What’s Boosting Naz Futures…
What many were saying was an oversold market this
morning, triggered a rally in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures for September.
After taking a beating all last week and dipping below the 1000 level, the
August S&P 500
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and never let up, ending the day at 1035, up 26.39, or 2.62%. The August Nasdaq
100
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rallied all the way to 1140, a gain of 36.50, or 3.28%.
Crude oil rose for a fifth day in a row to close
stronger again. This was due to two variables:
- Recent threats from Iraq
dealing with cutting oil supplies - Continued seasonal strength in
gasoline.
Crude oil for August
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heating oil
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unleaded gasoline
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natural gas broke above the 3.40 resistance level and gained .04, or 1.17%, to
close at 3.45.
In midday trading, crude oil for July delivery
was up 34 cents to $26.28 a barrel, July heating oil gained 0.7 cent to 67.1
cents a gallon, and July gasoline rose 0.9 cent to 79.6 cents a gallon.
Iraq’s Oil Minister Amer Mohammed Rasheed said Saturday that the U.N.-imposed
oil-for-food program may be halted if the U.N. continues its retroactive pricing
policy, complaining that the pricing policy severely slashes the country’s oil
revenue.
In the grain markets today, soybean and grains futures opened lower at the
beginning of trade today. This was primarily due to farmers acknowledging that
ideal weather was helping their planting. July soybeans
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out lower in early trade, but then rallied toward the positive side and closed
up to $4.98 1/2 per bushel, up 1 1/2 cent. Wheat for July delivery
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a bushel. July corn
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August gold futures
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were focusing on the equity markets. Gold was trading in a $317.70-$319.50 range
before settling at $318.10 an ounce, down 1.70. July silver
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was also trading inside a range $4.80- $4.85 and then ended at $4.82, down 3.
July copper
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