| Dow up 90 despite inflation, growth worries
Stocks climbed out of a hole Wednesday, closing higher despite conflicting worries about inflation and economic growth.
Advances by technology stocks, led by an 8 percent rally in the shares of Hewlett-Packard, and energy stocks, reflected in a nearly 2 percent gain by Chevron, helped lead the market higher.
In futures trading, crude oil continued its assault on triple-digit barrel prices. Oil for March delivery rose 73 cents a barrel, to $100.74, its second straight record-high close, after trading as high as $101.32 during the session.
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CME bid spurs fears of merger monster
THE commodities boom is intensifying the merger mania among the world's financial exchanges. But the $US11 billion ($12.4 billion) bid by CME Group to acquire Nymex Holdings may fuel worries that consolidation is leaving the survivors with too much power. A purchase of the 135-year-old New York Mercantile Exchange's owner by CME, parent of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, would create the largest exchange in the world, with a stock market value of about $US45 billion. And acquiring Nymex's crude oil futures, one of the largest commodity contracts in the world, would fill the last major hole in the 110-year-old Chicago exchange's product line-up, while squeezing remaining rivals in the energy market. The deal also highlights some unsettling consequences of the global scramble for alliances and market share in trading financial securities.
NYMEX and Other Major Market Participants to Form the Green Exchange ...
NEW YORK, Dec. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- NYMEX Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: NMX), the parent company of the New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc. (NYMEX), the world's largest physical commodity futures and options exchange, today announced the formation of The Green Exchange(TM) venture, with Evolution Markets Inc., Morgan Stanley Capital Group Inc., Credit Suisse, JPMorgan, Merrill Lynch, Tudor Investment Corp., ICAP and Constellation Energy. The new exchange will offer a comprehensive range of environmental futures, options, and swap contracts for markets focused on solutions to climate change, renewable energy, and other environmental challenges. The Green Exchange products are expected to begin trading during the first quarter of 2008 and will be cleared by NYMEX. The Green Exchange venture is expected to launch as a U.S.
NYMEX Sets Daily Volume Records for Total Natural Gas Futures, Natural ...
NEW YORK, Feb. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc., a subsidiary of NYMEX Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: NMX) , today announced that it set daily volume records for total natural gas futures traded on electronic and open outcry venues and natural gas futures traded on the CME Globex electronic trading platform. On Friday, total natural futures, via electronic and open outcry trading, reached 233,173 contracts, surpassing the 228,728 contracts traded on November 28, 2001. Yesterday, electronically traded natural gas futures totaled 184,926 contracts, exceeding the 174,481 contracts traded on February 8. NYMEX launched its physically settled futures contracts for trading on CME Globex during regular open outcry trading hours on September 5, 2006, following its initial offering of financially settled, standard-sized and NYMEX miNY energy futures contracts for trading on CME Globex on June 12, 2006.
Tech merger possibilities buoy stocks; energy heats up
Stocks edged higher Monday, as investors overlooked fresh worries in financial stocks and focused on merger prospects among technology companies.
Energy stocks were big winners, as oil prices moved higher in futures trading.
The Dow Jones industrial average added 57.88 points, to 12,240.01. International Business Machines and Boeing were the biggest contributors to the gain among the 30 Dow industrials.
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NYMEX Announces Updated Fee Schedule for NYMEX and COMEX Futures and ...
NEW YORK, Dec. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- NYMEX Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: NMX) , the parent company of the New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc. (NYMEX), announced today that effective January 2, 2008, an updated fee schedule will be put into effect containing per contract price increases for NYMEX and COMEX futures and options products ranging from $0.05 to $0.20 per side. These increases, which were referenced in the Company's November 1, 2007 third quarter earnings announcement as forthcoming, level the rates across the NYMEX and COMEX Divisions. Even with these increases, NYMEX continues to offer the industry's most price competitive venues for energy and metals futures and options trading. NYMEX futures and options fees on CME Globex(R) electronic trading platform, NYMEX ClearPort(R) Clearing platform, and the NYMEX trading floor will increase $0.10 per side for members, and $0.05 per side for cross division trades.
Traders Bracing For Slump Drive Up Platinum, Wheat, Coffee And Cocoa
Platinum and spring wheat hit record highs Thursday and arabica coffee and cocoa set new trading peaks as well, as investors in commodities pursued markets deemed less vulnerable to the slowing U.S. economy. Copper, an economically sensitive base metal, overcame jitters over U.S. growth by reacting to Wednesday's cut in interest rates. Traders said copper was also inspired by Thursday's rebound in Wall Street stocks and lingering production issues in China. But broad commodity futures indexes closed mixed, with the Reuters-Jefferies CRB and Dow Jones-AIG up and the S&P GSCI down. U.S. crude oil also fell, closing 58 cents lower at $91.75 a barrel on fears of slowing growth in the world's largest economy and the leading energy-consuming nation. Investors in energy were also sidelined ahead of an OPEC meeting on production quotas set for Friday.
Oil prices remain near US$99 a barrel but market seen staying bullish
Oil prices were barely higher Friday from the previous session's close after setting a record above US$100 a barrel overnight on a larger-than-expected drop in U.S. crude stockpiles. Light, sweet crude for February delivery was up 4 cents to US$99.22 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midday in Europe. On Thursday, the contract rose as high as US$100.09 a barrel, a trading record, before retreating to settle at US$99.18. In London, Brent crude fell 8 cents Friday to US$97.52 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange. The U.S. Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said Thursday that crude inventories fell 4 million barrels last week, much more than the 1.7 million barrel decline analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires, on average, had expected.
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