Gold pushed higher
for the third straight session. Prices of the
shiny metal are at five-year highs. Gold has risen over 10% this month as
investors are placing their money in this “safe haven” amid the increasing
military tension between the US and Iraq. Tension between the US and North Korea
is also rising, with the latter’s announcement that it will restart its nuclear
facilities. Gold prices also benefited from the weakening dollar.
February gold
(
GCG3 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) finished up 3.10 at
350.30.
Oil prices rose for the fourth consecutive
session and are near a two-year high. Crude prices once again jumped as traders
were skeptical of the president of Petroleos de Venezuela SA’s remark that
exports will return to normal by the end of next month.
Crude oil for March
(
CLH3 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) finished up
0.64 at 31.64.
The dollar fell to a three-year low against the
Euro amid the rising tension between Iraq and now North Korea.
Stock index futures jumped early on as weekly
jobless claims displayed the biggest drop since October 2001. Initial claims
plunged by 60,000 to 378,000 in the week ending Dec. 21. This bested economists’
call of a drop to 404,000. However the rally faded as we headed into the
afternoon session and both the S&P and Nasdaq futures gave back all of their
gains plus more. The March S&P futures
(
SPH3 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) finished the session at 891.00, down 0.50 for the day, and the
March Nasdaq
futures was down 3 at 1021.00.