Tech Stocks Weigh Down, Pound Tumbles
Mar 28th, 2008 | By Jody Clarke | Category: US Dollar & Forex TradingOn Wall Street, stocks fell for a second consecutive day as the technology sector weighed following disappointing results from Oracle and Google. The pound was broadly lower this morning as weak consumer and housing data pointed to an economic slowdown.
Tech Stocks Weigh on Wall Street
In London, the FTSE 100 added 57 points to end the day at 5,717, just below an intraday high of 5,735. Persimmon was by far the day’s biggest gainer, adding over 7% as the housebuilding sector rallied. For a full market report, see: London market close (http://www.moneyweek.com/file
Across the Atlantic, the Paris CAC-40 added 42 points to end the day at 4,719. And in Frankfurt, the DAX-30 closed 88 points higher, at 6,578.
On Wall Street, stocks fell for a second consecutive day as the technology sector weighed following disappointing results from Oracle and Google. The Dow Jones fell 120 points to end the day at 12,302. The broader S&P 500 was down 15 points, at 1,325. And the tech-heavy Nasdaq slumped 43 points to close at 2,280.
In Asia, stocks rose today led by property and commodity plays. The Japanese Nikkei was 215 points higher, at 12,820. And in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng was 621 points higher, at 23,285.
Pound tumbles on bearish housing data
Crude oil had fallen back to $106.60 this morning and Brent spot was down by over a dollar, at $104.28.
Spot gold tracked oil lower this morning, falling to $942.60 from $951.80 in New York late last night. Platinum, meanwhile, jumped to $2,030 on speculative buying. And silver had fallen to $18.25.
Turning to forex, the pound was broadly lower this morning as weak consumer and housing data (see below) pointed to an economic slowdown. Sterling fell to 1.9953 against the dollar and hit an all-time low against the euro before edging up to 1.2663. The dollar was last trading at 0.6345 against the euro and 100.26 against the Japanese yen.
And in London this morning, Nationwide announced that UK house prices suffered their fifth month-on-month fall in a row in February, and their slowest year-on-year growth in over a decade. The price of the average home had risen 1.1% to £179,110 from February 2007. Nationwide chief economist Fionnuala Earley pointed to a ‘clear change in sentiment’ as to expectations of future price increases.
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Jody joined MoneyWeek UK at the beginning of 2006. Clarke graduated with an LLB in Law and European Studies from The University of Limerick in Ireland and an MSc (Ag) in International Development at University College Dublin. He worked for the United Nations World Food Programme as an intern. where he completed his paper on the impact of HIV/AIDS, Weak Governance and Drought on Sub-Saharan Food Security.