Monthly Archives: December 2011

Wall Street finished the session higher following stronger than expected economic data, an index of pending U.S. homes sales rose more than forecast while other data showed business activity had increased for the month of December boosting employment. This was enough to push the Dow higher up 135 points to 12,287. The local share market is set to gain almost 1 percent with the SPI up 26 points following the positive lead from Wall Street. Today is the last day of trading for 2011 with the market finishing early, 2pm Sydney time. Despite any positive movement today our market is set to finish the year in the red, down roughly 660 points or 14% compared to last year’s close of 4745 points, December 31st 2011. Read more…

US markets fell by over 1% overnight as Italy and Europe continue to scare global investors. The biggest worry at this point is the Italian long term bond yield which continues to flirt with the 7% level as the next auction looms tomorrow. Furthering concerns was the realisation that the ECB’s balance sheet has surged to record levels of 2.73 trillion Euros, after lending funds to financial institutions last week in an attempt to keep credit flowing to the economy; highlighting the risks from the regions debt crisis. Read more…

U.S. blue chip stocks’ year end rally ran out of steam Tuesday, slipping slightly to snap a four session string of gains as investors weighed a better than expected reading on consumer confidence against crude oil’s rise back above $100 a barrel. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down 2.65 points, or 0.02%, to 12291.35. Sentiment was helped Tuesday by a reading on consumer confidence that showed the measure at an eight-month high of 64.5 in December, easily topping expectations for a reading of 56.0. More importantly for some, a measure of perceived job prospects improved to its best level since early 2009. Read more…

US stocks rose for a third consecutive session overnight on the back of positive jobs data and rising consumer sentiment. The Dow Industrials rose 50.45 points to 12,158.19 with 22 of its 30 components closing in the black with financials leading the gainers, the tech orientated NASDAQ put on 21 points to 2598.77 while the S&P 500 gained 10 points to 1254. On the commodities front, gold futures for February delivery were softer by US$7.5 to $1606 per troy ounce, copper put on $2.15 while crude relatively flat at US$99.41 per barrel, the Australian dollar is currently buying 101.29 US cents. Read more…

US equities closed up 4 points overnight after being down 1% at one stage, showing continued strength after strong gains in the previous session. Triggering selling pressure in early trade was worse than expected forecast results for Oracle Group sending the share price down 12%. There was some positive US economic data released showing that existing home sales increased 4% last month. Read more…

U.S. stocks surged as domestic home building jumped to the highest level in nearly two years and another successful Spanish debt auction buoyed investor sentiment. Encouraging news on Germany’s economy, and reports of a Greek deal with private debt holders all gave investors reason to step into the market.The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 337.17 points, or 2.87%, to 12103.43, registering its biggest gain since Nov. 30. The rally propelled the blue-chip Dow into positive territory for the month. It is up 4.5% this year. Read more…

Stocks on Wall Street traded lower overnight amid fresh concerns European officials were failing to make any progress with regard to resolving the crisis. Cautious comments from the head of the European Central bank dampened any optimism that the ECB would reach a resolution in response to Europe’s debt crisis in the short-term. The head of the ECB, Mario Draghi, said the central bank was looking for ways to ensure any European bailout would be effective even in the event of a credit downgrade of France or Germany. He also cited that large-scale government bond purchases were outside of the banks responsibility. All of the major indexes were weak today, as the S&P 5500 lost 1.17% or -14.31 to finish at, 1205.35 while the Dow lost -0.84% or -100.13 to close just shy of the low for the session at 11,766.26 points. Bank of America shares drop -4.1% to trade under $5 for the first time since March 2009, closing at $4.96. Read more…

Stock markets closed the session mixed on Friday night as credit ratings agency, Fitch, put a number of European economies on watch for potential downgrades, the majors being France and Italy, on concerns that a comprehensive solution to the European Debt crisis is beyond reach. The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened strongly, however gradually sold off throughout the session, to close down 2.42 points at 11866, led lower by the more defensive health care and industrial sectors. The S&P500 saw gains of 3.91 points or 0.32% to close at 1219.6 whilst the NASDAQ closed 14.32 points or 0.56% higher at 2555. Read more…

US stocks ended modestly higher Thursday after rising as much as 144 points ending a three-day slump initially due to positive jobless claims and manufacturing data. Markets lost ground intraday after the head of the IMF stoked fears that Europe’s sovereign debt crisis is worsening.

The Dow Industrials closed up 45.33 points to 11,868.81, the tech orientated NASDAQ ended marginally higher by 1.7 points while the S&P 500 up 4 points to 1215.75. On commodities, gold wasn’t spared yet again with futures for February delivery dropping US$14 to $1573 an ounce, that’s 7 negative sessions from the last 9, silver rose a mere 18c to $29.12, copper slightly lower by $1.40 while crude continued its decline to US$93.40 per barrel, the Australian dollar is still trading below parity currently buying 99.21 US cents. Read more…

US stocks fell 131 points as European debt worries continue to weigh on the forefront of investors’ minds. Fueling concern was Italian bond yields rising to a 14 year high on the back of some weaker than expected economic data. In its bond auction, Italy sold the targeted quantity of bonds but had to offer 6.47%. Stocks hit the hardest last night were in the energy space, with Chevron down over 3% and Exxon down over 1% due to the 5% fall in oil price. Read more…