Energy

Good news from McDonald’s and GM pushed the Dow higher in light trade while the financial sector also benefited from some positive developments.

Wall Street range traded last night as oil and wheat posted record highs and the dollar fell to an all time low against the euro. The I-word is back.

The Dow put on 180 points last night as Bernanke said nothing in Europe, the US dollar weakened, gold surged, and oil hit an all time high.

Wall Street was unsure just what clues were provided by various Fed statements last night, while a Japanese recession looks more clear.

With OPEC to meet this week there remains uncertainty over the outlook for oil prices, the market currently tightening but OPEC not certain to lift production.

The market was expecting payrolls to rise by 110,000 in August. The real number came as a big shock.

A rumour hit the market late yesterday that BHP and CVRD were looking to take out Rio, while Woodside has just initiated what may be an enormous LNG deal.

A big surge in the gold price saw Comex futures close over the magic US$700/oz level while Middle East tensions and low inventories sent oil ever higher. The Dow closed modestly higher.

The Dow was down 143 points last night in choppy trade. It seemed all news was bad news.

The first day back from holidays saw a tech-led rally on Wall Street while gold has broken resistance and shot higher.