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 Post subject: April 2nd Thursday 2009
PostPosted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 4:42 pm 
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Joined: Sat Jan 10, 2009 2:06 pm
Posts: 4335
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Today's trades that were posted in real-time in #FuturesTrades chat room via my IRC user name NihabaAshi. You can review each trade from entry to exit along with commentary and an occasional trading tip because its all archived @ http://www.thestrategylab.com/ftchat/forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=157

My Trading Performance: +7.25 Emini ES points

---------------------------

Stocks make it a 3-Day Rally
Wall Street surges to two-month high after key accounting rule that has impact on banks is changed. G-20 also in focus.
By Alexandra Twin, CNNMoney.com senior writer
Last Updated: April 2, 2009: 4:10 PM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks rallied Thursday afternoon after regulators changed an accounting rule that critics say exacerbated the financial sector crisis, and by extension, the recession.

The G-20 meeting of the world's leading economies was also on the radar.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) rose 216 points or 2.8%, according to early tallies. The Dow had risen as much as 314 points during the afternoon, topping 8,000 for the first time during a session since Feb. 9.

The S&P 500 (SPX) index gained 23 points, or 2.9%. The Nasdaq composite (COMP) added 51 points, or 3.3%.

Stocks surged Thursday after the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) voted to change the "mark-to-market" accounting rule.

The rule requires banks to value so-called bad debt on their balance sheets based on the fire sales of similar assets at other banks and critics say it exacerbated the financial crisis. Supporters say it is the only way to fairly account for the bad debt. (Full story)

J. Stephen Lauck, president and CEO at Ashfield Capital Partners,said that the change in the accounting rule had been expected, but was still a big positive for sentiment.

"The change in the rule is driving the advance today, along with the continuation of data points that show things are getting less bad and in some ways stabilizing," Lauck said.

Equities have been rising on bets that the worst has already happened and that some of the government's efforts to stimulate the economy and aid the financial sector will help.

Stocks rallied Wednesday on the first day of the new quarter, building on the big March run up. Since hitting a 12-1/2 year low on March 9, the S&P 500 has rallied 24% as of Thursday afternoon.

After several attempts at "bottoming" last fall failed, analysts remain wary of saying that the recent advance is more substantial than a rally within a longer bear market.

"It's hard to say whether it's a bear market rally or the real thing," said Mike Stanfield, CEO at VSR Financial Services. "But what's encouraging is the fact that the financials have led us off the bottom this time."

He said that this factor was critical because the stock market can't make a strong comeback without the financial sector taking the lead.

Investors also kept an eye Thursday on the G-20 meeting in London, which brings together leaders from the world's largest economies. The group pledged more than $1 trillion to boost the International Monetary Fund and also agreed to more closely monitor the global financial system. (Full story)

Stock movers: A variety of stocks gained, including financial shares such as Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500), Wells Fargo (WFC, Fortune 500) and Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500).

But the gains were broad based, with all but two of the Dow 30 rising, led by IBM (IBM, Fortune 500), McDonald's (MCD, Fortune 500), 3M (MMM, Fortune 500), Procter & Gamble (PG, Fortune 500) and United Technologies (UTX, Fortune 500).

A nearly 9% spike in oil prices gave a boost to the Dow's oil components, Chevron (CVX, Fortune 500) and Exxon Mobil (XOM, Fortune 500).

Market breadth was positive. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners beat losers by more than 7 to 1 on volume of 1.39 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, advancers topped decliners by more than three to one on volume of 2.40 billion shares.

Economy: The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment rose to 669,000 last week from a revised 657,000 in the previous week, topping economists' forecasts.

Continuing claims, a measure of Americans receiving benefits for a week or more, rose 161,000 to 5.7 million, the highest reading since the Labor Department started keeping records in 1967.

February factory orders rose 1.8%, the Commerce Department said, versus expectations for a rise of 1.5%. Orders fell 3.5% in January.

Bonds: Treasury prices tumbled, raising the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 2.74% from 2.65% Wednesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Lending rates mostly dropped. The 3-month Libor rate dipped to 1.17% from 1.18% Wednesday, according to Bloomberg.com. The overnight Libor rate fell to 0.29% from 0.3% Wednesday. Libor is a bank-to-bank lending rate.

Other markets: In global trading, Asian and European markets rallied.

In currency trading, the dollar fell versus the euro and the yen.

