Stocks fall as European Problems Overshadow Employment Numbers. | November 7, 2011


The Australian equity market is set to open higher despite overseas markets falling on Friday. Overseas markets fell heavily in early trade before regaining some of the losses after a senior Greek lawmaker signalled support for the embattled Prime Minister George Papandreou.

The Dow (see above chart) fell 61.23 points or 0.51% to close the session at 11983.24, as the Dow fell first time since September. The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index lost 7.92 points or 0.63% to 1253.33, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 11.82 points or 0.44% to 2686.15. The financial sector led the way lower as a result of the problems in Europe. Traders largely shrugged off the US government’s broadest snapshot of the labor market, which showed modest job creation in October and upward revisions to previous months’ tallies. The gains made only a small dent in the unemployment rate, which edged down to 9% from 9.1% in September.

The EURUSD finished slightly lower as the political turmoil in Europe continues to place pressure on the currency, The EUR/USD was last trading at 1.3817. Meanwhile the AUD/USD continued to find support above the 1.03 level closing slightly lower for the trading day on Friday. The AUD/USD last traded at 1.0402.

Gold fell as investors headed to the sidelines before a vote that could topple the Greek government and renew fears that the debt-laden country may soon default. While WTI oil finished up, after a choppy day, with the market whipsawed by conflicting trends and data.

INDICES
Last Traded
SPI 200 future 4258
S&P500 Index 1253.33
Dow Jones 11983.24
FTSE 100 Index 5527.16

COMMODITIES
Last Traded
Gold 1754.43
Oil (Nymex) 94.26

CURRENCIES
Last Traded
AUDUSD 1.0402
EURUSD 1.3817
GBPUSD 1.6055
USDJPY 78.14
Source
Bloomberg, Dow Jones News