London Stocks End Up; Mining Stocks Benefit

FTSE 100 closes up 1.3% at 5710.46, with a firmer session on Wall Street following QE-friendly remarks by New York Fed president offering the support. City Index adds vague market talk of a better-than-expected reading of Chinese GDP figures due Friday at 0200 GMT. Continue Reading…

(1368,00) The S&P is consolidating interior Tuesday’s range forming an inside day with 1382,00 – 135100 the levels to follow in the coming hours/ session. A break above 1382,00 will favour the closing of the gap down area 1380,70 – 1384,20. Continue Reading…

May soybeans were trading 6 cents higher late in the overnight session. China futures were down 0.3% overnight. Palm oil futures in Malaysia closed down 1.5%. Asian equity markets were higher overnight, with the trade still tossing around the idea of upcoming Chinese easing, but there also seemed to be some hope that Chinese GDP readings tonight would come in positive. Continue Reading…

After setting a new contract low during the Wednesday evening hours, May natural gas prices have tried to stabilize and make a run up toward the $2.00 area. The market experienced a high-volume trade yesterday, more than 400,000 contracts traded, as prices plunged below the psychologically important $2.00 level. Continue Reading…

July cocoa is finding little benefit from positive outside market factors this morning, as prices remain fairly close to their lowest levels for 2012. Yesterday’s earthquake in Indonesia created some initial supply concerns but was unable to lift prices above their recent trading range. Continue Reading…

May wheat was trading 4 cents higher late in the overnight session. Outside market forces look positive with a weaker US dollar and firm trade in the US stock market. Some continued concerns of cold weather damage in the US plus a smaller winter crop in Europe this year due to weather issues combined with a more positive tilt to outside markets helped to support the wheat market overnight. Continue Reading…

A pattern of lower highs in silver this week haven’t prevented the silver trade from carving out periodic price gains in the early Thursday US action. Silver also seems to have discounted news of higher/record silver production from a Canadian miner in their 1st quarter results. Continue Reading…

May crude oil established a higher high during the initial morning hours, boosted by weakness in the US dollar and prospects that China’s central bank could move to ease monetary policy. There were also comments from a US Fed official bolstering the case for another round of quantitative easing. Continue Reading…

The surge higher in the May contract on tightness concerns for the old crop supply helped to support the strong gains in cotton into the mid-session yesterday. However, while the May contract stayed strong, July cotton closed near the lows of the day and just slightly up on the session. Continue Reading…

US Treasuries have started off slightly off balance as overnight events generally favor the bear camp to start. In addition to a passable Italian debt auction result, there appears to be somewhat positive economic views toward China and US equities in the early action today. Continue Reading…