U.S. Stocks Decline, Emerging Markets Gain; Another Record in Copper

Bikram Pandey
30 Dec, 2010
New York City

U.S. stocks traded lower as weekly jobless claims declined below 400,000 and the index of pending home resale increased 3.5% in November. Venezuela devalued bolivars against the dollar by 40%, the second devaluation in the year. Crude oil closed lower.

[R]4:00 PM New York – U.S. stocks traded lower as weekly jobless claims declined below 400,000 and the index of pending home resale increased 3.5% in November. Venezuela devalued bolivars against the dollar by 40%, the second devaluation in the year. Crude oil closed lower.[/R]

U.S. stocks headed lower as the index of pending home resale increased 3.5% in November after surging 10% in October and weekly jobless claims declined 34,000 to 388,000. The index of business barometer increased to 68.8 in December from 62.5 in November tracked by the Institute for Supply Management based in Chicago.

PAA Natural Gas agreed to buy SG Resources Mississippi for $750 million. Boston Properties completed the acquisition of John Hancock Tower for $930 million. A private survey of consumers indicates a sharp rebound in consumer spending in upper middle class demographic.

MBIA Inc soared after two banks withdrew their lawsuits. East West Bancorp surged after the bank repaid TARP funds. General Moly, China restricts rare-earth exports. Lockheed Martin won order of $437 million from US Navy. Qwest redeemed outstanding 3.5% convertible notes of approximately $1.1 billion plan to reduce debt by $3.5 billion by first quarter of 2011.

The European indexes declined after EuroCoin Indicator climbed in December. Swiss current account surplus improved in the third quarter. Spain current account deficit narrowed in October. Italian manufacturing sentiment rose in December.

The UK indexes slid after home prices fell for a third straight month in November. WPP Digital agreed to acquire Blue State Digital. Balfour Beatty won infrastructure contracts in Hong Kong worth £190 million. Tristel ended deal with Clorox.

Stocks in Tokyo lost more than 1% after the yen strengthened to a seven-week high. For the year the benchmark index declined 3%. Trading volumes on the Tokyo Stock Exchange is likely to drop for the third year in a row and to six year low.

Hong Kong’s benchmark index edged closer to 23,000, while mainland indexes stayed nearly unchanged. China fines several banks for facilitating hot money inflow into the country. China’s manufacturing growth slows in December.

Stocks in Mumbai rallied tracking gains in Asia. Investors are looking for a sustained economic expansion in 2011 as commodities hover near highs for the year. Sensex in the year is up 15%. Food and fuel prices surge in the latest read on inflation.

Stocks in Mumbai rallied tracking gains in Asia. Investors are looking for a sustained economic expansion in 2011 as commodities hover near highs for the year. Sensex in the year is up 15%. Food and fuel prices surge in the latest read on inflation.

The benchmark index in Australia closed up 1.65% in the year. A surge in commodities and energy prices lifted the Aussie dollar for the eighth day in a row and touched high last seen in 1982. Several mines in Queensland are forced to close production as rains and flooding hamper activities and life.

Commodities, Currencies and Yields

Dollar declined against euro to $1.32 and fell against the Japanese yen to 81.56. One UK pound fetched $1.54.

Crude oil decreased $1.73 to $89.39 a barrel for a front month contract, natural gas edged higher 4.3 cents to $4.33 per mBtu and gasoline decreased 0.67 cents to 238.37 cents.

Gold decreased $8.00 in New York trading to close at $1,405.50 per ounce, silver decreased $0.24 to $30.46 per ounce and copper for the front month delivery increased 6.30 cents to $4.37 per pound.

Yield on 10-year U.S. bond increased to 3.36% and on 30-year U.S. bond yield added to 4.42%.