U.S. light crude oil for May delivery rallied $4.25 to settle at $62.54 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a jump of 8.8%.

COMEX gold for June delivery fell $18.80 to settle at $908.90 an ounce.

Yahoo! Finance

4:35 pm : A renewed sense of optimism helped stocks trade with impressive gains for the entire session, but a weak closing took the exclamation point off of what was the stock market's third straight gain.

The major indices spent the entire session in the green, bolstered by broad-based buying. All 10 major sectors in the S&P 500 closed higher as a result.

Industrial stocks (+5.5%) and consumer discretionary stocks (+5.2%) registered the best gains. Their advance came amid improved investor confidence, which prompted many participants to look for opportunities beyond the financial sector (+2.9%).

Financials have provided leadership in recent weeks, but actually lagged for much of the session. Financials were able to close in-line with the broader market, though, following a muted response to news that the FASB has decided to ease mark-to-market accounting rules for banks. The decision was widely expected.

Health care was a relative laggard for the second straight session, advancing just 0.1%. The sector was held back by continued weakness in pharmaceutical stocks (-0.9%).

Broad-based buying has taken the S&P 500 up almost 6% during the course of the past three sessions, while the Dow is up just over 6% during that time. The Nasdaq is up 6.7% over the past three sessions, and is now sporting a 1.6% year-to-date gain. The S&P 500 and Dow are still down 7.6% and 9.1% for the year, respectively.

The upbeat tone was undeterred by a worse-than-expected weekly jobless claims report, largely because the market knows that labor conditions remain gloomy. Initial jobless claims jumped 12,000 to 669,000 for the week ending March 28. They were expected to come in at 650,000. Continuing claims exceeded expectations as well. They totaled 5.73 million, while economists expected 5.59 million claims. The reaction to tomorrow's nonfarm payrolls report could prove to be an affirmation of investors' growing willingness to look past data that isn't truly horrendous.

February factory orders climbed a more-than-expected 1.8%, providing another headline to feed optimism. The consensus had called for an increase of 1.5%. Orders for the prior month were revised lower to reflect a 3.5% decline.

Optimism was shared by overseas markets. Britain's FTSE advanced 4.3%, Germany's DAX gained 6.1%, and France's CAC climbed 5.4%. Their gains followed news that the ECB cut its target interest rate 25 basis points to 1.25%, while ECB President Trichet indicated more cuts could follow.

Coordinated actions from the G-20 meeting in London also made headlines. The G-20 agreed to double financing for the IMF to nearly $500 billion.

With investors feeling emboldened, many moved against gold. Gold futures contracts finished pit trading at $908.90 per ounce, down 2.0%.

Friday's focus turns to the government's nonfarm payrolls report for March and the March ISM Nonmanufacturing Index. Fed Chairman Bernanke will also be delivering an address at a credit market symposium.DJ30 +216.48 NASDAQ +51.03 NQ100 +3.3% R2K +4.9% SP400 +4.3% SP500 +23.30 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2204/2.82 bln/591 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2617/1.87 bln/370

3:30 pm : Energy commodities were able to mirror the broader market's gains this session.

The May crude oil futures rose throughout the session and blew right threw the psychological $50 level to close at $52.63 per barrel, up 8.8%.

Natural gas futures did not rise as much as the crude oil futures. Still, the May contract traded in the green for most of the session and was able to close 2.4% higher at $3.78 per contract. This morning, natural gas inventories came in unchanged.

Precious metals were laggards in the market.

June gold traded below $900 for parts of the session but was able to recover somewhat from its session low of $896.10 per contract. The June futures contracts finished the pit session at $908.90 per ounce, down 2.0%.

May silver contracts traded in the red for most of the session and hit a session low at $12.56 per ounce mid-morning. The contracts were able to recover late in the pit trade and managed to close $0.05 higher at $13.03 per ounce.DJ30 +266.90 NASDAQ +55.54 SP500 +27.72 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2165/2.1 bln/541 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2746/1.3 bln/351

3:00 pm : Shares of Rite Aid (RAD 0.44, +0.05) are showing strong gains even though the company posted a worse-than-expected loss of $0.14 per share for the latest quarter. Analysts, on average, had expected the company to put up a loss of $0.11 per share. Rite Aid reported first quarter same-store sales decreased 0.1% year-over-year. For the four weeks ending March 28, the company saw-same store sales slip 0.7%.

