US markets were off days high on one-year anniversary of the March 2009 lows; dollar paired its gain during the day. Dow Jones ended up 12 points at 10,564, off 48 points from days high of 10612, Nasdaq ended up 8.5 points at 2341, off 12 points from days high of 2353 and S&P 500 ended up 2 points at 1141, off 4 points from days high of 1145. US financial were in focus post talks that government wants to exit 27% stake in Citi. Dow Futures were flat.
In Europe, CAC, DAX were up 0.17% while FTSE was down 0.1%. CBOE VIX was up 0.7% at 17.9. SGX Nifty was up 0.37%.
European News:
Fitch kept a Negative outlook in place for Portugal’s AA rating. Britain’s plan to halve its deficit in four years was determined to be too slow.
Global News:
Japanese machinery orders fell 3.7% in January from December when they increased 20.1%.
Global Movers & Shakers:
Citigroup was up 7.3%, AIG was up 12.6%, Fannie Mae was up 6%, Freddie Mac was up 5% amid speculation that the government may be planning to restrict short sales on companies it bailed out and currently owns stock in. Citi also rallied on back of buzz that government wants to sell its 27% in the bank and the bank could float preferred-stock offering very soon.
Commodities:
CRB Commodity Index was down 0.6%. Crude oil was down 0.5% at $ 81.49/bbl. April gold closed down 0.1% at $ 1121.8/pounce after trading nearly 1.5% lower in the morning. May silver was up 0.4% at $ 17.34/ounce after being down in excess of 2% in the morning. Baltic Dry Index was down 1.5%, fell for the first time in almost two weeks.
Currencies:
Dollar Index was up 0.1%, was trading up nearly 1% during the day. Dollar was up 10 bps Vs Euro 1.359. Yen depreciated 13 bps Vs USD at 90.
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