Financials Mixed On PPI, Gold Takes Another Shot At the Upside
December T-bonds [USZ9>USZ9] staged something of a comeback in today’s session. Weak in early trading on the higher-than-expected Producer Price Index (PPI) number, the contract rallied back to close down only 7/32 at 114 06/32 (but off the high of 114 22/32).
Stock index futures were mixed bag today. Early tech strength pushed the December Nasdaq 100 futures [NDZ9>NDZ9] up over 35 points, but the contract folded like a cheap suit toward the end of the day to around breakeven–only to dramatically reverse again at the last minute to close up 31.65 at 2817.00. The Dow futures [DJZ9>DJZ9] finished off 8 at 10642 and the S&Ps [SPZ9>SPZ9] closed up 8 points at 1380.00.
The currencies benefited from the initial weakness and subsequent ambivalence in the stock and bond markets. The December Euro [ECZ9>ECZ9] closed up 500 at 104670, Japanese yen [JYZ9>JYZ9] gained .0031 to .9605 and the Swiss franc finished up .0032 at .6520.
In the energies, December heating oil, from the Momentum-5 List, rallied nearly 3.5%. Crude oil [CLZ9>CLZ9] closed up .37 at 24.40 , while natural gas [NGZ9>NGZ9] broke out of early congestion to close up slightly on the day.
In the metals, gold tried again today to define a swing point low after retracing about half its run-up. The December contract [GCZ9>GCZ9] closed up 6.0 at 299.10. Figure 1 shows a chart of the dramatic move in gold provides a context for the market’s current action.
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| Figure 1.  December gold (GCZ9), daily.   Source: Quote.com.
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In the grains, December wheat [WZ9>WZ9] and corn [CZ9>CZ9] lost over 5 cents each, while front-month Soybeans lost over 12 cents. In the meats, February Pork Bellies kept moving to the upside, gaining 2.63 to close at 70.70. December live cattle [LCZ9>LCZ9] went the other way, dropping .20 to 68.40.