mines prices markets

mines,gold,silver,oil,gazz,coal,prices,market,asia, europa,america,africa

New York, May 4th (TradersHuddle.com) – Stocks fell broadly, amid a mixed batch of earnings reports, after weak economic data coupled with concern over monetary tightening in China spurred a risk aversion trade on economic jitters. The deteriorating outlook for economic growth hit commodities particularly hard.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 83.93 points, or 0.66%. The S&P 500 index lost 9.3 points, or 0.69%, while the NASDAQ dropped 13.39 points, or 0.47%.

The market started near the flat line following weak performance overseas amid a mixed batch of earnings reports. Futures had been pointing to a slightly higher open, but a weak report from payroll firm ADP weighed in early sentiment, as it does not bode well for the key Jobs report later in the week.

ADP said that private employers added 179,000 jobs, below the 200,000 jobs that were widely expected. Private payrolls in March were revised up slightly to 207,000. Earlier this morning the Challenger Job Cuts reading came in at -5.0%, as the planned lay offs fell to the lowest level of the year and the third lowest level in the past sixteen months as layoffs were outpaced by a rise in plans to hire.

In Asia, the Nikkei continued close for Golden Week, while China and Hong Kong had sharp declines on concern over higher interest rates and bank reserves, which will help curb inflation by cooling economic growth. A Chinese Central Bank Governor commented that inflation will moderate in the second half of the year as government measures to curb price increases hit their mark, with the policy makers likely to move bank reserves or interest rates as early as this month.

European shares closed at a 2-week, low as a selloff in commodities impacted miners’ shares. Better results from BNP Paribas and luxury automaker, BMW, provided some measure of support.

Trading chopped around the neutral line early on, but at 10 am, the April ISM Services disappointed investors triggering increased selling pressure, as the reading came much lower than expected at 52.8, which provided more ammunition for the bears.

All of the S&P 500 key sectors finished lower for the session, with materials, energy, and industrials posting the sharpest declines, while consumer staples stocks were the best performing sector, losing only 0.1%.

The staples sector was helped by M&A in the sector with Ralcorp Holdings (NYSE:RAH) surging 4.87% to $87.39 following news that ConAgra Foods (NYSE:CAG) proposed to buy the maker of Post brand cereals and other food products for $4.9 billion in cash. ConAgra also gained more than 3% to $25.51, as participants cheered the deal.

The materials led the declines, losing 1.7% as weak commodities impacted the sector. Freeport McMoRan (NYSE:FCX), the world’s largest publicly traded copper producer, lost 3.87% to $51.14 as copper prices retreated 2.92% on concern over future demand if economic growth slows in the U.S. and abroad. Freeport has calculated support at $49.71 and resistance at $56.49.

Also Precious metals closed sharply lower today, with gold dropping 1.7% to settle at $1514.80 an ounce, while silver continued it plunge, tumbling 7.4% to close at $39.45 per ounce. Follow through selling helped the metals close lower for the third consecutive session. Gold has now fallen about 4%, from its all time high set on May 2 at $1577.40. Silver has dropped about 21%, from its recent 31-year high at $49.845.

Silver continued to feel the pressure as speculative funds continue to seek the exit in what was a crowded trade. The margin requirements increases at the CME for silver, three in 2-weeks helped debunked the story of increased demand on the precious metal, which drove it to historic highs.

The iShares Silver Trust ETF (NYSE:SLV), the fund that corresponds to the price of silver owned by the Trust less expenses and liabilities, fell 5.69% to $38.27. The Sliver Trust has lost more than 18% in the first 3 sessions of May. Miners were also under pressure but were able to shake off some of the weakness toward the close of the session, with Silver Wheaton (NYSE:SLW), the world’s largest metal streaming company, climbing 0.60% to $37.13, continuing to trade below calculated support at $38.88, as the stock is now down 8.59% in the first sessions in May with the miner getting crushed as silver get volatile.

Another silver related trade suffering as the silver demand equation seemed to have debunked with speculating investors moving away from the metal was the ETFS Physical Silver Shares (NYSE:SIVR), the investment trust that holds silver bullion and issues shares in exchange for deposits of silver, tumbled 5.61% to $39.05, with the investment trust down also more than 18% in just the three May sessions.

Also in the sector Potash (NYSE:POT), the world’s largest fertilizer maker, fell 1.42% to $53.42 after the stock was left open for further weakness after yesterday it closed below calculated support at $55.03. The stock felt under pressure as commodities fell on average about 1.8%.

Energy stocks were also among the notable under performers, as crude oil fell 1.6% to close below $110 per barrel on concern over global economic growth and as inventory data, which showed a larger than expected build. Major oil companies were under pressure. Chevron (NYSE:CVX) was falling more than 1.4% to $104.68, trading 1.57% above calculated support of $103.04, and posting one of the biggest percentage declines in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Industrials were also under pressure on concern over global economic growth. Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT), the world’s largest earthmoving equipment maker, dropped 2.21% to $110.77, posting the biggest percentage decline in the blue chip index.

Other notable earnings before the open came from Kellogg (NYSE:K), the cereal maker disappointed participants after earnings fell shy of expectations. Shares fell 1.18% to $56.76. Meanwhile, Time Warner (NYSE:TWX), the media company, failed to meet heightened expectations as shares tumbled 3.29% to $36.49 even after the company delivered better-than-expected results, thanks to a boost in advertising sales at the entertainment company's cable TV networks.

MGM Resorts (NYSE:MGM), the hospitality and gaming Company owner of properties like the Bellagio and MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV, surged 10.32% to $14.22, closing above calculated resistance at $14.10 after the company posted a narrower loss than expected. MGM said it loss $0.18 per share, $0.01 better than consensus, on revenues that climbed 3.3% year over year to $1.5 billion.

The strength in MGM helped offsets the weakness from Las Vegas Sands in the casino space. Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS), the owner and operator of casino resorts and convention centers in the U.S., plunged 7.28% to $42.53, closing below calculated support at $42.84, after quarterly results came in short of estimates. The company said profit was $0.37 per share, $0.07 worse than consensus; revenues jumped 58.2% year over year to $2.11 billion versus consensus of $2.14 billion. Investors were also disappointed by the quarter over quarter decline in EBITDA margin at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.

Technology closed lower but outperformed the broad market index, with semis trading in synch with the rest of the tech space. NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA), the world leader in visual computing technologies, fell 0.75%, with the stock falling 6.75% during the week on concern Apple might drop NVIDIA from its broader Mac line after Apple unveiled a refreshed iMac desktop line yesterday, which are now running AMD processors.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), the maker of iPads and iPhones, actually finish in positive territory, gaining 0.39% to $349.57. The company was resumed with Outperform at Oppenheimer, with the firm calling the stock a core holding in any technology or growth portfolio, as they are bullish on its outlook. Apple price action seems to have formed an inside day thus far, which could bode well for the short term prospects of the stock as it gathers momentum to try an break out of its range defined by its 50day moving average as support and calculated resistance at the $355 level.