Commodities Hit Multi-Year Highs
More multi-year highs in the
commodities markets today… Natural Gas hit a new all-time high,
Gold extended its win streak to six consecutive days and hit a new 24-year high.
Sugar doesn’t capture the imagination or headlines nearly as much but
nonetheless hit a new 10-year high today, driven in part by the demand for
Ethanol.
In today’s economic news, Initial Jobless Claims rose
unexpectedly (report).
Treasuries closed higher, with traders speculating that the Fed will stop
raising rates early next year and may even alter the language of their statement
at the next Fed meeting.
The US Dollar Index closed lower, as the Dollar had its
biggest fall in 8-day versus the Yen and Euro. The BoJ Governor and ECB Chief
Economist both issued statements hinting at further rate increases in Japan and
Europe. Combined with talk of the Fed slowing or possibly even stopping the
markets began adjusted to falling interest rate differentials.
Energy prices rallied as a major snowstorm was forecast to hit
the Northeast US tonight/tomorrow morning. The cold weather and a decline in
inventories sent Natural Gas almost 10% higher to a new record.
Go to our
Economic
News section for more reports and in-depth analysis, including comments from
Treasury Secretary John Snow and the latest shut-in statistics from the Minerals
Management Service.
Economic News
Initial Jobless Claims Up 6,000 To 327,000
Natural Gas Inventories – Down 59 Bln. Cubic Feet
Ashton Dorkins
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