What’s Likely To Come Off Lows
Crude oil and petroleum products futures at the
New York Mercantile Exchange were lower Tuesday following a U.S. holiday weekend
in which there was little market-moving news.
The nearby contract on crude for March
(
CLH2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) delivery finished the
day lower by .62 cents at $20.88 a barrel, the March heating oil
(
HOH2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
contract traded lower by 1.59 at 54.30, and March unleaded gasoline
(
HUH2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
closed at 59.10, down 1.99 a gallon, coming off losses in overnight trade.
The lower crude prices reflected the drop in Brent crude futures at London’s
International Petroleum Exchange Monday, when the Nymex was closed for
Presidents Day.
Traders said crude and products prices are likely to come off their lows as
business picks up, but will remain in a narrow range in the short term as weekly
U.S. inventory statistics due out Wednesday are likely to show increased supply.
Precious metals futures closed lower Tuesday. April gold
(
GCJ2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) on
the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange broke below its initial
support of 295.30 and found support at its 20-day EMA. Gold closed at 293.50,
down 5.40. March silver
(
SIH2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) lost 7.800 to close at 446.00. March
copper
(
HGH2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) broke below its 72 support level. The new support
level is 70. March copper closed at 70.70, down 2.70.
Grain futures advanced slightly in dealings on the Chicago Board of Trade,
bouncing back from last Friday’s decline. Wheat for March
(
WH2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
delivery rose 2.5 to 277.75 a bushel. March corn
(
CH2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) rose 0.75 cent
to $2.0575 a bushel, and March soybeans
(
SH2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) rose 1.0 to 438.250.
Stocks suffered deep losses Tuesday as continued
accounting concerns weighed heavily on investors’ minds, dragging down big names
like IBM
(
IBM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), J.P. Morgan Chase
(
JPM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), Disney
(
DIS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
and Nvidia
(
NVDA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating).
Since the Enron debacle, companies’
financial-disclosure practices have come under intense scrutiny. Analysts say
repeated disclosures about questionable accounting practices have bruised
investors’ faith in the reliability of earnings reports, which in turn has sent
stock prices tumbling.
Three of the broader index futures fell and
closed below their S2 Pivot Points today. The March S&P 500
(
SPH2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
futures closed at 1083.700, down 21.100. The March Nasdaq 100
(
NDH2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) futures
closed at 1394.500, down 45.50, and the March Dow
(
DJH2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) futures
dropped 160.00 to 9738.