Comparatively, the much larger Walgreen (WAG 27.49, +0.99) said its same-store sales for March were up 1.5% year-over-year. Pharmacy sales were at the heart of that gain.DJ30 +280.60 NASDAQ +59.97 SP500 +29.56 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2217/1.99 bln/539 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2662/1.11 bln/306

2:25 pm : The market has held to a relatively tight range for the last hour or so. All ten sectors are posting a gain, ranging from healthcare (+0.7%) to industrials (+6.1%). President Obama is currently addressing the press at the G-20 Summit.DJ30 +248.26 NASDAQ +54.08 SP500 +25.97 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2138/1.85 bln/532 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2728/1.06 bln/352

1:55 pm : The major indices sport strong gains, but have drifited off their best levels of the session as the financial sector (+1.8%) trades at its lowest level of the day.

The 3.0% gain in the Nasdaq brings the composite into positive territory for the year and the highest level since January. The Dow and S&P 500 are down 8.7% and 7.3%, respectively, year-to-date.DJ30 +248.50 NASDAQ +55.55 SP500 +26.69 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2151/1.71 bln/518 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2742/975 mln/325

1:30 pm : The major headline indices are drifting off their session highs, but gains remain strong. Gains are especially strong among small- and mid-cap stocks; the Russell 2000 Small-Cap Index is up 5.0%, while the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index is up 4.5%.DJ30 +272.40 NASDAQ +60.63 SP500 +29.16 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2252/1.42 bln/446 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2668/808 mln/248

1:05 pm : Participants are pushing stocks to their highest levels in more than one month as a bullish bias takes hold of the broader market. The upbeat tone has been present since the early going, unchecked by a mixed bag of economic data.

Initial jobless claims jumped 12,000 to 669,000 for the week ending March 28. They were expected to come in at 650,000. Continuing claims exceeded expectations as well. They totaled 5.73 million, while economists expected 5.59 million claims. The market knows that labor conditions remain gloomy, so the larger-than-expected increase in initial jobless claims is being treated with indifference, which is similar to the treatment given to yesterday's ugly ADP Employment Report. With that in mind, the reaction to tomorrow's nonfarm payrolls report could prove to be an affirmation of investors' growing willingness to look past data that isn't truly horrendous.

Meanwhile, total February factory orders climbed 1.8%, which was slightly above the expected 1.5% increase. Orders for the prior month were revised lower to reflect a 3.5% decline. A broad sense of optimism is helping fuel gains in the broader market. All 10 sectors in the S&P 500 are up by at least 1%. Their advance is being bolstered as short-sellers cover their positions after betting the stock market's recent advances would fail to hold. Instead, the stock market is up more than 7% during the course of the last three sessions.

While financial stocks have been central to the stock market's gains in recent weeks, they have actually lagged a bit this session. The sector is up a healthy 3.2%, but that is still less than the broader market. Some market watchers expected financials to gain in the wake of the FASB's vote to ease mark-to-market accounting rules for banks valuing assets, but the announcement was largely expected and financials are seeing little additional buying.DJ30 +272.40 NASDAQ +60.63 SP500 +29.16 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2252/1.42 bln/446 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2668/807 mln/248

12:30 pm : The stock market is putting together its best single-session performance by percent since the 7.1% surge that followed the release of the Treasury's plan to remove bad assets from bank balance sheets early last week.

The stock market is up 3.5% week-to-date, thanks to the 7.3% advance that has been put together during the course of the past three sessions. Stocks are now trading at their best levels since mid-February.DJ30 +307.36 NASDAQ +70.80 SP500 +33.60 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2207/1.25 bln/447 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2652/712 mln/260

12:00 pm : Stocks remain on track for their third straight session of gains, thanks to a fresh sense of optimism. Though gains in the two prior sessions were challenged by late selling efforts, buyers continue to enter the fold.

In recent weeks the financial sector has provided the leadership necessary to pull the broader market off its lows, but in the last couple of sessions financials have lagged a bit as the broader market gains a momentum of its own. Financials are currently up 3.2%, which is less than the S&P 500's 3.4% advanceDJ30 +250.97 NASDAQ +59.34 SP500 +27.68 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2187/1.12 bln/437 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2653/640 mln/243

11:30 am : The indutrial sector is outpacing every other major sector in the S&P 500 as it spikes to a 6.5% gain. General Electric (GE 10.91, +0.74) is a primary leader among industrial stocks; the company recently confirmed it will team up with Intel (INTC 15.88, +0.85) to develop and market health care technologies. The alliance was somewhat expected after The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that the two companies were planning a collaboration.

