GOOD MORNING, PJ, HLL,..AND ALL HERE'S AN OVERNIGHT MARKET...

GOOD MORNING, PJ, HLL,..AND ALL
HERE'S AN OVERNIGHT MARKET UPDATE:

> The Australian SPI 200 Mar 10 futures contract was up 13 points or 0.3% to 4865.

> US equities were higher overnight as optimism about earnings and analyst upgrades on consumer companies, drugmakers and real-estate trusts triggered a rally in stocks. At the time of writing, the DJIA was up 0.5% to 10682, the S&P 500 rose 0.8% to 1145 and the Nasdaq was 1.1% higher at 2306.

> European equities rose for the first time in three days as gains by technology shares overshadowed a retreat in banks stocks. The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 rose 0.1% to 2978, the German DAX gained 0.3% to 5963 and the FTSE was 0.5% lower at 5473

> US bond yields were trading higher for the first time this week as the US sold $21bn of 10-year notes at a yield of 3.754% and the US Beige book report said that the economy improved in 10 of the 12 districts decreasing the safe haven appeal of bonds. The 2-year yield rose 5bps to 0.952%, whilst the 10-year yield gained 7bps to 3.785%.

> Australian bond futures moved in line with US Treasuries yet underperformed at the long end of the curve. The implied yield on 3-year bond futures was up 3bps to 5.120% (price down 3bps to 94.880) and the implied yield on the 10-year bond futures gained 2bps to 5.630% (price down 2bps to 94.370).

> The USD weakened against major crosses overnight after the US budget deficit widened in December, dampening prospects of a faster economic recovery. EUR/USD touched a high of 1.4580 overnight but later pared gains to open lower at 1.4503. GBP/USD opens strong above 1.6280 after the Bank of England policy maker Andrew Sentance said interest rates may increase this year. USD/JPY opens strong at 91.40 after a session of range trading overnight.

> It was a positive night for the AUD after the US announced its widened deficit. AUD/USD opens stronger around 0.9230 after a choppy session overnight. AUD/EUR traded as higher overnight and opens at 0.6360. AUD/JPY opens at 84.30 after a quiet session overnight and the AUD/NZD opens at 1.2473.

> Crude oil continued to fall after a US government report showed gains in inventories of oil, gasoline and distillate fuel, including heating oil and diesel. WTI futures contract for January fell 1.4% to US$79.68 a barrel.

> Spot gold was trading higher overnight on speculation that the US Fed would hold lending rates low for an extended period, which would erode the value of the US dollar. Spot gold gained 0.8% to US$1,136.97 an ounce.

> LME copper increased 0.4% to US$7485 on speculation that an improvement in economic outlook would boost demand for the metal. Other base metal futures traded positive with zinc, aluminium, lead and nickel increasing 0.6%, 0.6%, 2.0% and 3.4%, respectively.

> US wheat fell 0.2% after a government report yesterday said that US stockpiles rose 24% on slack demand. Sugar gained 2.5% on reports that countries including India and the Philippines would make purchases to meet domestic demand, while soybeans gained 1.4%. Corn declined 2.8% on growing concerns about higher inventories and Palm oil futures were 0.4% lower.

GOOD LUCK TO ALL TRADERS!