Will Bonds Take Out Old Highs?
Rekindled concerns of a war with Iraq stopped the rally in stock index
and dollar futures. Meanwhile treasury futures continue to head back towards old
highs. Oil is once again higher in anticipation of tomorrow’s supply report and
bounced after hitting a seven-week low yesterday.
After three straight sessions of gains, stock indices futures gave back the
majority of yesterday’s gains. Concerns of war with Iraq were revived today
after the UK government recommend their citizens leave Iraq. President Bush also
called for an additional 20,000 troops to the Persian Gulf. The March S&Ps
(
SPH3 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) slipped 4.60 to 847, Dow futures
(
DJH3 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) lost 32 to 8015, and
the March Nasdaq
(
NDH3 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) lost 8.50 to 10.10. The March dollar index
(
DXH3 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) fell 0.519 to 100.18.
Treasury futures gained for the second session as investors once again
returned to the safe haven of government debt. Last week, President Bush said
that he would give the UN inspectors two more weeks, but yesterday, the
President also said that UN resolution is “not necessary” for an attack on Iraq.
Treasury futures even ignored news that January housing starts showed the
biggest gain in nearly 17 years. The Commerce Department reported that housing
starts were up 0.2% to an annual rate of 1.85 million, beating the forecast of
1.765 million. The March 30-year contract
(
USH3 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) gained 27/32 to 113 15/32
and the March 10-year contract 16/32 to 115 12/32.
Crude oil rallied out of its one-day pullback as threats of war resurfaced.
Oil and other energy contracts also rose in anticipation of tomorrow’s report on
oil supplies. Crude supplies are near a 27-year low and many traders are
expecting a decline in supplies. March crude
(
CLH3 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) gained 0.14 to 37.10.
Natural gas
(
NGH3 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) gained 0.224 to 6.13. Crude may face resistance at its
100% projection at 38.30.
After declining for eight out of nine sessions, gold also bounced back on
safe haven buying. April gold
(
GCJ3 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) gained 5.5 to 350.