Santa Claus Rally
NASDAQ 100 futures [NDH0>NDH0] brought traders another holiday special, making good on their Momentum-5 List reading and rising to a new record to close up 24.50 at 3644.00. Other stock index futures closed higher as well: Dow futures [DJH0>DJH0] surged 220.0 to close at 11,575.0 and S&P futures [SPH0>SPH0] closed 22.90 higher at 1480.40.
In a pre-holiday shortened session, March T-bonds [USH0>USH0], a component of Thursday’s Implosion-5 List, pared losses made early in the session to end down 4/32 at 90 30/32.
March dollar index futures [DXH0>DXH0] took the day off, falling .55 to 101.00.
Japanese yen [JYH0>JYH0] slipped .0012 to .6383 while British pounds [BPH0>BPH0] rallied .0066 to 1.6152. Canadian dollar [CDH0>CDH0] had a big day, moving .0038 higher to close at .6770.
Drivers are expected to top-off fuel tanks in anticipation of possible Y2K problems and shortages prior to the millennium. February crude [CLG0>CLG0] gained .35 to 25.85 and heating oil [HOG0>HOG0] added .0038 to .6770. Natural gas [NGG0>NGG0] continued to trade underwater on regionally-sensitive warmth: February closed down .045 at 2.400.
The metals, meats and grains were quiet.
March cocoa [CCH0>CCH0] staged a key reversal at the 800-even level, rebounding off contract lows on news soldiers were firing shots and rioting in the capital of the world’s largest growing nation, Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Deregulation of the country’s primary export (cocoa) has reduced revenue in the country and has led to a turbulent political and labor environment. March closed up 41 at 849.
Coffee [KCH0>KCH0] staged something of a comeback, rebounding from a two-day, 27-point sell off spurred in the wake of a Brazilian government report which estimated next year’s coffee crop has not been hurt as badly as feared by recent dryness. March rose 3.60 to 121.25.