New Long Bond Proves A Hit With Investors
In today’s economic news,
the Initial Jobless Claims rose much less than
forecast
(report,
analysis), while December Wholesale Sales and Wholesale Inventories
increased
The big news in the Treasury market was today’s $14
Bln government auction of the 30yr bond — the first since 2001. The auction was
very well received with far greater than expected demand, despite the lowest
yield on record at only 4.53%.
The EIA reported that Natural Gas stocks were down
38 Bln cubic feet. However, stocks are 437 Bcf above last year and 649 Bcf above
the 5-year average (EIA
report). Natural Gas fell to another new low. Crude Oil closed flat, after a
very choppy final 2-hours of trading.
The Yen fell versus the US Dollar, Euro, Aussie and
British Pound after the after the BoJ maintained its’ zero interest rate policy.
The Yen had rallied earlier in the week on expectation the central bank would
end the 5-year policy. FOREX traders should check out TradingMarkets
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In the metals, Gold jumped almost $15.
Among the softs, Coffee and Cotton rose while all
the others fell. Sugar was the biggest decliner, falling 3.51%. All the grains
closed higher, with Soybean Oil leading the advance.
The meats rallied after it was announced that
45 cows were destroyed in Japan.
Initial Jobless Claims Up 4,000 To 277,000 (report,
analysis).
Wholesale Inventories Up 1% For Dec. (report,
analysis).
EIA: Natural Gas Stocks Down 38 Bln. Cubic Feet (EIA
report).
Ashton Dorkins
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