Records in Dollar and Gold on Fed Talk

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

U.S. dollar reached a record low against euro after the comments from the Fed Chairman Bernanke. Investors now believe that the Fed is more likely to lower rates in the coming weeks. The dollar fell on the news and base and precious metals rose. Oil fell but traded at elevated levels. In earnings news, Autodesk reported 20% rise in sales and flat earnings on sharply lower margins as woes of construction industry hurt higher margin software sales. Dollar traded at record low to $1.5134 per euro.

10:00PM Frankfurt, 4:00PM New York, 8:00AM Sydney – The Fed Chairman comments to the House Finance Committee were interpreted as economic growth supportive. Stocks in a brief rally failed to sustain earlier gains. Autodesk fell 15% on weak margins.[/R]

European Markets

In London FTSE 100 Index closed lower 13.90 or 0.23% to 6,073.50, in Paris CAC 40 Index decreased 4.25 or 0.09% to close at 4,968.82 and in Frankfurt DAX index higher 11.88 or 0.17% to close at 6,997.85. In Zurich trading SMI increased 39.38 or 0.51% to close at 7,782.55.

North American Markets indexes

Dow Jones Industrial Average added 9.36 or 0.07% to a close of 12,694.28, S&P 500 closed down 1.28 or 0.09% to 1,380.01, and Nasdaq Composite Index traded up 8.79 or 0.37% to a close of 2,353.78. In Toronto TSX Composite closed lower 6.10 or 0.04% to close at 13,790.91.

Of the 30 stocks in Dow Jones Industrial Average, 17 closed higher, 13 closed lower, and none were unchanged.

Merck led the decliners in the index with a fall of 2% followed by losses in McDonlad’s of 1.8%, in 3M Company of 1.01%, and in J&J of 1%. Citigroup led the gainers in the index with a rise of 3.6% followed by increases in IBM of 1.85%, in JP Morgan of 1.5%, in Alcoa of 1.25%, and in General Motors of 1.1%.

Of the stocks in S&P 500, 199 closed higher, 297 fell, and 4 were unchanged. Of the index stocks, 14 rose more than 3% and 15 stocks fell more than 3%.

Autodesk led the decliners in the index with a plunge of 15.6% followed by losses in Dynegy of 8.6%, in Office Depot of 6.8%, and in Range Resources of 5.4%. Juniper Networks led the gainers in the index with a rise of 6.5%, in Goldman Sachs of 4.4%, in Lennar Corp of 3.8%, and in XL Capital of 3.7%.

South American Markets Indexes

In Latin Markets Peru led the gainers in the region with a rise of 2.6% followed by increases in Mexico of 0.94%, in Argentina of 0.69%, and in Brazil of 0.51%. Chile increased 0.08%, but Venezuela fell 0.23% and Colombia declined 0.57%.

Asian Markets

In Tokyo Nikkei 225 Index closed higher 206.58 or 1.49% to 14,031.30, in Hong Kong Hang Seng index increased 769.09 or 3.24% closed to 24,483.84. Australia ASX 200 index increased 101.10 or 1.78% to close 5,767.20.

In South Korea Kospi Index increased 11.76 or 0.69% to close at 1,720.89, in Thailand SET index closed lower 2.63 or 0.32% to 832.04 and Indonesia JSE Index edged increased 1.27 or 0.05% to 2,740.14. Sensex index in India increased 19.80 or 0.11% to 17,825.99.

Bond Yields increased on 10-year U.S. bonds to 3.84% and on 30-year bonds declined to 4.64%.

Commodities, Metals, and Currencies

Crude Oil decreased $1.05 to close at $99.83 per barrel for a front month contract, natural gas decreased 21 cents to $8.99 per mBtu, and gasoline futures decreased 7.15 cents to close at 247.90 cents per gallon.

Gold increased $12.10 in New York trading to close at $961.00 per ounce, silver closed up 49 cents to $19.33 per ounce, and copper for front month delivery increased 5.50 cents to 384.75 per pound and in yesterday’s trading in London copper futures increased $86.00 to $8,315.00.

Wheat futures rose 3.55 cents in Chicago trading and closed at $12.50 per bushel. Sugar decreased 8 cents to 14.46 cents per pound. Soybean future closed down 9 cents to $14.75 per bushel.

Dollar edged lower and traded near record lows against euro to $1.5134 and edged lower against yen to 106.32.