Though GE does not directly benefit from the FASB's decision to relax mark-to-market accounting rules, the positive headline has helped induce more broad-based buying. That buying effort continues to benefit shares of GE, which have been climbing up from their 52-week low for the past month. GE's share price recently crossed above its 50-day moving average.DJ30 +259.65 NASDAQ +62.24 SP500 +28.57 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2159/946 mln/402 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2652/538 mln/204

11:00 am : Financial stocks continue to trade with solid gains, currently up 4.0%, but they are off their session highs. Financials haven't shown much of a reaction to news that the FASB has voted to finalize new mark-to-market accounting guidance to give banks more leeway when valuing assets. The new rules ought to help banks avoid massive writedowns of illiquid assets.

Meanwhile, the major indices are moving another leg higher after taking a short breather. The Dow is closing in on 8000, while the S&P 500 is approaching 840.DJ30 +234.64 NASDAQ +56.63 SP500 +26.35 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2108/733 mln/400 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2599/427 mln/223

10:30 am : Oil is staging a strong rally after finishing the prior session with a loss. Crude futures contracts recently priced oil 7.4% higher at $52.00 per barrel.

Natural gas is being priced at $3.80 per contract, up 2.8%, after the latest weekly inventories were reported as being unchanged.

Precious metals are slumping, though, as investors move more confidently into stocks, which continue to sport broad-based gains. Gold prices are down 2.8% to $899.80 per ounce, and silver prices are down 2.2% to $12.68 per ounce. The lower prices are dragging lower shares of the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD 88.59, -2.44) and iShares Silver Trust (SLV 12.54, -0.30), causing them to markedly underperform the broader market.DJ30 +179.05 NASDAQ +41.73 SP500 +20.10 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2065/521 mln/365 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2591/326 mln/198

10:00 am : Stocks continue to march higher amid a concerted buying effort. All three of the major indices are trading at their session highs.

Factory orders for February advanced 1.8%, which is a stronger jump than the 1.5% increase that was expected. Orders for January were revised sharply lower to reflect a decline of 3.5%.

Early movers: Trading up: ACMR +27.5%, TRW +23.4%, AIB +23%, IRE +19.8%, EXM +19.4%, MGM +18.6%, CTV +17.8%, ACAS +15.1%, LM +13.8%, UCO +13.8%, VMED +13.3%, TCK +13.3%, DXO +13%, CTB +12.3%, DAI +11.9%, HBC +11.8%, FAS +11.8%, PDS +11.5%, AXA +11.5%, ING +11.3%, LYG +11%, CE +10.7%, CIT +10.6%, ACH +10.6%, HBAN +10.5%, RFL +10.5%, GM +10.4%, DRYS +10.3%, HIG +10.3%. Trading down: MANH -13.8%, SCO -13.8%, FAZ -11.9%.DJ30 +213.14 NASDAQ +45.04 SP500 +23.37 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1996/346 mln/299 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2656/243 mln/186

09:45 am : Stocks are off to a strong start amid broad-based strength; all 10 major sectors in the S&P 500 are in the green.

For the second straight session health care is trading as a laggard, however. Health care stocks are up just 0.5% while every other sector sports a gain of at least 1%.

Financials are sporting the strongest gains of any sector. It is currently up 4.6%, thanks largely to diversified banks (+9.1%).DJ30 +159.30 NASDAQ +34.52 SP500 +18.47 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1876/199 mln/290 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2575/158 mln/197

09:15 am : S&P futures vs fair value: +17.00. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +20.00. Premarket participants are building on the prior session's gains and feeding on the optimism seen in major overseas markets, some of which has been fueled by the ECB's decision to cut its target interest rate 25 basis points to 1.25%. Coordinating actions at the G-20 meeting in London and the expectation that the FASB will relax current mark-to-market rules, which could help banks that have been forced to mark down prices of illiquid assets, are also lifting spirits. That has helped traders look past a larger-than-expected jump in weekly jobless claims.

