Mid-Day Market Action
- US: Ahead of Federal Reserve’s policy statement, US markets are having a choppy and low volume trading session. Dow: 12096.75 (0.63%), S&P 500: 1241.44 (0.43%), Nasdaq: 2614.25 (0.08%)
- Europe: CAC: 3078.72 (-0.35%), DAX: 5774.26 (-0.19%), FTSE: 5490.15 (1.13%).
- Asia:Australia: 4193.40 (-1.40%),China: 2248.59 (-1.91%),Hong Kong: 18447.17 (-0.70%),India: 4800.60 (0.76%),Japan: 8552.81 (-1.18%),Korea: 1864.06 (-1.92%),Singapore: 2685.74 (-0.59%),
- Metals: Gold: 1662 (-0.14%), Silver: 31.15 (0.48%), Copper: 3.45 (-0.23%)
- Energy: Crude Oil: 99.72 (1.99%), Natural Gas: 3.26 (0.06%)
- Agriculture: Corn: 5.88 (0.38%), Soya Bean: 11.22 (0.92%), Wheat: 5.97 (3.74%).
- Currency: EUR/USD: 1.3088 (-0.74%), GBP/USD: 1.5527 (-0.35%), USD/JPY: 77.880 (-0.03%)
- 10 year US Treasury: 1.993% (-0.021)
News Update
US Stocks having a choppy session and low volume session: Ahead of Federal Reserve’s policy statement, US markets are having a choppy and low volume trading session. Spurt in oil prices, led to a substantial gain for the energy shares. Morgan Stanley also jumped 2.4% after settling a dispute with MBIA Inc.
Retail Sales weaker than expected: US Retail sales grew less than expected in November, with a total retail sales increase of 0.2%. November saw a drop in spending on food and beverages, while autos showed strong sales numbers.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/13/us-usa-economy-retail-idUSTRE7BC0Y420111213
Oil surges on renewed jitters over Iran: Amid renewed jitters overIran, and expectations of further monetary easing, oil surged nearly $4 a barrel on Tuesday.
Euro drops to 11 month low against dollar: Lack of unity among European nations to solve the debt crisis, and fears of more credit rating downgrades, has made the euro slide to an 11 month low against the dollar. A break below the October lows of $1.3145, led to a selling momentum in the euro.
http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2011/12/13/euro-slides-to-lowest-since-january-against-dollar/
IEA wants OPEC to maintain supplies: International Energy Agency urged OPEC to maintain its current oil production of 30m barrels a day, ahead of a key meeting of the oil cartel, amid growing fears of a global economic slowdown, with oil still hovering at around $100 a barrel.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/714eb786-2568-11e1-9c76-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1gRCttMrO
Companies Snapshot
- Former executives of Washington Mutual Inc. have agreed to a payment of
about $75 million to settle a lawsuit brought by FDIC.
- Jive Software Inc made an impressive debut in the markets, with the stock touching an intraday high of $16.50 on NASDAQ, a gain of 38%.
- Best Buy misses Wall Street quarterly profit expectations; shares down 11%.
- Boeing received its biggest ever order from Southwest Airlines, worth $19 billion.
- Dupont expects to beat2012 Wall Street profit and revenue expectations.
- Citigroup to sell remaining stake in life insurer, Primerica Inc.
