Gold, Siver, Copper, Emerging Markets Rally in 2010

Bikram Pandey
31 Dec, 2010
New York City

World markets were subdued on the last day of trading. Commodities surged as copper and gold touched record highs and silver reached three decade peak. Emerging markets outperformed the developed markets with Peru, Indonesia, Philippines, Turkey, Russia and India leading.

[R]2:40 PM New York – World markets were subdued on the last day of trading. Commodities surged as copper and gold touched record highs and silver reached three decade peak. Emerging markets outperformed the developed markets with Peru, Indonesia, Philippines, Turkey, Russia and India leading.[/R]

U.S. stock traded sideways on the last trading session of year. Indexes in Indonesia, Philippines, India and South Korea led the world markets. The U.S. Treasury raised its stake in Ally. Dynegy Board accepted Icahn's $665 million buyout offer.

World markets diverged in 2010 with emerging market leading and most developed market trailing.

Markets in Peru, Philippines, Indonesia, Turkey, Russia and India led the world with more than 15% rise.

Peru led the top twenty emerging markets with a surge of 64% and completed the gain for third year in a row. Jakarta benchmark index in Indonesia led Asian indexes with a rise of 46.1% followed by 38% increase in Philippines.

Indexes in China declined more than 14%, in Australia fell 2.65% and in Japan closed lower 3%.

Commodities surged the most and cotton soared 89% and silver surged 81%. Gold advanced for the tenth year in a row and close up more than 28.6% and closed at record prices in Swiss franc, in euro and in pound.

U.S. Treasury bonds gained 5.5% after losing 3.7% in 2009 according an index tracked by Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

European indexes diverged in 2010. Germany led the region with a gain of 17% and Greece led the decliners with a loss of 35%. UK index rose 9% but the index in France declined 3.4%. Russia and Turkey rose more than 22%.

The UK indexes dropped after home prices rose in December and for the year FTSE 100 index gained 9%.India-based Sahara Group bought Grosvenor House Hotel for £470 million. UK subsidiary of Dollar Financial completed the acquisition of Sefina Finance AB.

Estonia becomes the first former Soviet republic to join the euro on the New Year day, putting a temporary cap on the currency bloc’s expansion as sovereign debt crisis spreads through Europe.

Australian benchmark stock index ends the day 1% down and for the year 2010 declined 2.57%. Rain havoc continues in Queensland forcing miners to invoke the emergency clauses for coal supplies. Dalrymple Bay expects to resume export of coal on the New Year day.

Shanghai’s key benchmark index gains more than 2% for the day but lost 14.31% in 2010. Hang Seng index rose 5.3% in the year. China steps up scrutiny of recently sold but undeveloped land and seized at least two land parcels from developers. Non-ferrous metals international trade surged 46.5% in the first 11 months of the year.

Stocks in Mumbai continued to rise for the third day in a row. The Sensex index gained 17.3% in 2010 as economy rebounded and international fund flows continued. Sahara Group acquired London based Grosvenor House for £470 million.

Commodities, Currencies and Yields

Dollar declined against euro to $1.33 and fell against the Japanese yen to 81.25. One UK pound fetched $1.56.

Crude oil increased $1.67 to $91.51 a barrel for a front month contract, natural gas edged higher 6.6 cents to $4.40 per mBtu and gasoline increased 4.95 cents to 244.13 cents.

Gold increased $14.60 in New York trading to close at $1,420.50 per ounce, silver increased $0.43 to $30.94 per ounce and copper for the front month delivery increased 8.25 cents to $4.44 per pound.

Yield on 10-year U.S. bond decreased to 3.30% and on 30-year U.S. bond yield fell to 4.34%.