U.S. Stocks Advance; New High in Gold

123jump.com Staff
08 Oct, 2009
New York City

Commodities and stocks gained for the second day in a row as gold reached a new record and copper and silver edged up. Home builders gained after comments from lawmakers and retailers advanced on September comparable sales data.

[R]4:30 PM New York, 9:30 PM London, 6:30 AM Sydney – Commodities and stocks gained for the second day in a row as gold reached a new record and copper and silver edged up. Home builders gained after comments from lawmakers and retailers advanced on September comparable sales data.[/R]

U.S. stocks edged higher as markets in Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina closed up as well. Home builders gained after Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithener said housing markets are stabilizing. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Congress will discuss extending tax credit to first-time home buyers.

Better than expected earnings from Alcoa reported higher than expected earnings. Banks traded higher ahead of earnings next week from JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs next week. Oil, natural gas, copper and silver traded up. Gold reached new high of $1,055.

Healthcare insurers declined after the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said that the Senate Finance Committee’s healthcare bill will save $81 billion and cost $829 billion over ten years, lower than the cost of Iraq war. Same store retail sales in September increased drive by discounts.

Humana, UniteHealth Group and WellPoint declined more than 5%.

Stocks in India continue to hover near their recent highs ahead of strong earnings expectations. Rupee edged higher as foreign investors increase their exposure to Indian equities. Reliance Industries declared a bonus and 13 rupees per share dividend.

North American Markets

Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 61.29 or 0.6% to a close of 9,786.87, S&P 500 Index added 7.90 or 0.8% to 1,065.48, and Nasdaq Composite Index added 13.6 or 0.6% to close at 2,123.93. Toronto TSX Composite Index increased 134.63 or 1.2% to 11,484.51.

Of the stocks in S&P 500 index, 424 increased, 70 declined and 6 was unchanged.

Monster Worldwide, Inc led gainers in the S&P 500 index with a rise of 6.4% followed by gains in Abercrombie & Fitch Co 6.2%, in Lennar Corporation of 6.0% and in International Paper Company of 4.5%.

Retailers generally gained after the release of September same store sales. Discount retailers reported better than expected sales in the month. Macy’s, TJX Co, Ross Stores and Limited Brands reported better than expected same store sales in September.

South American Markets Indexes

Mexico Bolsa Index increased 135.48 or 0.5% to 29,898.85 and Brazil Bovespa Stock Index added 1,121.59 or 1.8% to 63,759.88.

Argentina Merval Index closed advanced 2.5% and Chile Stock Market Select index decreased 0.2%, Peru Lima General Index edged down 0.3% and Colombia IGBC General Index decreased 0.6%.

Europe Markets Review

In London FTSE 100 Index closed higher 45.74 or 0.90% to 5,154.64, in Paris CAC 40 Index increased 50.40 or 1.34% to close at 3,806.81, in Frankfurt DAX index higher 75.79 or 1.34% to close at 5,716.54. In Zurich trading SMI increased 45.65 or 0.73% to close at 6,305.80.

Asian Markets Review

The Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo closed higher 32.87 or 0.34% to 9,832.47, Hang Seng index in Hong Kong increased 251.31 or 1.18% to 21,492.90, ASX 200 index in Australia increased 72.90 or 1.55% to 4,768.60. The FTSE Bursa KL Composite index in Malaysia was higher 11.48 or 0.94% to 1,230.09. Markets in China were closed today.

The Kospi Index in South Korea increased 17.46 or 1.09% to close at 1,615.46 SET Index in Thailand closed higher 2.11 or 0.28% to 744.03. JSE Index in Indonesia decreased 28.89 or 1.15% to 2,484.52. The Sensex index in India increased 36.88 or 0.22% to 16,843.54.

Commodities, Metals, and Currencies

Crude oil decreased $1.81 to $71.38 a barrel for a front month contract, natural gas edged up 7 cents to $4.98 per mBtu and gasoline increased 5.37 cents to 177.40 cents.

Soybean future closed up 24 cents to $9.36 a bushel. Wheat futures closed up 10.75 cents in Chicago trading to $4.73 a bushel. Sugar edged down 0.58 cents a pound to 22.54 cents.

Gold increased $13.20 in New York trading to close at $1,057.60 per ounce, silver closed up $0.32 to $17.83 per ounce and copper for the front month delivery increased 9.85 cent to $2.87 per pound.

Dollar edged lower against euro to $1.4779 and closed lower against the Japanese yen to 88.47.

Yield on 10-year U.S. bonds increased to 3.25% and with 30-year maturities decreased to 4.09%.