Market Analysis from CapitalUpdates.com:
Notice: A truncated version of Gold Seeker Closing report will be posted next week. The normal Gold Seeker Closing Report will resume January 3rd.
Very thin volume in all aspects of the markets highlighted Thursday’s action as a slew of overall disappointing economic reports sent the dollar to yet another new record low versus the euro.
Thursday morning brought Durable Orders for November beating the expected 0.7% at 1.6%, but without autos, Durable Goods fell 0.8%. Initial Claims for 12/18 came in lower than the expected 335,000 at 333,000, Personal Income for November beat the expected 0.2% at 0.3%, and Personal Spending for November came in less than the expected 0.3% at 0.2%. The revised reading of Michigan Sentiment for December beat the expected 95.7 at 97.1 and New Home Sales for November came in much less than the expected 1,200,000 at 1,125,000.
While Durable Orders, Initial claims, and Michigan Sentiment were overall pleasing economically, New Home Sales really disappointed. People saving more and spending less than were expected is good for them personally, but it is not good economically, at least in the short term. While some economists find it troubling that Personal Spending is low, Americans need to save more than they spend in order to stay afloat in the long term and combat any credit bubble that may be out there. Overall, a very mixed economic picture to end this holiday shortened week.
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The Yukos auction was defended by Russian President Putin today as the oil company has essentially become a state-owned entity in order to combat the privatization of companies that took place in Russia in the early 1990’s. While this is something that is not viewed as very favorable by the West, Putin likely doesn’t care and the U.S. can’t do much about it since we need their oil. Oil ended the day lower by $0.06 to $44.18 as investors fully digest this bizarre situation. For the week, oil is down by $2.10 or 4.54% after its 13.68% gain last week.
The 10-Year Treasury note yield gained 0.017 points on Thursday and is up by 0.21% on the week to 4.218%. The March 2005 US Treasury bond lost 06/32 to 112 09/32 on Thursday.
The Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P all traded slightly higher in thin volume on Thursday and ended with 0.10%, 0.17%, and 0.05% gains, respectively. The Dow and S&P sit at 3 and ½ year highs while the Nasdaq sits just 10.65 points away from 3 and ½ year highs. For the week, the Dow is by 177.20 or 1.66% to 10827.12, the Nasdaq is up by 25.42 points or 1.19% to 2160.62, and the S&P is up by 15.91 points or 1.33% to 1210.13.
The U.S. dollar index lost 0.65 points to 81.33 on Thursday and is down by 0.79 points or 0.96% on the week. The euro made a new all time high of 135.03 before falling off a bit and ending with a 0.91 points gain on Thursday to 134.85. The yen gained 0.35 points on Thursday to 96.39. For the week, the euro is up by 2.04 points or 1.54% and the yen is up by 0.55 points or 0.57%.
Notice: Holiday Schedules:
Markets:
Friday Dec 24 - US markets closed all day. Canadian markets open until 1PM EST.
Monday Dec 27 - US markets open normal hours. Canadian markets closed.
Tuesday Dec 28 - US markets open normal hours. Canadian markets closed.
Wednesday Dec 29 - US and Canadian markets open as normal.
NYMEX Schedule:
Friday Dec 24 - Electronic trading closed December 23; reopens 7 PM, December 26.
Friday Dec 31 - Electronic trading closed December 30; reopens 7 PM, January 2, 2005
Dec 23 and 30- Energy markets, including NYMEX ClearPortsm clearing, close at 1 PM. Aluminum and palladium close at 12 noon; copper and silver at 12:05 PM; and platinum and gold at 12:10 PM.
This week’s economic reports:
Gold & Silver Report from GoldSeek.com & SilverSeek.com:
Gold Warehouse Stocks: | 5644706 | -96 |
Silver Warehouse Stocks: | 104036600 | - |
COT reports will be released Monday.
Gold and silver fell lower in after hours trade yesterday but regained their losses by the open of New York trade on Thursday and traded slightly higher in tight trade to solidify gains for the week. Gold gained $1.50 to $441.50 and silver gained $0.09 to $6.87. For the week, gold is up by $0.10 and silver is up by $0.12.
The XAU, HUI, and GDM were almost 2% higher in early trade on Thursday before falling off slightly for the rest of the day and ending with 0.18%, 0.68%, and 0.60% gains, respectively. For the week, the XAU is up by 0.97 points or 0.99% to 99.30, the HUI is up by 1.2 points or 0.56% to 216.09, and the GDM is up by 4.67 points or 0.68% to 687.50.
Gold & Silver Stock News Update from GoldReview.com:
Much more news surrounding Newmont’s pollution problems in Indonesia, Richmont Mines’ private placement, Crystallex’s debt offering, Harmony’s three year low due to the rand, Anglogold Ashanti’s agreement with Trans-Siberian Gold, Rio Narcea’s joint venture with C2C inc., Arizona Star’s new policy for Insider Options, and Western Silver’s equity financing were among the big stories in the gold and silver mining industry making headlines today; get the full stories at http://www.goldreview.com/. Access our archives here and use the menu on the left hand side in order to navigate through all of our stories.
- Written by Chris Mullen
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-- Posted Thursday, December 23 2004
