Morning traders. One last spin of the wheel for 2009.
Market wrap: The local market looks set to end the year near 14-month highs despite a flat night on Wall Street.
Futures traders expect our market to open at a healthy premium this morning. The SPI futures index closed 22 points ahead at 4850 after minor gains in the U.S. and a pullback on European markets in thin holiday trade.
The Dow closed 3 points or 0.03% higher at 10,548. The S&P 500 added 0.02% and the Nasdaq 0.13% after a terrorism scare. (A Nasdaq building was briefly evacuated around midday after a suspicious vehicle was found parked outside. The vehicle proved harmless and trading operations were unaffected.)
The night's economic news delivered mixed signals. A regional survey of American purchasing professionals showed business activity expanded much faster than expected in December. But a regional manufacturing report showed activity this month grew at a slower pace than in November.
Trading volumes were low as many traders closed the books for 2009. "People are basically cleaning up positions today," the chief executive of an asset management company told MarketWatch. "A lot of them want to have some cash in hand going into the New Year because they're wary of the short-term outlook for the economy."
Commodity prices were again pressured by a rising U.S. dollar. The The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, was recently up 0.14%.
Gold fell for a second session but pared its losses as the greenback gave back some of its early gains. The spot price was recently at $1,090.60 an ounce, down $5.30 or 0.4% on yesterday. Silver and platinum also lost ground.
Oil rallied to a seven-week high on further falls in U.S. crude inventories. U.S. stockpiles fell by 1.5 million barrels last week, the fourth decline in a row, sending the price of a barrel up 0.55% to $79.30.
Copper hit a 16-month high on strike fears in Chile but other base metals were squeezed by the greenback and rising inventories. In London, copper gained 0.7% and zinc rose 0.67% but aluminium lost 1.45%, lead 1.8%, nickel 1.6% and tin 0.15%.
European markets fell back from 14-month highs after declines in financial stocks. Britains FTSE dropped 0.73%, Germanys DAX 0.9% and Frances CAC 0.62%.
TRADING THEMES TODAY
ECONOMIC NEWS: One last shot of local economic data: the Reserve Bank releases monthly private sector credit numbers at 11.30 am. In the U.S. tonight: unemployment claims, a monthly regional purchasing managers index and Bloomberg's monthly Financial Conditions Index.
SHORT SESSION: The market closes for New Year at 2 pm today (2.10 including the auction). As it's a short session, there's no need for an afternoon thread.
I'm taking next week off to recharge the batteries and will be off-line until Monday, January 11. If the reliable Noo is around, perhaps he can provide the thread with daily updates?
All the very best to all on HotCopper for 2010. Special thanks to all who have contributed to this thread over the last 12 months and helped make it a valuable trading tool. Here's to 2010.
