THE TIPSTER
THE combination of a falling dollar and rising gold prices lends yet more support to the theory that precious metal traders were spooked by the massive quantities of gold that were deposited with the Bank for International Settlements last week. While the spectre of sovereign debt default still can’t be ruled out, the market seems to have overcome any previous concerns that this would have an adverse impact on the price of gold. The current IG Index daily spot price is $1,213.41-$1,213.91
But upward momentum in copper has started to stall, at least temporarily, following concerns about diminishing demand from China. Earlier this week data showed the third successive month of import declines, which hindered the red metal’s recent rally from the June lows. Traders could look to sell copper on any rallies towards $3.05. The CMC Markets’ spread is $3.0140-$3.0200.
Positive anticipation ahead ofa the corporate earnings season has given the FTSE 100 a boost. But all this could turn around as Citi and General Electric report their results since both firms do a significant amount of business in Europe. Fluctuations in the euro could also hammer earnings. ETX Capital quotes 5,252.7-5,254.2.
Despite the markets’ focus on the earnings season, they could still re-establish their shorts of euro-US dollar. A relative sterling-dollar trading above the key 2-day single moving average (SMA) on the weekly charts whereas euro-US dollar is trading below its key 20-day SMA on a weekly basis. Short euro-sterling at £0.8345 with a stop of a daily close above £0.8450 with a first target of £0.8285 and then £0.8210. Spread Co offers a spread of £0.8347-£0.8349.
Spread betters have been buying MAN Group after the hedge fund was involved in
speculation linking it to a possible bid from Bank of New York Mellon. Shares fell back yesterday after jumping 5 per cent on Tuesday, but there’s still belief of long-term upside. Spreadex has a September MAN Group spread of 219.3p-220.8p.