August 3, 2005

US dollar drops sharply after banks sell dollar reserves

by Brian Turner
The US dollar dropped sharply again on Wednesday, as hedge funds, real money investors, and central banks were all selling dollars, mostly to purchase euros. The Indian, Russian, South Korean, and South African central banks were all said to be selling dollars in pursuit of diversification, but Russia and India were also believed to think that the ...

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August 2, 2005

Bond markets mixed on interest rate news

by Brian Turner
Government bond markets around the world were mixed, with yields up some places, down in others, and some simply standing pat. In the United States, the 2-year Treasury bond was about even at a yield of 4.052 percent, while the 10-year bond gained 2.2 basis points to yield 4.338 percent late in the trading day in New York. ...

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FTSE 100 moves towards 44 month high

by Brian Turner
The FTSE 100 reached its highest level in 44 months to close at 5,327.5, a gain of 36.7 points on the day. The FTSE 250 was up as well, closing at 7,636.6. 2.6 billion shares were traded on the day. The FTSE 100’s gains were helped by advances in mining stocks and on the expectation that the ...

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Commodities see strong pricing

by Brian Turner
Prices were higher on a wide range of commodities on Tuesday. Crude oil was higher but prices did not jump as much as they had on Monday. West Texas Intermediate crude oil for September delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange closed 32 cents higher at $61.89 per barrel, while September contract Brent crude on the International Petroleum Exchange gained 18 ...

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CNOOC abandons Unocal bid

by Brian Turner
CNOOC has withdrawn its bid for Unocal, citing “unprecedented political opposition” as its reason for not upping its bid to challenge Chevron’s bid to take over the California-based oil company. The withdrawal of its bid on Tuesday came a day after Institutional Shareholder Services, a shareholder advisory firm, backed Chevron’s bid, saying that the CNOOC offer wasn’t large enough to compensate for ...

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August 1, 2005

FTSE Eurofirst 300 reaches 3 year high

by Brian Turner
The FTSE Eurofirst 300 reached its highest level since May 2002 when it ended the day on Monday at 1,180.16, a gain of 0.1 percent. Advances in the oil and gas sector were key in the day’s advance. Royal Dutch Shell gained 1.5 percent in Amsterdam to stand at €25.75, while OMV was up 2.2 percent to €39.25 and ...

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Mexican economy increases growth on Q1

by Brian Turner
According to Mexico’s finance ministry, the Mexican economy grew by about 4 percent in the second quarter of the year compared to the same period in 2004. This is an improvement over growth in the first quarter, which was just 2.4 percent better than the previous year. The gains came on better consumer spending and growth in exports. ...

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Japan adds tariffs for US WTO violations

by Brian Turner
Japan announced Monday that it plans to raise tariffs on 15 US products by 15 percent in retaliation for the US continuation of the Byrd Amendment, which gives funds raised by duties charged to foreign countries for their violations of US trade laws directly to industries affected rather than putting the money in the US treasury. The World Trade ...

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Death of King Fahd causes sharp oil price increases

by Brian Turner
Crude oil prices rose above $61 per barrel on Monday after Saudi Arabia reported the death of King Fahd. He will be succeeded by Crown Prince Abdullah, his half brother, who has been acting ruler since King Fahd suffered a stroke in 1995. Because of this continuity of rule, Saudi Arabia’s oil policies are not expected ...

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