Daily Commodity Roundup: Gold Soars On Demand, Cotton Dives On Outlook
Today saw another busy trading day, with most major equities finishing down on continued worries that Congress will not agree on a debt plan in time. The deadline to raise the debt ceiling is set for August 2nd, leaving little time for major snags or debates among our legislators. Aside from these fears, the market saw Apple (AAPL) shares touch $400 for the first time ever, much to the delight of the wealth of investors with shares in the company. Today also saw the busiest week for IPO pricing since 2007, with industries represented everywhere from “food services, biotech, energy, and defense to even farming in Uruguay” writes CNBC.
Daily Commodity Roundup: Sugar Soars On Brazilian Crop, Cocoa Tumbles On Surplus
Today saw equities finish mixed as the Senate rejected a House GOP plan to cut the budget and pass an increase to the debt ceiling. Though this was an expected move, it certainly did not help markets, as investors continually wait for the government to make tangible progress on the debt crisis before the looming deadline. Friday’s trading session also saw oil touch the $100 per barrel mark before finishing just under the triple digit level, likely boosted by strong earnings reports. Likewise, gold had a solid day, finishing above the $1,600 per ounce mark on continued uncertainty over debt. The majority of commodities saw a strong day as well; over five separate futures contracts posted gains of 1% or more. But among all of the winners and losers on the day, two stood out in particular, due to various supply reports from across the globe.
Daily Commodity Roundup: Sugar Soars On Indian Demand, Natural Gas Falls On EIA Report
Equities surged forward today as solid earnings reports from a number of key firms helped to boost sentiment. Phillip Morris International rose by nearly 5% on a solid outlook while Union Pacific gained a similar amount on price increases as well. To top things off, Morgan Stanley showed a robust increase in trading revenues which helped to carry the financial sector higher overall and sent MS soaring by over 11%. Also helping markets in their 1%+ gains were actions to help Greece through yet another round of its debt crisis. While not all information has been released, initial reports from Brussels suggest that Greece will receive a bailout valued at 109 billion euro, alleviating fears that the nation would default altogether. Commodities saw an interesting day as well, as crude oil is again flirting with the $100 per barrel mark while other products took a hit during the trading session … See the full story here
Daily Commodity Roundup: Crude Gains On Supply Drop, Lumber Gets Burned On Housing Sales
Today saw major equities finish slightly down, which is to be expected after posting their largest gains in a year yesterday. American government officials continue to debate over a debt ceiling deal, although many are now predicting that the latest plan will need to be revised before it can pass through the Senate. While investors hope for a deal to be struck soon, only time will tell how long it will take for Congress to approve the legislation that will dictate how our nation moves forward with the current debt levels. As a result of this focus on debt, many commodities saw a relatively slow day, as the UBS Bloomberg CMCI index gave up just 1.9 points while the S&P GSCI finished up by about seven points in total.
Daily Commodity Roundup: Copper Gains On Housing Starts, Silver Crashes On Strong Equities
Markets saw a healthy rebound today as earnings season helped to lift equities from their dismal spin that has been in effect for the last few trading sessions. After gold made yet another historic run yesterday, it fell back below the $1,600 per ounce mark as investors gained some optimism on the U.S. plan to handle the enormous debt and the ceiling which we have just hit. Oil, on the other hand, made strong gains on the day, as it turned a gain of over 1.6% moving nicely along with equities. As for major commodity indexes, the UBS Bloomberg CMCI Index gained 14.5 points while the S&P GSCI saw a drop of about 6.3 points. While the strong economic indicators were good news for a handful of futures, it put downward pressure on others that are more closely aligned with safe haven appeal, as the risky commodities saw inflows at their expense … See the full story here
Daily Commodity Roundup: Silver Shines On Economic Woes, Cotton Tanks On Negative Outlook
Today saw markets further their plunge as fears of a U.S. default remained in investors’ minds. As it gets closer to the August second deadline, with the government failing to make any tangible progress on the debt ceiling, investors are growing more worried, which has sent equities on a roller coaster ride over the last few weeks. As for commodities, gold saw yet another historic breakthrough today as it finished above $1,600 per ounce for the first time ever. Gold’s climb proves that investors are more comfortable seeking safe havens for the time being in the precious metals arena, as they quickly move out of equity positions to wait out the storm. In aggregate, today saw the UBS Bloomberg CMCI index finish down 7.6 points while the S&P GSCI gained roughly 5.5 suggesting that commodities were pretty mixed overall.
Daily Commodity Roundup: Sugar Continues Slide On Brazilian Crop, Orange Juice Rises On Florida Weather
American markets tumbled in Thursday trading as the second day of Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s testimony weighed on U.S. equities. In the report, Bernanke seemed to quell any notion of stimulus in the near future, suggesting that the economic situation will have to deteriorate further if another round of QE is in the cards. Industrial goods, services, and tech were all big losers on the day while health care and consumer companies managed to rise above the overall market to close the session. In international markets, Asia started the day mixed as Chinese and Indian benchmarks rose, but Australia and Japan both fell, leaving the region pretty much flat overall. European markets, however, were down across the board as pretty much all the benchmarks on the continent lost about 1% in the day’s trading.
Daily Commodity Roundup: Wheat Surges On Crop Issues, Cattle Tumbles On Demand Fears
American markets started the day on a high note only to finish the much closer to the breakeven level as traders digested testimony from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. In his report, the Chairman suggested that another round of stimulative measures wasn’t completely out of the question and that more ‘untested’ methods may be used to bring the economic growth rate back up. Utilities were one of the losers on the day while traders continued to push into the basic materials and services sector as strong prices for natural resources and hopes for more easing carried the riskier sectors higher on the day.
Daily Commodity Roundup: Sugar Surges On Crop Concerns, Cotton Continues Tumble On Demand Fears
American markets floated upwards for much of Tuesday’s session until right before the close when Moody’s downgraded Ireland to ‘junk’ pushing equities sharply lower to close out the day. The heaviest losses came in the technology sector as the Nasdaq underperformed its counterparts, led lower by a nearly 1.7% loss in both Intel and Oracle. Utilities and basic materials, however, did manage to have solid days led by strength in natural resource prices and a desire for more safe haven investments in the space. Global markets were also in the red pretty much across the board as the Asia-Pacific region started the day with a nearly 1.8% loss in Australia and Shanghai, followed by a 3% tumble in the Hang Seng exchange. Meanwhile, in Europe, most benchmarks finished lower by about one percent although the Italian exchange did make back some of its losses, gaining 1.2% in Tuesday trading.
Daily Commodity Roundup: Cotton Plunges On Dollar Strength, Lean Hogs Soar On Chinese Demand
U.S. markets had a rough start to the week as fears over debt loads in Europe sent many investors running for safe havens. Losses were pretty much across the board in American equity markets as financials did the worst while health care came out relatively unscathed. Internationally, Asia started the day on a down note as the Hang Seng and the S&P ASX both finished the day lower by about 1.5% while Europe outdid their Asian counterparts as the French and German indexes both fell by over 2.3% while the Italian benchmark plunged by close to 4% on worries over that country’s debt. As a result of this international turmoil, many investors fled to safe havens such as the U.S. dollar and Treasury bonds, helping to send yields much lower on the day for most maturity levels of American debt. Unsurprisingly, this led to a risk off trade in commodities, … See the full story here