Base Metals and Minerals

It was another rough night on Wall Street for commodity prices, but this time the stock market found cause to rally. The Dow gained 261.

Deleveraging of commodity positions saw a major sell off across the spectrum as Merrills gets the wobbles and nips financials in the bud. The Dow closed down 293.

A Fed rate cut of only 75bps was still enough to add impetus to a rally started when Goldman and Lehman beat the Street. The Dow jumped 420 points.

A 21 point rise in the Dow belied another rollercoaster session in which traders tried to decide whether Bear Stearns could have signalled a bottom. The commodities bubble popped in a dash for cash.

There were two casualties of war on Wall Street on Friday – the truth, and Bear Stearns. Dow down 194. Gold over US$1001/oz.

It was down, up, and down again on Wall Street to only a small rise while the numbers 111 and 1000 made their debuts.

It was back to business as usual on Wall Street last night as the dollar hit new lows, oil new highs and an early rally in the Dow failed.

The Fed responded to criticism last night by not cutting rates and instead injecting liquidity directly into the mortgage market. Wall Street loved it and the Dow rallied 415 points.

The Dow was down another 150 points last night as some slightly positive economic data were overshadowed by concern over the liquidity positions of major brokerages.

The Dow became the last of the major three US stock indices to break its January low last night as January jobs data showed a large drop when a small rise was expected.