More Than 80% Gained
The U.S. stock markets rose for a second day as some investors said concern
that companies such as Tyco International
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overly exaggerated. Other companies like Cisco Systems
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Qualcomm
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questions after the collapse of Enron — advanced along with TYC.
More than 80% of the S&P 500’s members gained. This helped push the March
S&P 500 futures
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resistance level (R2) of 1110.17. The March S&Ps closed at 1110.20, up
13.70. The March Dow futures
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resistance level (R1) of 9809 and closed at 9861, up 116.00. And the March
Nasdaq 100
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Softs: An active cash market along with technicals caused March lumber
futures
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Exchange. An unfilled pool of buy orders initiated a gap higher at the open,
according to traders. Stop-loss buying when the contract crossed above its $273
resistance was the reason for increased buying interest. March lumber closed at
284.70, up 7.20.
March coffee
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Cocoa Exchange ended lower Monday. The contract’s previous low at 44.00 cents a
pound was broken in the first hour of trading, triggering sell stops below that
level which consequently moved March coffee to new lows. It finished at 43.10,
down 1.45. March cocoa
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1479.00, up 25.00.
Precious Metals: Precious metals prices pulled back today. One reason
given for the fall was that the holidays across Asia will limit liquidity in the
markets. April gold
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the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dropped 3.70 to 300.70 a
troy ounce. At one point during the session, gold was as low as $298.50. March
silver
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lost .65 to end at 72.70.
Energies: The oil market may be in for a shakeup, as Russia said it
may boost oil exports only weeks after the biggest oil-producing nations agreed
to cut output to avoid a global price war. The move could cause Russia and OPEC
to have a serious confrontation. March crude oil
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to close at 21.41. March heating oil
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to 56.19. March unleaded gas
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