Pounds Surge In Surprise Move
Catching traders off-guard, the Bank of England raised interest rates 25 basis points, pushing up September British pounds [BPU9>BPU9] .0142 to 1.6192–on the open. However, the pound’s action was all to the downside afterwards, as it sold off more than .0058 after the gap up. This action sets up a Turtle Soup Plus One sell signal below 1.6208, the old 20-day high.
September dollar index futures [DXU9>DXU9] fell .10 to 99.85 and the
yen [JYU9>JYU9] dropped .0023 to .9009. The Japanese government releases GDP figures tonight.
T-bonds [USZ9>USZ9] opened 10 ticks lower on the British rate hike but found support at 113 11/32. Bonds then rallied nearly a point, but sold off on slightly bearish comments made by Federal Reserve Governor Laurence Meyer. The December contract ended 06/32 higher at 113 26/32.
Stock index futures were mixed: September Dow futures [DJU9>DJU9] gained 4.0 to 11,042, S&P futures [SPU9>SPU9] fell 6.20 to 1346.20 and NASDAQ 100 futures [NDU9>NDU9] dropped 33.75 to 2467.25.
Energy futures advanced to new highs again today, receiving support from reports of labor turmoil among Venezuelan oil workers (Venezuela is OPEC’s second largest oil producer). October crude [CLV9>CLV9] finished .05 higher at 22.66, unleaded gas [HUV9>HUV9] gained .0020 to .6670 and heating oil [HOV9>HOV9] rose .0043 to .5952. Oil contracts have HREF=”https://tradingmarkets.com.site/eminis/indicators/actionsigs/adxc.cfm”>ADX Readings ranging from 33 to 37, indicating strong trends. From the Implosion-5 List,
natural gas [NGV9>NGV9] fell .065 to 2.612.
The IMF released its annual report on international capital markets today. In the report, the IMF said it was close to abandoning its efforts to sell 10% of gold reserves on the open market to fund debt relief to developing nations. December gold [GCZ9>GCZ9] finished at the top of a recent ascending triangle (a bullish sign), up .4 at 257.7.
Grains declined, giving back half or more of large gains made yesterday. November soybeans [SX9>SX9] fell 12 1/4 to 508 1/4 and December soymeal [SMZ9>SMZ9] fell 5.0 to 154.3. Wheat [WZ9>WZ9] lost 6 3/4 and corn [CZ9>CZ9] dropped 4 1/4 to 221.
Livestock contracts retreated today. October live cattle [LCV9>LCV9] and feeder cattle [FCV9>FCV9] fell back .350 and .200 off one-year highs hit yesterday.
October lean hogs [LHV9>LHV9] dipped .850 to 45.300 and February pork bellies [PBG0>PBG0] lost 1.250 to 54.300.
December cocoa [CCZ9>CCZ9] continued higher after reversing off a new low yesterday. The December contract provided a good intra-day pullback opportunity at yesterday’s high and finished the day up 18 at 957.
The other softs and fibers were mixed. October sugar [SBV9>SBV9], which tops the Momentum-5 List, finished down just .03 at 7.06 after setting a six-month high yesterday.