09:05 am : S&P futures vs fair value: +15.40. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +18.50. European bourses are trading higher after the European Central Bank decided to cut its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points to 1.25%. Financial outfits HSBC (HBC) and Standard Chartered are trading with marked strength on Britain's FTSE, which is up 2.7%. The FTSE's advance is also being helped along by metals and mining companies BHP Billiton (BHP) and Rio Tinto (RTP). Daimler is leading gains on Germany's DAX, which is up 4.0%. Allianz (AZ) and Siemens (SI) are also providing leadership. Meanwhile, France's CAC is up 3.4% as shares of financial companies BNP Paribas and AXA (AXA) drive higher. Total (TOT), however, is the providing the most leadership to the CAC. In Asia, the MSCI Asia-Pacific Index gained 4.6% following strong gains in the U.S, while Japan's Nikkei advanced 4.4% to notch its highest close in three months. Carmakers Toyota Motor (TM), Honda (HMC), and Nissan (NSANY) gained after reporting monthly sales drops that weren't quite as severe as expected. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng closed 7.4% higher as HSBC (HBC) racked up gains ahead of an expected easing of U.S. accounting rules. Aluminum Corp of China (ACH) built on the previous session's rally after Alumina (AWC) raised spot prices. Meanwhile, mainland China's Shanghai Composite gained a more moderate 0.7%. Reports after the close indicated that China's manufacturing output expanded for the first time in six months.

08:35 am : S&P futures vs fair value: +14.60. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +17.80. Initial jobless claims jumped 12,000 to 669,000 for the week ending March 28. Initial weekly claims were expected to come in at 650,000. The larger-than-expected increase in initial in claims lifted the four-week moving average to 656,750 from 649,000. Meanwhile, continuing claims totaled 5.73 million, which marked a strong increase from the prior week's 5.57 million continuing claims. Stock futures are off their morning highs, but continue to indicate a positive bias in premarket trading.

08:05 am : S&P futures vs fair value: +17.90. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +23.30. Just hitting the wires, Monsanto (MON) announced quarterly earnings of $2.16 per share, which is better than the $2.07 per share that Wall Street was expecting. The company expects full-year earnings to range from $4.40 to $4.50 per share, which fails to meet the full-year consensus forecast of $4.69 per share. Bank of America (BAC) chief executive Ken Lewis stated this morning in a CNBC interview that he regrets that the bank took as much TARP funds as it did, making him anxious to repay the funds. Lewis also indicated that billions of dollars are tied up in loss reserves, and that money could be used to create equity. The heads of major economies have decided at the G-20 meeting that they will double the financial resources of the International Monetary Fund to about $500 billion, which can be used to support developing nations. Meanwhile, the European Central Bank has cut its target interest rate by 25 basis points to 1.25%. Market participants await weekly jobless claims data (8:30 AM ET) and February factory orders (10:00 AM ET), along with the FASB's ruling on mark-to-market accounting rules (meeting starts at 8:00 AM ET).

06:21 am : S&P futures vs fair value: +21.10. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +30.50.

06:21 am : Nikkei...8719.78...+367.90...+4.40%. Hang Seng...14521.97...+1002.40...+7.40%.

06:21 am : FTSE...4088.83...+133.20...+3.40%. DAX...4325.28...+194.30...+4.70%.


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 Post subject: April 2nd Thursday 2009 - Dollar falls against Euro on ECB R
PostPosted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 4:44 pm 
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Joined: Sat Jan 10, 2009 2:06 pm
Posts: 4335
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Dollar falls against Euro on ECB Rate Cut
Euro zone currency jumps after European Central Bank delivers smaller-than-expected interest rate cut.
April 2, 2009: 12:40 PM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- The euro jumped against the dollar Thursday after the European Central Bank delivered a smaller interest-rate cut than expected and hinted vaguely that it could adopt more aggressive means to boost growth.

Optimism also surged as leaders from 20 high-income and developing countries pledged to boost world output and agreed to add $500 billion to International Monetary Fund coffers.

The euro soared to nearly $1.35 after the ECB cut lending rates to 1.25%, confounding expectations for a deeper cut to 1%, but eased a bit as ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet refused to rule out additional rate cuts in future.

He also said officials had yet to decide on "non-standard" policy measures and would offer more details at the central bank's next policy meeting in May.

Markets were on alert for signs the ECB planned to follow other central banks by buying corporate or government debt to stimulate bank lending, a move that would likely spur growth, but could also undermine the euro through increased supply.

"The ECB is still concerned about preserving the integrity of its currency," said Boris Schlossberg, head of FX research at GFT Forex in New York. "They do not want to debase it in any way, shape or form by doing radical unconventional measures."

