Copper traded lower overnight and really started to plunge in the hour before the open. The selloff continued during the floor session until a double bottom eventually formed at 151.60. Copper ultimately pared its losses the rest of the day but the 151.60 level was the lowest Copper traded since Jun-05.
Equities finished higher with the Dow up 3.3% to 8419, the S&P jumping 4% to 849 and Nasdaq adding 3.7% to 1450.
The S&P500 traded in positive territory for the entire day and rallied up to 848 by lunch. But sellers took over, and the S&P gave back almost all of its gains early in the afternoon. Then, just as quickly, the S&P500 caught a bid and rallied to new highs on the close. Despite the strong gains, the S&P did not even recover half of yesterday’s losses.
All ten sectors in the S&P500 were higher with Financials rising 7.7%. Citigroup, Bank of America and Wells Fargo all jumped over 10%, but Goldman fell 1.2%.
At 7:30am tomorrow, Challenger Layoffs are released. ADP Employment follows at 8:15am. At 8:30am, Final Q3 NonFarm Productivity is expected to increase 0.8% with Unit Labor Costs rising 3.5%. ISM Non-Manufacturing is forecast at 43. FED Governor Kroszner speaks on the mortgage crisis at 10:15am in Washington. At 10:35am, EIA Petroleum Inventories are released. At 2pm, the Beige Book comes out.
Crude dipped to a low of 47.36 overnight but rallied above yesterday’s close (49.28) by the time floor trading on the NYMEX began. Crude edged over 50 a few times but could not breach the 50.25 level and eventually tumbled back into negative territory. A pickup in volume late in the day sent Crude to new lows and it briefly dropped below the 47 handle. Crude is now $100 below its July high and has not traded at this level since May-05.
Silver traded lower overnight but edged above yesterday’s close (9.38) right before the open. It shot higher in the opening minutes of floor trade but bounced off resistance at 9.75 and did not revisit that level the rest of the day.
Copper plunged to a low of 157.50 overnight before paring its losses into the open. Copper continued to rally during the floor session, but it bounced off resistance at 162.50 three times, and retreated below 160 on the close.
Equities were crushed today with the Dow down 7.7% to 8149, the S&P plunging 8.9% to 816 and the Nasdaq tumbling 9% to 1398.
The S&P500 opened significantly lower and made lower lows and lower highs for the entire session. The S&P repeatedly bounced off lows of 840 early in the afternoon, but a pickup in volume sent it to new lows on the close. The S&P500 looks likely to test support at 800 tomorrow.
All ten sectors in the S&P500 were negative with Financials plummeting 17%. Banking giants Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and Bank of America all lost over 20% on the day.
At 8:55am tomorrow, Johnson Redbook Retail Sales will be released. At 11:30am, Treasury Secretary Paulson speaks on the US-China Strategic Economic Dialogue. Philadelphia FED President Plosser follows with a speech on the economy in New York.
Despite Crude’s plunge, Natural Gas finished higher on the day. Natural Gas traded lower for most of the morning but it bounced off support at its intraday low (6.37) just before lunch. It shot through resistance at Friday’s close of 6.51 and ultimately hit a high of 6.685 before paring its gains into the close.
Crude opened the session down and continued to make new lows throughout the day. It looked like it had strong support at 49.50, but selling pressure on the close sent Crude right through that level. Tomorrow, there will be support at the November 21 low of 48.25
Despite equities extending their rally this afternoon, Treasuries stayed firmly positive with the 30yr adding 1-07, just over the 128 mark, and the 10yr up 1-02 at 122-08. The 5yr added 7 and the 2yr rose 3.
S&P/TSX close with a 2.34% rise led by Metal and Mining (up 26.83pts). BCE plunged 34.24% pulling down Telecommunications by 9.23pts. Lundin and Teck are up 25.93% and 25.30%. Suncor and Talisman closed with a high of 11.29% and 11.29%.