Daily Market Commentary for March 31, 2010

Oil Drilling

Oil was on its way towards hitting new highs for 2010, until new reports on crude oil inventories was reported; news on oil drilling brought prices back. (Read more at Millennium-Traders.Com)

Economic data released today:

MBA [Mortgage Bankers Association] Mortgage Applications:
U.S. Mortgage Applications up 1.3% Last Week; U.S. MBA Refinance Index fell 1.3% at 2,707.8; Last Week 2,744.7; U.S. MBA Market Index rose 1.3% at 602.8; Last Week 595.0; U.S. MBA Purchase Index rose 6.8% at 243.0; Last Week 227.5.

ADP Nonfarm Employment Change:
ADP Sees March U.S. Private Sector Jobs falling 23,000; ADP March U.S. Private Sector Jobs Expected 50,000.

Chicago PMI [Purchasing Management Institute]:
U.S. Chicago PMI March New Orders Index 61.8 versus February 62.2; U.S. Chicago PMI March Employment Index 53.1 versus February 53.0; U.S. Chicago PMI March Supplier Deliveries 57.8; February 62.6; U.S. Chicago PMI March Prices Paid Index 66.6 versus February 67.7; U.S. Chicago PMI Adjusted March Index 58.8 versus February 62.6.

Factory Orders (MoM):
January Factory Orders Revised to rise 2.5% from an increase by 1.7%; February Factory Orders, Excluding Transportation, rose 0.7%; U.S. Factory Orders +0.6% in February; compared to consensus of an increase by 0.3%; February Durable Goods Revised to rise 0.9% from an increase by 0.5%; February Factory Orders, Excluding Defense, rose 1.0%.

Crude Oil Inventories as released by DOE [Department of Energy]:
U.S. Refineries Ran at 82.6% capacity; was seen 81.30%; U.S. Refineries Ran at 82.6% capacity versus 81.1% week ago; U.S. Distillate Stockpiles fell 1.085 Million Barrels in week; was seen decreasing by 1.5 Million Barrels; U.S. Distillate Stockpiles fell 1.085 Million Barrels at 144.606 Million Barrels; U.S. Gasoline Stockpiles rose 0.313 Million Barrels at 224.872 Million Barrels; U.S. Crude Oil Stockpiles rose 2.929 Million Barrels in week; was seen increasing by 2.1 Million Barrels; U.S. Crude Oil Stockpiles rose 2.929 Million Barrels at 354.189 Million Barrels; U.S. Gasoline Stockpiles rose 0.313 Million Barrels in week; was seen decreasing by 1.3 Million Barrels.

At the NYSE closing bell on the New York Stock Exchange, here is how the major world indices and major U.S. stock indices ended the trading session on the world markets as well as the emerging markets including the stock market closing bell price:
DOW (Dow Jones Industrial Average) shed 50.94 points, EOD 10,856.48
NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) shed 12.96, EOD 7,447.84
National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ) shed 11.88 points, EOD 2,398.81
S&P 500 (SPX) shed 3.74 points, EOD 1,169.53
BEL 20 (BEL20) shed 7.66 points, EOD 2,648.46
CAC 40 (CAC40) shed 13.4 points, EOD 3,974.01
FTSE100 (UKX100) gain 4.25, EOD 5,677.88
NIKKEI 225 (NIK/O) shed 7.2, EOD 11,089.94

New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) stock market indicators for the trading session today:
Advanced stock prices 1,237, declined stock prices 1,901, unchanged stock prices 104, stock prices hitting new highs 184 and stock prices hitting new lows 12. NYSE quotes for volatile stocks and market trends, as well as stock quotes, stock prices and stock symbols of Day Trading Stock Picks on the New York Stock Exchange stock market for Day Trading online and active Day Trading for those who are or would like to be Day Trading for a living: FAS gain 0.41, HOD 97.84, LOD 94.36, EOD 96.60; CME shed 0.04, HOD 317.57, LOD 313.37, EOD 316.11; IOC shed 0.34, HOD 65.14, LOD 63.55, EOD 64.74; POT shed 0.83, HOD 121.00, LOD 118.35, EOD 119.36; LNN shed 1.11, HOD 43.13, LOD 41.14, EOD 41.55; SAI shed 1.28, HOD 18.10, LOD 17.50, EOD 17.70.

