Pullback For Gold?
Stock index
futures fell for the third consecutive session. A lower forecast from
Agilent Technologies
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PowerRating), lower productivity, and mostly the continuing
threats of war with Iraq and now also North Korea took the Dow and S&P
futures below their January 31 lows. Some uncertainty is still weighing on stock
futures as after Colin Powell’s presentation of evidence against Iraq, the UN
was still unable to act as many members are still calling for further
inspections. North Korea warned that they will wage war against the US if they
interfered with their nuclear programs. Stock futures could remain under
pressure until a resolution of some kind is in place. At the close, the March
Dow futures
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840.50, while the March Nasdaq 100 futures
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975.00
Treasury futures relished on more
“safe haven” buying and worse than expected economic news, as
well as the continuing threats of war. the Department of Labor revealed that
worker productivity for the fourth quarter of 2002 slipped for the first time
since the second quarter of 2001. Following a 5.5% rise in productivity in the
third quarter of 2002, results for the fourth quarter were much worse than
expected as productivity fell 0.2% versus expectations of a 0.7% rise. Weekly
initials jobless claims also came in slightly higher than expected at 391K
versus estimates of 390K. Next week’s auction of $42 billion worth of treasuries
could put a cap on the rally. At the close, the March 30 year contract
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gained 13/32 to 114 11/32.Â
Gold continued to slid after a
volatile session yesterday. April gold
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March crude
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to 34.16 as a war with Iraq could cause a supply problem.