Record Gold, Recession Worries

123jump.com Staff
21 Feb, 2008
New York City

U.S. stocks lost gains at the opening after Cisco was upgraded and Research in Motion lifted its sales estiates of wireless devices. Gloomier than expected decline in the manufacturing survey from Philadephia Fed dragged market averages lower. The selling intensified in the last thirty minutes of trading. Sun Trust fell 5% after S&P lowered its credit outlook. Starbucks, Walgreen, UBS, Citigroup, and General Electric closed at multi-year low.

[R]10:00PM Frankfurt, 4:00PM New York, 8:00AM Sydney – U.S. stocks declined after a regional manufacturing survey showed a deepening slowdown in the activities. Gold surged to a record high.[/R]

European Markets

In London FTSE 100 Index closed higher 38.60 or 0.65% to 5,932.20, in Paris CAC 40 Index increased 46.04 or 0.96% to close at 4,858.85 and in Frankfurt DAX index higher 5.17 or 0.07% to close at 6,904.85. In Zurich trading SMI increased 104.57 or 1.42% to close at 7,486.15.

North American Markets indexes

Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 142.96 or 1.15% to a close of 12,284.30, S&P 500 closed down 17.50 or 1.29% to 1,342.53, and Nasdaq Composite Index traded down 27.32 or 1.17% to a close of 2,299.78. In Toronto TSX Composite closed lower 42.14 or 0.31% to close at 13,509.55.

Of the 30 stocks in Dow Jones Industrial Average, 3 closed higher, 27 closed lower, and none were unchanged.

General Motors led the decliners in the Dow index with a loss of 5% followed by losses in General Electric of 2.3%, in DuPont of 2%, in Boeing of 1.96%, and in Merck of 1.8%. Verizon led the gainers in the index with a rise of 0.6% followed by increases in AT&T of 0.45%, and in Wal-Mart of 0.2%.

Of the stocks in S&P 500, 68 closed higher, 432 fell, and none were unchanged. Of the index stocks, 4 rose more than 3% and 38 stocks fell more than 3%.

Apollo Group led the decliners in the index with a fall of 8.6% followed by losses in Ambac of 7.65%, in Safeway of 6.9%, and in Quest Diagnostics of 6.7%. Terex Corp led the gainers in the index with a rise of 6% followed by increases in Analog Devices of 3.6%, in Fluor Corp of 3.06%, and in Principal Financial of 3.02%.


South American Markets Indexes

In Latin Markets Peru led the gainers in the region with a rise of 2.48% followed by increases in Venezuela of 0.49%, in Mexico of 0.47%, and in Argentina of 0.42%. Colombia added 0.33% but Chile lost 0.04%.

Asian Markets

In Tokyo Nikkei 225 Index closed higher 377.91 or 2.84% to 13,688.28, in Hong Kong Hang Seng index increased 32.42 or 0.14% closed to 23,623.00. Australia ASX 200 index increased 86.90 or 1.58% to close 5,583.40.

In South Korea Kospi Index increased 16.45 or 0.97% to close at 1,704.36, and Indonesia JSE Index edged increased 44.95 or 1.67% to 2,734.21. Sensex index in India increased 117.08 or 0.66% to 17,734.68. In Thailand market were closed today.

Bond Yields increased on 10-year U.S. bonds to 3.76% and on 30-year bonds declined to 4.54%.

[R]Commodities, Metals, and Currencies[/R]

Crude oil declined $1.62 to close at $98.08 per barrel for a front month contract, natural gas decreased 8 cents to $8.89 per mBtu, and gasoline futures decreased 7.020 cents to close at 251.50 cents per gallon.

Gold increased $8.10 in New York trading to close at $945.90 per ounce, silver closed up 6 cents to $17.82 per ounce, and copper for front month delivery increased 9 cents to 380.00 per pound and in London copper futures decreased $44.00 to $8,194.00.

Wheat futures rose 12.00 cents in Chicago trading and closed at $10.45 per bushel. Sugar increased 0.19 cents to 14.29 cents per pound. Soybean future closed up 0.775 cents to $14.24 per bushel.

Dollar edged lower and traded near record lows against euro to $1.4814 and edged lower against yen to 107.26.