National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ) stock market indicators for the trading session today:
Advanced stock prices 1,026, declined stock prices 1,689, unchanged stock prices 135, stock prices hitting new highs 120 and stock prices hitting new lows 25. NASDAQ quotes, volatile stocks and market trends, as well as stock quotes, stock prices and stock symbols of Day Trading Stock Picks on the NASDAQ stock market for Day Trading online and active Day Trading for those who are or would like to be Day Trading for a living: FSLR gain 0.47, HOD 123.40, LOD 121.31, EOD 122.65; AAPL shed 0.85, HOD 236.61, LOD 234.46, EOD 235.00; OSTK gain 2.53, HOD 17.84, LOD 13.22, EOD 16.23; PCLN shed 0.99, HOD 258.96, LOD 253.01, EOD 255.00; ARQL gain 2.22, HOD 7.49, LOD 5.71, EOD 5.72; AMZN shed 0.81, HOD 136.80, LOD 134.48, EOD 135.77; ENER gain 0.18, HOD 8.08, LOD 7.55, EOD 7.82; ZOOM shed 0.71, HOD 7.83, LOD 7.25, EOD 7.44; APWR shed 1.33, HOD 11.00, LOD 10.35, EOD 10.69.

Market trends on the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) and stock market indicators for the trading session today:
Advanced stock prices 231, declined stock prices 254, unchanged stock prices 35, stock prices hitting new highs 15 and stock prices hitting new lows 5.

Chicago Board of Trade Futures Market for the day, at time of this posting:
E-mini S&P 500 (ES) Mar 10: EOD 1165.25; Change -4.25
E-mini NASDAQ-100 (NQ) Mar 10: EOD 1,956.50; Change -9.00
E-mini DOW $5 (YM) Mar 10: EOD 10,798; Change -56
E-mini S&P MidCap 400 (MF) Mar 10: EOD 787.80; Change -4.60
Nikkei 225 (Yen) Mar 10: EOD 11,115; Change 0.0

World Currencies for the Forex Market, for Forex Trading by active Forex Traders, at time of this posting:
Euro 0.7402 to U.S. Dollars 1.3500
Japanese Yen 93.5050 to U.S. Dollars 0.0107
British Pound 0.6589 to U.S. Dollars 1.5200
Canadian Dollar 1.0153 to U.S. Dollars 0.9849
Swiss Franc 1.0539 to U.S. Dollars 0.9488

COMMODITY MARKETS:
Energy Sector - Nymex:
Light Crude (May 10) gain $1.39, EOD $83.76 per barrel ($US per barrel)
Heating Oil (May 10) gain $0.03, EOD $2.16 a gallon ($US per gallon)
Natural Gas (May 10) shed $0.10, EOD $3.87 per million BTU ($US per mmbtu.)
Unleaded Gas (May 10) gain $0.03, EOD $2.31 gallon ($US per gallon)

Metals Markets - Comex:
Gold (May 10) gain $8.80, EOD $1,113.30 ($US per Troy ounce)
Silver (May 10) gain $0.19, EOD $17.51 ($US per Troy ounce)
Platinum (May 10) gain $21.70, EOD $1,639.80 ($US per Troy ounce)
Copper (May 10) shed $0.00, EOD $3.55 ($US per pound)

Livestock and Meat Markets - Chicago Mercantile Exchange (cents per lb.):
Lean Hogs (May 10) gain $0.27, EOD $73.32
Pork Bellies (May 10) shed $0.75, EOD $96.80
Live Cattle (May 10) gain $0.50, EOD $96.55
Feeder Cattle (May 10) gain $1.70, EOD $110.42

Other Commodities - Chicago Board of Trade (cents per bushel):
Corn (May 10) shed $9.50, EOD $345.00
Soybeans (May 10) shed $33.00, EOD $941.00

Access upcoming scheduled economic data anytime by viewing the Economic Calendar from Millennium-Traders, free access to visitors on our website.

Visitors may subscribe to our free Weekly Market News for a review of the previous weeks trading news plus, view upcoming economic data scheduled for the week ahead.

Review current edition as well as, archives of the News & Commentary plus, view complete details of calls made in our Trading Rooms and stock picks from our Swing Trading service. Traders should review our FREE Monthly Trading Lesson posted on our website.

Thanks for reading
Millennium-Traders.Com