Yen Surges To Four-Year High
New highs in Japanese equities are heightening demand for Japanese yen and sent the currency soaring to its highest level in four years. The December contract [JYZ9>JYZ9] gapped open, consolidated, then surged 200-points to settle .0267 points higher at .9860.
December dollar index futures [DXZ9>DXZ9] had a volatile day as well, trading up to a new three-month high of 102.08 before dropping to finish down .21 at 101.31. The Swiss franc [SFZ9>SFZ9] weakened as the Euro approached parity (1-1) with the dollar: The December contract slipped .0017 to .6353.
March T-bonds [USH0>USH0] slipped for a fourth straight day, losing 12/32 to 93 21/32.
Stock index futures tumbled in the last hour after trading in positive territory for most of today’s shortened session. Dow futures [DJZ9>DJZ9] fell 84.0 to 10962.0, S&P futures [SPZ9>SPZ9] lost 6.90 to 1415.00 and NASDAQ 100 futures [NDZ9>NDZ9] lost 5.50 to 3118.00 after setting a new record high.
The grains continued their steady descent. March wheat [WH0>WH0] hit a new contract low, falling 3 1/2 to 251 3/4 and January soybeans [SF0>SF0] lost 2 1/4 to close at 463.
Pork contracts continued seeing steady buying. February lean hogs [LHG0>LHG0] rose .575 to 57.200 and pork bellies [PBG0>PBG0] set a new contract high, rising 1.900 to 81.450.
The metals, soft and energy markets were closed today for the Thanksgiving holiday.