The euro rose 1.6 % to $1.344, near a session peak of $1.3489, and added 2.5% against Japan's yen to 133.80 yen.

The dollar also gained against the yen, rising 1% to 99.52 yen after earlier touching 99.90, a five-month high.

The Group of 20 agreement, struck after a meeting in London, whetted investors' risk appetite, igniting a rally in stocks and driving the Dow Jones industrial average back up above 8,000 for the first time since Feb. 10, while slowing safe-haven flows into the dollar and yen.

The decision to increase IMF funding was positive for the euro, as it could help battered eastern European economies where euro-zone banks have been active.

Sterling rose 1.5% to $1.4689 while the Australian dollar , which boasts the highest interest rates among developed countries, rose 2.7% to $0.7166.

"The bottom line is that it's a positive for risk appetite ... I think the dollar is under pressure as a result," said Ruesch International market strategist Omer Esiner.
ECB questions remain

Whether that sense of optimism can endure is another story, analysts said, and from a currency market perspective, it may depend largely on the ECB's next move.

Regarding ECB quantitative easing, the process of flooding the banking system with money to kick-start lending and boost growth, "there is still an 'if," said John McCarthy, director of foreign exchange at ING Capital Markets in New York.

Trichet "leaves enough wiggle room," he added. "They are not ruling anything out, but not announcing anything today."

But Alan Ruskin, international strategist at RBS Greenwich Capital, said markets may yet reassess the ECB's stance.

"The initial inclination is simply to follow bond spreads around, which is euro positive," he said. "But I fear that without quantitative easing, the market will soon be feeling that neither the euro-zone periphery nor its Eastern European neighbors have the appropriate central bank support they need, and that will soon drag the euro back down."

At the Swiss National Bank, Vice President Philipp Hildebrand - unlike his ECB counterparts - fired a clear warning shot Thursday, saying the central bank will use all means to prevent further gains in the Swiss franc.

The SNB has started buying corporate and government debt and intervened last month to weaken the franc, which fell Thursday against the dollar and euro.


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 Post subject: April 2nd Thursday 2009 - Oil Jumps more than $4
PostPosted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 4:45 pm 
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Oil Jumps more than $4
Crude prices end the day back above $52 a barrel alongside a stock rally as investors bet on economic optimism.
By Kenneth Musante, CNNMoney.com staff writer
Last Updated: April 2, 2009: 3:03 PM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Oil prices jumped back above $52 a barrel, in tandem with a rally in equities Thursday, as signs of an economic recovery seem to appear on the horizon.

U.S. crude for May delivery ended the day up $4.25 at $52.64 a barrel in New York, the highest settle price since last week Thursday.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up more than 3.6% as oil trading closed in New York, and topped 8,000 points during the session for the first time since February.

Stocks continued a rally that began late Wednesday, fueled by reports of improved manufacturing and housing. Markets in Asia and Europe also rallied.

Investors have been looking to equities as a gauge of economic confidence and future crude demand.

"I think people are starting to get the sense that things are starting to level off a little bit," said Tom Orr, head of research for brokerage Weeden & Co.

Oil investors were paying particular attention to rising transportation stocks, due to their reliance on petroleum-based fuels, according to Orr.

The Dow Jones transportation average was up 8.4% in afternoon trading. Shares of shipper FedEx (FDX, Fortune 500) and railroad Union Pacific (UNP, Fortune 500) were up more than 9.5%, and airline Continental (CAL, Fortune 500) rallied more than 12%.

Investors also cheered a potential loosening of an accounting rule that dictates how banks value assets, which many have blamed for aggravating the financial crisis. The new rule could boost bank earnings by allowing them to calculate the value of bad assets differently.

"It gives these financial institutions some breathing room," said Orr.

Dollar: Oil prices rose as investors turned away from the U.S. dollar, in favor of the greater returns in the equity market. The falling dollar buoyed crude oil, which is traded in dollars, according to Mark Waggoner, president of commodities brokerage Excel Futures.

"If the value of our currency goes down, other countries can purchase our goods and services for less of their currency. So it creates demand," said Waggoner.

The 15-nation euro was trading up 1.5% against the dollar during Thursday trading, and the British pound soared nearly 1.7%.

Gasoline: Meanwhile the price of gasoline at the pump fell 0.2 cent to a national average of $2.045 a gallon from Wednesday, according to a survey from motorist group AAA.


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