Will Another Rate Cut Do The Trick?
Speculation of yet another rate cut by Mr. Greenspan and
company were not enough to lift index futures in Friday’s trading. Most are
expecting the Fed to cut one more time when it meets next Tuesday, however, and
that could play into how the markets react next week. Dow futures
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fell 33 points to 10,075, with the Nasdaq 100 futures
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47 to its close of 1677. The S&P futures
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1160.20.
Dollar index futures
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up fairly well in the face of U.S. economic woes, posting a gain of 0.48 Friday
to finish at 116.15. The British pound
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dollar’s strength, up 0.005 to 1.4326 and making a run back toward the
mid-November gap lower. The rest of the currencies were negative, with the
Japanese yen
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0.0042 to 0.6028, and the Canadian dollar
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0.6353 in the session.
Cocoa
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likely due to an increase in exports resuming out of the Ivory Coast, falling 32
points to 1246 and forming a mini head-and-shoulders on the daily chart.
Sugar
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Syria and possibly China in 2002. The contract has been in a strong uptrend
since the October lows. Producer selling is continuing to hamper the coffee
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to have put in a double bottom and could see a snap back off oversold
conditions. Orange juice
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of the USDA export sales report, due to be released at 7:30 AM central on
Tuesday. OJF2 ended the session down 0.85 at 90.30, and finally, cotton
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In the metals, gold
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down after rising to the gap of November 15, finishing down 0.30 at 274.7, while
silver
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SIH2 appears to have started a new uptrend after rallying off the recent low.
Copper
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profit-taking after its bullish run, driving the contract down 0.011 to 0.6855.
Cattle futures were lower Friday, as slaughter weights
were the heaviest in the history of the record keeping. Live cattle
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below the 50-day moving average, losing 1.05 to a close of 83.70. Pork
bellies
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sliding 0.325 to a settlement of 74.85, with lean hogs
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falling 0.15 to 52.90 at the close of trading.
Corn
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week’s
500,000 metric ton purchase, gaining 2 1/2 to 219. The rest of the grains were
also pulled up, with wheat
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oil
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rounded out the complex by adding on 1.50 to end at 14.87.
Crude oil
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reluctance to join the OPEC party, putting off the decision until “in time for
Christmas.” CLF2 rose 0.50 per barrel to 19.04, and the other energy futures
jumped as well. Heating oil
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natural gas
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gasoline
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0.0075 at 0.5230.