Good morning all Traders!, Thx PJ, HLL, HERE'S AN OVERNIGHT...

Good morning all Traders!, Thx PJ, HLL,

HERE'S AN OVERNIGHT MARKET UPDATE:
The Australian > SPI 200 Dec 09 futures contract is down 29 points or 0.6% to 4623.

It was a night for the USD > advancing against major currencies overnight after the Fed said economic conditions improved. EUR/USD dipped below its three-month low of 1.4332 and opens todays session marginally higher at 1.4361. GBP/USD is trading lower as UK retail sales opening Friday at 1.6177 and the USD/JPY opens higher at 89.77 after a quiet session overnight.

AUD > weakened against most currencies as investors moved away from higher-yielding assets following on from S&Ps downgrade of Greeces credit rating and speculation that RBA will raise interest rates at a much slower pace than originally anticipated. AUD/USD dipped to a low of 0.8846 to opens today at 0.8877. AUD/EUR trades at 0.6180 after a fairly range-bound session. AUD/JPY opens lower at 79.68 falling significantly overnight and the AUD/NZD had a choppy session opening marginally lower at 1.2482.

Crude oil > rose marginally despite the US dollar strengthening against the euro. WTI futures contract for January rose 0.1% to US$72.74 a barrel.

Spot gold > declined as the strengthening US dollar eroded the appeal of the metal as an alternative asset. Spot gold fell 0.6% to US$1,101.10 an ounce.

US > bond yields declined sharply after S&P downgraded Greeces credit rating and the US dollar strengthened against the euro, increasing safe-haven appeal of US Treasuries. The 2-year yield dipped 8bps to 0.750%, whilst the 10-year yield lost 11bps to 3.484%.

Australian bond > futures moved in line with US Treasuries, underperforming at the long end of the curve. The implied yield on 3-year bond futures was down 7bps to 4.880% (price up 7bps to 95.120) and the implied yield on the 10-year bond futures was down 6bps to 5.530% (price up 6bps to 94.470).

US equities > declined after US jobless claims unexpectedly increased. Citigroup sold stock at a discount, FedExs profits missed estimates and a decline in banking stocks also weighed on the markets. At the time of writing, the DJIA was down 1.0% to 10338, the S&P 500 lost 0.9% to 1099 and the Nasdaq was 1.0% lower at 2185.

European equities > were lower with mixed economic data from the US weighing on the markets. The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 fell 1.2% to 2892, the German DAX lost 1.0% to 5844 and the FTSE was down 1.9% to 5218.

LME > copper futures decreased 2.4% to US$6,870 a tonne after the US dollar gained, reducing the appeal of commodities. Other base metal futures traded negative with zinc, aluminium, nickel and lead decreasing 1.8%, 2.6%, 2.4% and 2.1%, respectively.

US > Corn and soybeans declined 3.2% and 3.5% as a rallying US dollar limited the appeal of commodities. Wheat fell 3.5%, while sugar rose 1.9%. Palm oil futures gained 0.9%.

Good luck to all Traders!