PR: Gold, Silver And Plaitnum Delcine, FTSE 100 Set To Open Lower
Overview: following a mixed start, the US stock market turned negative yesterday with the main indices ending the day deep in the red. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 93 points to finish 0.91% below the opening level and snap its five day winning streak, the broader S&P 500 index lost slightly more than 1%, while the technology heavy Nasdaq composite lost 0.8% after a positive start.
The US Labor Department said yesterday that jobless claims reached 502,000 last week, the lowest since January and 12,000 lower than the previous week. The news strengthened the US Dollar, which negatively impacted the commodities to weaken the energy sector, which was the main driver behind the decline in the stock market. Oil prices also got hit by yesterday’s update form the Department of Energy, which said that US crude oil stockpiles added 1.8 million barrels against analysts’ projections of an increase of 0.6 million barrels.
December Brent Crude was down to US$76.25/barrel, while US light, sweet crude retreated to US$77.12/barrel.
Metal prices also were in decline with gold and silver sliding to US$1,105/oz and US$17.26/oz respectively, while platinum declined to US$1,357/oz.
Base metals inched slightly higher, recouping some of yesterday’s losses. Copper rose to US$2.95/lb, nickel improved to US$7.35/lb and zinc reached US$0.97/lb.
Asian markets were mixed today. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 1% at midday, Japan’s Nikkei declined 0.5%, while China’s Shanghai composite index added 0.5%.
The FTSE 100 is seen opening slightly lower today, tracking losses on Wall Street and in Asia.
The blue chip index tacked on just 0.2% yesterday despite good gains from a few heavyweights including British Airways (LSE: BAY) and BT Group (LSE: BT). The mining sector was weak as metal prices declined with Fresnillo (LSE: FRES), ENRC (LSE: ENRC), Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ) and Randgold Resources (LSE: RRS) making it to the top fallers list with losses of 1.5-2%. AMEC (LSE: AMEC), 3i (LSE: III) and Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS) were at the bottom of the pile, declining 5%, 4% and 3% respectively.
Morning news wrap
In the FTSE 100, airline British Airways (LSE: BAY) has signed a binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), setting out the basis for a proposed merger.
Packaging group Rexam (LSE: REX) said its results in the period from 1 July have been in line with expectations.
BG Group (LS:E BG) has confirmed that hydrocarbons have been encountered in a new well known as Tupi North-East on block BM-S-11 in the Santos Basin pre-salt offshore Brazil.
In the FTSE 250, Balfour Beatty (LSE: BBY) has acquired SpawMaxwell Copmany, which it said was the largest interior construction contractor in Texas and the sixth largest general contractor in Houston.
In the AIM, South Africa and Botswana operating diamond miner Firestone Diamonds (AIM: FDI) announced its preliminary results for the year, reporting a 22% increase in revenues to £4 million, while operating losses of £0.7 million compared to last year’s profit of £2.1 million.
