What Happened In The Last Hour
Stocks soared Friday as a slew of upbeat
economic reports raised hopes that the U.S. economy is primed for a recovery. A big rally in the last hour of trading in the broader index markets
propelled futures higher on a positive day. The March futures for the Dow, Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 all posted nice gains for the day.
In late-afternoon trading, the March Dow Jones
Industrial Average futures
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closing at 276.00 up 2.73% touching its highest level since Aug. 28.
After faltering all week, the March Nasdaq
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the day closing at 1436.500 and turning this week into a positive.
On a daily chart the March Standard & Poor’s 500
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rallying out of a double bottom pattern and today closed above its peak, which
was close to the R1 Pivot Point at 1117.77. The SPH2 broke above this point at
around 11:00 AM EST. From there the SPH2 continued a steady rally and broke
above its R2 Pivot Point of 1128.63 at 3:45 PM EST, then closed at 1132.500, up
25.600 or 2.31%
Bond prices plunged as investors shifted money into the stock market, where
there is the potential for more-aggressive returns. The March 30 Year Bond
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In the currency markets, the dollar slipped
against the yen but strengthened against the euro. The March U.S. dollar
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Crude-oil futures jumped to their highest level
in 15 weeks Friday after a top official at the Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries said the cartel would continue backing production cutbacks.
April crude oil
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April unleaded gasoline
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gallon. April heating oil
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gallon.
Oil was also pushed higher by the U.S. economic data, which is likely to lead to
an increase in petroleum demand.
Investors are awaiting Monday’s meeting in Moscow between the OPEC President and
the Russian government to discuss Russian oil output in the second quarter of
this year. Russia, a non-OPEC country, has gone along with recent OPEC-led
production cuts, but have mentioned that it will not last too much longer.
May soybean futures
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five-week highs on the Chicago Board of Trade, responding to rumors, later
proven to be false, that China would soften its policies on genetically modified
products. Soybeans closed up 11.25 to 451.500 and May soybean meal
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rose 2 1/2 cents to $2.78 1/2 a bushel; May corn
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$2.08 1/2 a bushel.
Precious metals futures settled higher as fund buying helped gold and silver
reverse from early selling. April gold
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ounce before backing off to settle at $298.40, a $1.30 gain over Thursday.
May silver
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May copper rallied higher to 73.25 up 1.200 or 1.67%.