FYI | Nov 15 2006
By Greg Peel
Break out the porridge that’s not too hot and not too cold – Wall Street traders cheered as the St Louis Fed president came out late in the day and announced interest policy was now “about right”, which was the news everyone was hoping for.
His comments followed a further fall in the PPI, which was down 1.6% in October after a 1.3% fall in September. The inflation demons may have been exorcised.
Retails sales also fell 0.2%, but that was less than expected, and largely reflected the lower oil price, which was also behind the PPI drop.
The Dow closed up 86 points, or 0.7%, to 12,218, while the S&P500 rallied 0.6% and the Nasdaq 1%.
Retailers were in focus last night. An initial poor result from Home Depot was a concern until both Wal-Mart and Target reported surging sales. There was also mention that the housing market may have bottomed, so the Street is obviously feeling rather euphoric at the moment.
While more confirmation that rates are unlikely to rise again should be bearish for the US dollar, traders had been short so there was ultimately a rally against the euro on the news. This sent gold lower, finishing down US$5.50 at US$620.20/oz. Oil was little moved.
Aluminium, copper, nickel and zinc were all down again overnight, although with 1-2% falls this seems benign when compared to recent tumbles.
The SPI overnight finished up 18 points.