Top Indices News

by, James A. Hyerczyk The FTSE 100 took a breather on Friday after reaching a new high for the year the day before at 6101.42. The inability to pierce this high and the lower close may be early indications that the selling is greater than the buying at current levels. Another sign that selling pressure may be building is the failure once again to finish above the February 8 close at 6091.33. Although this price has been exceeded a few times, sellers have come in late in the session to force a close below the highest close for the year. Trend traders may be watching the higher-top, higher-bottom formation, but the inability to close on the high tick may be indicating that investors are not willing to buy strength despite the prolonged up move. This usually indicates a continuation of the back-and-fill trading strategy whereby investors buy value on dips rather than chase strength. Technically the 60-minute chart indicates three developing scenarios. Short-term...

Trading was very volatile in 2010 and especially in the second quarter, where the index formed a bearish correctional wave. Correctional waves are usually very volatile with heavy fluctuations which reflected the mixed trading for the year. Assessing the upside wave which started in March 2009 and ended in April 2010, we can see the most accurate description as a complete bullish IM, which was rather clear somehow. The wave was followed by the correction wave which corrected nearly 38.2% of the IM itself from where it entered a new upside wave. The patterns that form an IM followed by a downside correction and an IM are limited, where there are only three patterns: Zigzag (ZZ), Leading Diagonal (LD) and the Impulsive wave (IM). Surely we will exclude the Leading Diagonal (LD) as it mainly requires trading within wedging support and resistance lines and on the chart we can see that the trend was within an ascending channel, therefore the options...

Biotech specialist, venture capitalist, and author, Steven Burrill has published his thoughts on the future of the biotech industry for 2011 as part of the buzz building for his new book : Biotech 2011-Life Sciences: Looking Back to See Ahead. Burrill believes the financial crisis has triggered changes in healthcare that have biotech executives “writing their new ‘play book’ in response.” Here are some of Burrill’s thoughts on 2011 as published by Med City News: Biotech and the capital markets: Expect to see the biotech industry continue to outperform the general markets as the financing environment continues to improve in 2011. Biotech IPOs: Expect at least 25 biotech IPOs, possibly more, in the United States. Capital: Financing – now at about $15 billion annually – and its market cap – at about $360 billion – will remain the same. Partnering: Biotech-pharma partnerships will embrace “shared risk” and biotech can forget about the days of large upfront payments from pharma companies. Collaborations with China, India and Latin...

By Tony Munroe MUMBAI (Reuters) - Asian factory output powered ahead in December to underline emerging markets' lead in the global recovery although data showed an increasing inflation threat in the region even as growth is tepid in developed economies. Purchasing managers' indexes in both China and India fell but also showed that the pace of factory output was still expanding solidly. The sectors in both countries have been growing for close to two years. South Korea's factories posted their strongest growth in December in seven months. The U.S. purchasing managers' index (PMI) due to be released later is forecast to rise slightly to 56.9 in December from 56.6 the previous month, which would provide further evidence that the country's recovery is gaining traction. Early figures from Europe showed Ireland and Spain -- two countries under pressure over high debt levels -- ended the year on a strong note. Ireland's PMI hit its highest level since May and Spain's index rose off the back of...

By Jon Hopkins LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's top share index held firm around midday on Tuesday, led by strength in commodity shares and a bounce by banks, though volumes were thin as the Christmas holidays approached. At 1146 GMT the FTSE 100

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Thursday, with futures for the S&P 500 SPc1 up 0.3 percent, Dow Jones DJc1 futures up 0.3 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.2 percent. at 1051 GMT. European stocks gained ground in morning trade, extending a week-long rally and hitting a two-year high led by shares of financial institutions such as Societe Generale SOGN.PA and ING ING.AS , while U.S. Treasuries steadied following their recent sharp sell off. Oil climbed towards $89 a barrel and copper hit a record high on Thursday as the dollar weakened. A plan by U.S. President Barack Obama to broadly extend tax cuts moved forward on Wednesday despite opposition from his own Democrats and fear in bond markets of long-term damage to the economy. On the global front, Japan's economy grew a revised 1.1 percent in July-September from the previous quarter, exceeding an initial government estimate, but that offered little comfort to policymakers wary of slowing...

Tom Bradley, President and Co-Founder of Steadyhand, wrote an article on Prem Watsa with a bit more of the factors that have contributed to Mr. Watsa’s success as an investor. Thought I’d share as a follow-up to yesterday’s articles. We also need to remember that Prem is as ‘non-benchmark’ as they come. He goes where he finds value, regardless of what others are doing. He can be seriously out of sync with the overall market for long periods of time, which would be psychological agony for a lesser investor. Being wrong is one thing, but being wrong alone is quite another. Read more here: http://advisoranalyst.com/glablog/2010/12/02/be-like-prem/

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Tuesday, after President Barack Obama announced plans to extend tax breaks. At 0950 GMT, futures for the S&P 500, Dow Jones and Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.7-0.9 percent. The FTSEurofirst 300 index of leading European shares was up 1.1 percent at 1117.37 points, within a whisker of a two-year high, with sectors across the board rising. Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen was expected to get his fiscal plan through parliament and avert the risk of a snap election. Obama announced a framework agreement with Republicans that would renew tax cuts for wealthier Americans as well as the middle class, as Republicans had wanted. The deal was expected to extend breaks on dividends and capital gains. Japanese group Daikin Industries, the world's second-biggest maker of air conditioners, is in talks to buy U.S.-based rival Goodman Global Group from a U.S. buyout firm, Bloomberg reported. Oil fell from a 26-month high on reports China,...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were lower on Tuesday as worries persisted over euro zone debt and ahead of key data that will indicate the strength of a recovery in the world's largest economy. The euro slid to 10-week lows against the U.S. dollar, pressuring metals and other commodity prices, after a weekend rescue package for Ireland did little to stem fiscal concerns and speculators targeted other debt-laden countries. 

Asian stocks declined today to squander the gains for November as fears over further monetary tightening in China continued to suppress the risk appetite alongside the European debt crisis and the Korean tension. The area’s performance gauge, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index slipped today 0.7% to 128.72 as of 14:05 Tokyo. Nonetheless, the decline across the markets today did not offset the gains recorded by exporters after upbeat reports from the US economy helped ease the jitters over the futures of the American consumer. Nikkei 225 Index: The index settled today lower by 188.95 points or by 1.87% to close at 9937.04, where only seven shares inclined and 213 slumped, while five remained unchanged. The index recorded its highest today at 10101.42 and the low of 9937.04. Leading the decline today was Fast Retailing Co Ltd which slumped 3.07% to end at ¥13240. Following was Fanuc Ltd which settled at ¥11990 down by 1.88% and TDK Corp which fell 3.58% to settle at ¥5390. As...