Oil Above $102, Record Low in Dollar

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

U.S. stock indexes lost nearly 1% after the latest read on GDP showed a sharply lower growth in the fourth qaurter. Dollar fell to a record low for the third day in a row against euro and fell against Swiss Franc, British Pound and Brazilian Real. Oil jumped 3% to $102.53 on weak dollar and continued violence in Nigeria. Separately, Sprint reported a huge loss after it wrote-off $30 billion for its recent purchase of Nextel. Sears earnings declined on weak consumer spending.

10:00PM Frankfurt, 4:00PM New York, 8:00AM Sydney – U.S. dollar fell for the third day in a row to a record low against euro on the prospect of weak economy and lower interest rate.


European Markets

In London FTSE 100 Index closed lower 110.80 or 1.82% to 5,965.70, in Paris CAC 40 Index decreased 103.59 or 2.08% to close at 4,865.23 and in Frankfurt DAX index lower 135.33 or 1.93% to close at 6,862.52. In Zurich trading SMI decreased 119.60 or 1.54% to close at 7,662.95.

North American Markets indexes

Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 112.10 or 0.88% to a close of 12,582.18, S&P 500 closed down 12.33 or 0.89% to 1,367.69, and Nasdaq Composite Index traded down 22.21 or 0.94% to a close of 2,331.57. In Toronto TSX Composite closed higher 95.60 or 0.69% to close at 13,873.98.

Of the 30 stocks in Dow Jones Industrial Average, 6 closed higher, 24 closed lower, and none were unchanged.

3M led the decliners in the index with a loss of 4.4% followed by losses in AIG of 4.2%, in Home Depot of 4.05%, and in American Express of 3.65%. Verizon led the gainers in the index with a rise of 2.2% followed by increases in AT&T of 2.2%, in Boeing of 0.9%, and in Chevron of 0.75%.

Of the stocks in S&P 500, 93 closed higher, 406 fell, and 1 was unchanged. Of the index stocks, 13 rose more than 3% and 106 stocks fell more than 3%.

Limited Brands led the decliners in the index with a loss of 11% followed by declines in Sprint Nextel of 10.1%, in Centex of 2.6%, in DR Horton of 10%, and in Mylan of 8.6%. EOG Resources led the gainers in the index with a rise of 18% followed by gains in Hospira of 8.3%, and in Fluor Corp of 8.2%. Apple jumped 6%.


South American Markets Indexes

In Latin Markets Peru led the gainers in the region with a rise of 1.55% followed by increases in Argentina of 1.52%, and in Brazil of 0.08%. Chile led the decliners in the region with a loss of 1% followed by losses in Mexico of 0.8% and in Venezuela of 0.06%.
Asian Markets

In Tokyo Nikkei 225 Index closed lower 105.79 or 0.75% to 13,925.51, in Hong Kong Hang Seng index increased 107.85 or 0.44% closed to 24,591.69. Australia ASX 200 index decreased 116.00 or 2.01% to close 5,651.20.

In South Korea Kospi Index increased 15.28 or 0.89% to close at 1,736.17, in Thailand SET index closed higher 10.08 or 1.21% to 842.12 and Indonesia JSE Index edged increased 16.18 or 0.59% to 2,756.31. Sensex index in India decreased 1.51 or 0.01% to 17,824.48.


Bond Yields decreased on 10-year U.S. bonds to 3.68% and on 30-year bonds declined to 4.53%.

Commodities, Metals, and Currencies

Crude oil increased $3.04 to close at $102.68 per barrel for a front month contract, natural gas increased 39 cents to $9.45 per mBtu, and gasoline futures increased 1.49 cents to close at 249.260 cents per gallon.

Gold increased $6.50 in New York trading to close at $967.50 per ounce, silver closed up 42 cents to $19.75 per ounce, and copper for front month delivery increased 2.750 cents to 387.80 per pound and in yesterday’s trading in London copper futures increased $169.00 to $8,484.00.

Wheat futures fell 8.50 cents in Chicago trading and closed at $11.65 per bushel. Sugar increased 3 cents to 14.66 cents per pound. Soybean future closed up 3.725 cents to $15.125 per bushel.

Dollar edged lower and traded at new record lows against euro to $1.525 and edged higher against yen to 105.34.