What’s The Next Move For Gold?
Once again
stocks ended higher after overcoming some early morning weakness
brought on by the lower-than-expected December retail sales report. Trading has
been somewhat quiet as we head into earnings season. The March
S&P futures
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PowerRating) gained 3.30 to 929.70 while the March
Nasdaq 100 futures
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NDH3 |
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PowerRating) gained 6.50 to 1093. Intel also
reported fourth quarter results of 0.16 per share, beating estimates of 0.14 per
share.Â
Treasuries moved higher on news of the
December retail sales report and the increasingly likelihood of a war with Iraq.
The 10-year note rose for the second straight session and the 30-year for the
third straight session as the December retail sales rose 1.2 percent or slightly
less than the expected increase of 1.5 percent. Excluding auto sales, retail
sales were flat. At the close, the 10-year note
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PowerRating) gained 12/32 to 113 7/32 and the 30-year bond gained 13/32 to 109
28/32.
Crude traded higher as traders
continue to worry that a war with Iraq will lead to supply problems. February
crude
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PowerRating) did slip into negative territory but recovered to finish 0.24
higher to 32.50.
The dollar again dug deeper into a
three year low against the Euro and a four-month low against the Yen. Concerns
about war with Iraq and the retail sales number had traders selling the
greenback. Reports that U.N. weapons inspectors found illegal materials in Iraq
raised worries about war. However the inspectors failed to find materials that
could be used to make “weapons of mass destruction.” It was also
reported that the Pentagon is sending two seven ship armadas and thousands of
Marines to the Persian Gulf. The March dollar index
(
DXH3 |
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PowerRating) fell 0.30 to 101.53. March euro contract
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PowerRating)
gained 0.00200 to 1.05410 and the March yen
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PowerRating) gained 0.000057 to 0.008495.
Gold prices dropped today despite the
increasing chances of war and the worse than expected retail sales numbers February
gold
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PowerRating) fell 2.50 to 352.40.