Dollar Falls, Metals And Energies Rise

Treasuries closed lower, weighed down by the government sale of $13 Bln in 10-yr
T-notes. As bond prices moved lower, yields rose to test the highs set last week
with the 10-yr yield closing at 5.155%.

The US Dollar Index closed lower for the third consecutive day, giving back
gains from earlier in the session. The Dollar has been heading straight down for
the past month, as you can see from the chart of the Dollar Index below. The
Euro hit a one-year high versus the Dollar today but the day’s biggest gainer
was the British Pound which rose more than 1% against the Dollar.

Natural Gas continued to be the laggard among the group, erasing yesterday’s
gains to close near contract lows after the EIA reported a rise in supplies.

In the softs, Orange Juice +2.00%, Cotton +1.72% and Sugar +1.55% were the best
performers. While Coffee fell 4.00% to close at a new 2006 low.

Illinois senators Barack Obama and Dick Durbin joined a number of other senators
in writing a letter to President Bush urging him not to increase ethanol imports
(full
story). Read James Cordier’s blog on Sugar and Ethanol

here.

All the softs closed higher, except for Soybean Meal.

Pork Bellies was the best performer among the meats, rising 3.08%.

Initial Jobless Claims Down 1,000 To 324,000 (report)

Business Inventories Up 0.7% For March (report)

EIA – Natural Gas Stocks Rise 85 Bcf

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