FTSE 100	5328.66, +34.67	Dow	10464.93, +50.79
FTSE 250	9148.55, +48.71	Nasdaq	2252.67, +15.01
FTSE All Share	2779.31, +17.69	S&P 500	1118.02, +3.97
Nikkei	10378.03	Hang Seng	21309, +216.96
Oil (Crude)	$74.40, +$0.68	Gold	$1086.70, -$9.30
Base Rate	0.5%	10 Yr Gilt	3.93%
£/$	1.595	£/€	1.1198
1 month LIBOR	0.514	3 month LIBOR	0.603

 

Markets

London - The FTSE 100 rose 34.67 points to close at 5,328.66 yesterday. Energy shares lifted the blue chip index after Opec said it would not change its oil output. In contrast miners were among the biggest losers, including Fresnillo, Kazakhmys and Xstrata. This morning the FTSE is 35.77 points higher at 5,364.43. Investors will be eyeing the minutes from the Bank of England’s latest interest rate policy meeting, scheduled for release at 0930 GMT.

New York - US stocks continued to gain yesterday following two strong economic reports. The National Association of Realtors said existing home sales jumped 7.4% in November, to an annual rate of 6.54 million units. Prior to this the Commerce Department released its final revision of third-quarter GDP. The government said it GDP rose 2.2% in the three months ending September. Although this was below forecasts, it was still a marked improvement over the previous four quarters. The Dow Jones gained 50.79 points to 10,464.93, the S&P 500 added 3.97 points to 1,118.02 and the Nasdaq advanced 15.01 points to 2,252.67. In corporate news, Boeing climbed 1.5% after increasing its stake in Global Aeronautical to bring more of the 787 Dreamliner’s operations under its direct control.

Tokyo - The Tokyo Stock Exchange is closed today.

Hong Kong - The Hang Seng is currently 216.96 points higher at 21,309. Exporters are among the biggest winners amid signs that the US economy is improving.

Economics

UK Bank of England minutes (9th/10th December meeting) 09:30 GMT

The £200bn QE programme has already mapped out the route of monetary policy until February 2010 and, as such, these minutes are likely to have been relatively uneventful. The discussion is likely to have noted the improvement in some of the recent data but, like the ECB and Fed, to argue that there is still a significant degree of slack in the economy for policymakers to feel confident in inflationary pressures remaining subdued. The market will be looking for any hint as to whether the Bank will cut the rate at which banks are remunerated on their reserves. Whilst the option might be mentioned, analysts don’t think these minutes will suggest that such a move is likely in the near term.

UK BBA loans for house purchase (Nov) 09:30 GMT

The members of the British Bankers Association (BBA) account for roughly 75% of total mortgage issuance in the UK, so this figure provides a useful indicator of the BoE (total market) data released a week later. But note that these data are not seasonally adjusted, so analysts expect a dip down on the month to 39.5k mortgages approved. But even this slightly lower figure would represent an increase of 116% on the year.

US Personal income & spending (Nov) 13:30 GMT/ 08:30 EST

Aggregate hours worked rose 0.6% in November, boosted by an increase in the average workweek. Even with hourly earnings only rising 0.1%, this should result in a solid increase in personal income, which analysts expect to increase by 0.7% on the spending side, unit auto sales rose 4.5% in November and retail sales were strong, boosted by electronics and online purchases. Analysts expect November personal spending to rise 0.8%, with the PCE price deflator up 0.3% and real PCE rising 0.5%. The core PCE deflator could rise 0.1%, with the year-on-year rate climbing to 1.6% from 1.4%.

US New home sales (Nov) 15:00 GMT/ 10:00 EST

The decline in the latest NAHB homebuilder optimism index might indicate that new home sales tapered off a little heading into the end of the year. After a 6% rise in October, analysts look for new home sales to fall to 420,000 in November. The new home share of total housing sales has already fallen to just 6.6%, down from around 15% before the housing crash, and this trend could continue for a while longer. 

Corporate

Tullow Oil reported Wednesday mixed success in the latest appraisal on its large Jubilee oil field offshore Ghana. The Mahogany Deep-2 well provided further confirmation of the size of the Jubilee field and found two new light oil reservoirs, but the deepest section of reservoir that the well was targeting contained only water. "Confirming the southerly extent of the main Jubilee reservoirs and encountering two new oil pools takes us another step closer to realizing the full potential of the Greater Jubilee Area," said Tullow’s Exploration Director Angus McCoss. Tullow expects to produce first oil from Jubilee, which is estimated to contain between 600 million and 1.8 billion barrels of oil equivalent, in the fourth quarter of 2010. Its partners in the field are Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and Kosmos Energy, which has agreed to sell its share to ExxonMobil Corp. 

The above details are provided for information only and are not intended to be construed as solicitation for the sale or purchase of any particular investment nor as specific investment advice.

 

Posted: December 23rd, 2009 under AML Information.
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