| Wall Street advances sharply
Gold futures hit a record, briefly venturing above $913 an ounce as the dollar tumbled against other major currencies. The euro reached a new high above $1.49.Other commodities were higher, too. Crude oil rose $1.51 to settle at $94.20 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.Peter Dunay, investment strategist at Leeb Capital Management, believes the run in commodities prices will continue as Wall Street eyes what the Federal Reserve will do at its Jan. 29-30 meeting. Chairman Ben Bernanke has convinced investors the central bank will cut rates, and the expectation of cheaper money also bolstered sentiment Monday``We're expecting inflation to be a problem, and believe the commodity demand is going to continue,'' Dunay said. ``We think the Fed is going to throw as much money as they can to keep us out of recession, or keep the recession mild, so commodities will be higher.''Stocks sold off sharply last week after a chorus of Wall Street economists predicted the U.S.
MCX to support Microsoft's rural technology training programme
MUMBAI: Multi Commodity Exchange of India on Thursday announced its support to an ongoing computer literacy programme of Microsoft and Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals in rural Maharashtra.
This marks the launch of MCX's Corporate Social Responsibility initiative aimed at empowering the youth and women of rural areas of the state with technology skills.
Till now over 15,500 people have been trained and more than 24,000 people are using this service across 16 districts by the means of understanding the futures markets prices of the area specific commodities.
MCX's support will help in increasing deployment of laptop and desktop computers and thereby strengthen the ongoing technology training and adoption efforts through the project.
Soft miners, banks keep lid on stocks
THE Australian stock market was little changed at noon amid subdued trading, although the big miners were weaker after base metals prices came under pressure again. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was 0.4 points higher at 6334.7, while the All Ordinaries had gained 1.1 points to 6396.2. On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December share price index contract was seven points lower at 6364 on a volume of 5,580 contracts. Austock Securities senior client adviser Michael Heffernan said the market lacked firm direction. "It's been a bit choppy, which is not surprising given the fact that is no lead from our normal leader, which is the US," Mr Heffernan said. "Commodity prices were a bit on the soft side.' "It is interesting that the major drivers of our market, the banks and financial sectors, are in negative territory." Following a round of profit-taking in the past couple of sessions, it could be time for investors to buy again, Mr Heffernan said.
Big miners drag stocks down
On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December share price index contract was down 72 points to 6528, on a volume of 19,549 contracts. CMC Markets dealer Matt Wacher said lower base metal prices overnight are weighing on the local bourse. "Most of the sectors seem to be pretty flat. Energy and materials sectors are off," Mr Wacher said. "I guess the materials and energy sectors are off on the back of the commodity prices overnight. Oil prices and all the base metals took a bit of a beating and similarly with the gold price which was off quite substantially." Mr Wacher said positive retail sales data in the United States helped to buoy stocks on Wall Street."The US retail sales result was pretty strong so that's probably given a bit of impetus to the market as a whole over there. "It started much lower on the day and ended up around 40 points on the close...
Australian stock market closes down on global credit concerns
DESPITE a strong lead from Wall Street and higher commodity prices, the share market closed in negative territory, reversing earlier intraday gains, on cautiousness about global investments markets. At the 4.15pm AEDT close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 20 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 5960, and the All Ordinaries had shed 21.1 points, or 0.35 per cent, to 6019.8. On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the March share price index was down 15 points to 5951 on a volume of 27,555 contracts. ABN Amro Morgans Ipswich manager Tony Russell said nervousness ruled the local market today. "The market is very jittery, we've been swinging from positive to negative.'' Mr Russell said Australian investors were cautious about the earnings results coming from the United States. "We'll see some of the major financial institutions reporting in the US tonight, so the market might be waiting to see what happens there.'' Mr Russell said trading conditions were thin, with many investors still on holiday.
FSA after McCarthy
The FSA chairmanship will be a difficult job to fill, not least because the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, has already announced that there will be significant changes to the financial regulatory system but has not precisely specified these changes. Right now, any candidate would not know what kind of organisation he or she would be taking over. Mr Darling has however indicated that the FSA will have great powers to intervene when banks run into trouble, to pre-empt a repetition of the massively damaging run on the deposits at Northern Rock of last September. In the City, there have been rumours that the likely successor would be James Crosby, a former chief executive of HBOS, the big bank – who is currently deputy chairman of the FSA. However, Mr Crosby has told friends he is uninterested in becoming chairman.
|
