5-Day Rally Halts in New York; Gold, Silver Firm

Mukesh Buch
11 Sep, 2009
New York City

U.S. stocks closed lower after rising for five days in a row. For the week, the Dow increased 1.7%, the S&P 500 added 2.6% and the Nasdaq gained 3.1%. The Dow closed just around the same level where it was on September 10, 2008, the day before the terrorist attacks.

[R]4:30 PM New York, 9:30 PM London, 6:30 AM Sydney – U.S. stocks closed lower after rising for five days in a row. For the week, the Dow increased 1.7%, the S&P 500 added 2.6% and the Nasdaq gained 3.1%. The Dow closed just around the same level where it was on September 10, 2008, the day before the terrorist attacks.[/R]

Stocks in New York edged higher in the morning after the latest reading on consumer sentiment index rises in August but closed lower at close. Gold gains and trades near the recent highs as dollar weakened against the euro, pound and yen.

FedEx gained after first quarter earnings came in at 58 cents a share ahead of its guidance and UPS and Expeditors International gained on the news.

Campbell fourth quarter net income declines 25%. National Semiconductor reported fiscal first quarter revenues fell 32% but indicated that the demand is rising.

Balfour Beatty wins £150 million Hong Kong University deal. The pub chain operator J D Wetherspoon annual net drops 29%. The recruiting company SThree in its trading update said permanent staffing demand is still weak. 888Holdings Plc surged 12% after it signed a deal with Harrah’s Entertainment.

Stocks in Hong Kong and Shanghai advanced after a raft of economic data in China suggested rising economy. Data on retail sales, industrial production, money supply and urban investment for August were better than expected. Exports fell more than anticipated.

Mumbai stocks edged higher after the release of industrial production data. Jet Airways is expected to resume normal schedule after the pilots union is expected to call-off strike today. Sterlite Industries revised its offer for the U.S. based copper mine Asarco by 3% to $2.6 billon.

Australian stocks closed at 11-month high after strong Chinese economic data suggested sustained exports from Australia. Australian dollar closed to 12-month high. The retailer Myer reported higher earnings on stable sales and is expected to initiate public offering by the end of the month.

North American Markets

Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 22.07 or 0.2% to a close of 9,605.41, S&P 500 Index decreased 1.41 or 0.1% to 1,042.73, and Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 3.12 or 0.2% to close at 2,080.90. Toronto TSX Composite Index increased 89.89 or 0.8% to 11,244.89.

Of the stocks in S&P 500 index, 228 increased, 268 declined and 4 were unchanged.

Fifth Third Bancorp led the decliners in the S&P 500 index with a loss of 6.3% followed by losses in National Semiconductor of 6%, in KeyCorp of 4.1%, in RadioShack Corp of 3.9% and in KB Home of 3.9%.

Motorola led gainers in the S&P 500 index with a rise of 8.5% followed by gains in MetroPCS Communications of 8.5%, in FedEx Corporation 6.5%, in AMD of 5.6% and in Dynegy Inc of 4.9%.

South American Markets Indexes

Mexico Bolsa Index increased 130.37 or 0.4% to 29,448.79 Brazil Bovespa Stock Index decreased 120.29 or 0.2% to 58,415.50.

Argentina Merval Index closed down 0.4% and Chile Stock Market Select index edged higher 0.6%, Peru Lima General Index edged up 0.7% and Colombia IGBC General Index decreased 0.3%.

Europe Markets Review

In London FTSE 100 Index closed higher 23.79 or 0.48% to 5,011.47, in Paris CAC 40 Index increased 29.02 or 0.78% to close at 3,734.89, in Frankfurt DAX index higher 29.25 or 0.52% to close at 5,624.02. In Zurich trading SMI increased 24.56 or 0.40% to close at 6,232.99.

Asian Markets Review

The Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo closed lower 69.34 or 0.66% to 10,444.33, Hang Seng index in Hong Kong increased 91.86 or 0.44% to 21,161.42 and CSI 300 index in China higher 75.22 or 2.38% to 3,238.13. ASX 200 index in Australia increased 25.30 or 0.55% to 4,596.10. The FTSE Bursa KL Composite index in Malaysia closed higher 7.00 or 0.58% to 1,208.28.

The Kospi Index in South Korea increased 7.02 or 0.43% to close at 1,651.70. SET index in Thailand closed higher 4.72 or 0.67% to 707.81 and JSE Index in Indonesia increased 4.08 or 0.17% to 2,415.95. The Sensex index in India increased 47.44 or 0.29% to 16,264.30.

Commodities, Metals, and Currencies

Crude oil decreased $2.68 to $69.26 a barrel for a front month contract, natural gas edged down 26 cents to $2.99 per mBtu and gasoline decreased 4.72 cents to 175.64 cents.

Wheat futures closed up 8.50 cents in Chicago trading to $4.67 a bushel. Sugar edged down to 0.56 cents a pound to 22.86 cents. Soybean future closed down 23.50 cent to $9.03 a bushel.

Gold increased $10.80 in New York trading to close at $1,007.60 per ounce, silver closed up $0.12 to $16.79 per ounce and copper for the front month delivery decreased 4.10 cent to $2.83 per pound.

Dollar edged lower against euro to $1.4584 and closed lower against the Japanese yen to 90.64.

Yield on 10-year U.S. bonds decreased to 3.34% and with 30-year maturities edged lower to 4.18%.