Firstly, please note that the markets will be closed on Monday 3rd January for the New Year's Day 'Holiday', so there will be no Pre-Market/Morning/or Afternoon threads on Monday of next week.
Also, considering it's a short trading day today on the ASX ie; 2pm, then perhaps this thread could suffice for today; but if it gets too long in the tooth then maybe Elroy or Kates or scottjack could see fit to open up another thread later on in the day???
DOW Snapshot from the previous trading session:
"U.S. stocks teetered near breakeven in light trading Thursday, after many traders closed out their year-end positions during stock market highs the day before.
Trading was thin, as the Northeast continues to cope with the lingering effects of a massive snowstorm and many traders left for the holidays. On both the New York Stock Exchange and the tech-heavy Nasdaq, winning stocks beat losers, but by slim margins.
"Most of what we're seeing is really some minor shuffling," said Dan Cook, chief executive officer of IG Markets. "We have some really low volume, so it's really hard to read into general market sentiment."
Better-than-expected reports on jobs, housing and manufacturing data offered traders hope for better economic growth in 2011 -- but the good news wasn't enough to lift stocks during the quiet trading session.
Eager to end the year on a high note, many traders had already closed out their books on Wednesday, after the Dow industrials closed at their highest level since Aug. 28, 2008.
"Why not close out on a really positive note when your books look the best, rather than take a chance today and tomorrow?" Cook said.
Stocks have climbed 6% in December, and are on track to post double-digit percentage gains for the year. For 2010 overall, the Dow is up about 11%, the S&P 500 is up nearly 13%, and the Nasdaq is up almost 18%." [Source: cnnmoney.com]
"Thursday's economic news was mostly good but less than conclusive. Jobless claims are posting significant declines but during shortened holiday weeks that are difficult for economists to adjust. Pending home sales rose in November but at a much slower pace than October, nevertheless pointing to another rise, yet no better than a moderate rise, for existing home sales.
Once again trading was extremely narrow in the stock market where the Dow posted a fractional loss to 11,569. The dollar index dipped four tenths to 79.51 while oil fell two percent to $89.39 as longs, deep in the money, took profits. Gold ended a bit lower near $1,405, copper extended gains to $4.34, while interest rates were little changed." [Source: bloomberg.com]
The DJIA Index finished the last trading session Down 15.67 points; and The SPI Futures are currently: Down 14 points atm.
Of note in the US this evening:
Please note there is no noteworthy 'Economic news' due to be released in the US this evening;
...AND...
Of note in Australia today:
Private Sector Credit (MoM) (YoY) (Nov) [Moderate volatility expected] [The Private Sector Credit released by the Reserve Bank of Australia is an amount of money that the Australian private sector borrows. It shows if the private sector can afford large expenses, which can fuel economic growth. It is considered as an indicator of business conditions and the overall economic condition in Australia. Generally, a high reading is seen as positive (or Bullish) for the AUD, whereas a low reading is seen as negative.]
Gold is currently trading Down $7.90 & is sitting at US$1,404.10/oz atm [Source: Kitco] Oil is currently trading Down $1.28 & is sitting at US$89.84/bbl atm [Source: Bloomberg] The Dollar: The AUD is currently trading @ $1.0168 against the US Dollar[Source: Forex. Live]
Happy New Year Traders!
