London Stocks Close Sharply Higher

FTSE 100 ends 1.8% higher at 5766.95, the upbeat tone underpinned by a well-received Spanish T-bill auction and a better-than-expected German ZEW print. “When the economic powerhouse of Europe releases such a huge improvement in growth prospects, it is always going to make equities look attractive, especially after the FTSE has suffered quite substantial declines in the past few weeks,” says Capital Spreads. Continue Reading…

May soybeans were trading 6 1/2 cents higher late in the overnight session. China futures were up 0.2% overnight. Palm oil futures in Malaysia closed up 0.5% overnight. Asian equity markets remained weak overnight, with Chinese stocks down from residual weakness in industrial material shares and from lower financial stock price action. Continue Reading…

May natural gas prices carved out a tight trading range in the overnight and early morning hours that was locked inside of yesterday’s range. The market had a positive showing yesterday, with a rally and close back above the $2.00 level, helped in part by a boost in weekday industrial demand and high level of US nuclear plant outages. Continue Reading…

The silver market is showing some minor recovery action this morning, as overall outside market conditions have improved over the conditions seen at the end of last week. While the silver market will probably draft some support from higher equities and favorable currency market action, US scheduled data flows later this morning aren’t expected to be overly impressive. Continue Reading…

July cocoa has been able to extend the recent recovery rally this morning, although prices have fallen back from their initial highs. Over the previous four sessions, July cocoa regained more than $150 in value and recovered roughly half of the losses sustained during the late March/early April selloff. Continue Reading…

May crude oil is off to a bullish start during the early morning hours and looks poised for a test of last week’s high of $104.24. A portion of the early gains comes from a rather upbeat outside market tone, with European and US equity markets in rally mode, fueled by a successful Spanish debt auction and better than expected German sentiment readings. Continue Reading…

May wheat was trading 2 3/4 cents higher late in the overnight session. Outside market forces look somewhat positive today with a weak USD and solid gains in equity markets overnight. Continue Reading…

With a high open interest and a still hefty net long position from fund traders in a downtrending market, cotton looks vulnerable to more selling ahead. Short-term technical indicators are a bit oversold and outside market forces a bit less negative for today. Continue Reading…

Not surprisingly, US Treasuries are starting out under a bit of pressure today. In addition to a slight tamping down of euro zone debt concerns overnight, the markets have also seen a marginal improvement in overall global sentiment. Continue Reading…

June gold continues to struggle to hold above $1,650 this morning on the charts and some bulls might be a little discouraged by the lack of definitive upside action in the face of higher equities and supportive currency market action. Continue Reading…