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Foreign Markets

Surging commodity and mining stocks weren’t enough to lift markets positive in Asia. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng led the region’s declines, falling 297.41 points, or 2.3 %, to 12,833.51, and Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 stock index lost 0.4 % to 3,465.8. Japan’s market was closed for a holiday. The weaker dollar has really troubled the region over the past few days because of their heavy reliance on exports which will look more expensive.

In Europe, stocks were lower most of the morning before rallying positive. Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 1.62, or 0.04% to 3,818.55, Germany’s DAX rose 0.4% to 4,059.65 and France’s CAC-40 advanced 6.90 points to 2,783.89, a 0.25% gain.

U.S. Futures

In the U.S., Wall Street looks to close out the week on a high note. So far in the pre market, futures are mixed. Ahead of the market’s open, Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 3, or 0.04 %, at 7,414. Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 2, or 0.3 %, to 773.10, while Nasdaq 100 index futures rose 0.75, or 0.06 %, to 1,204.25. There are no economic reports due out today; therefore it will be interesting to see what drives the day’s trading.

Yesterday the street experienced its 2nd loss in 8 sessions. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.2 %, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 1.3 %, and the Nasdaq composite index dropped 0.5 %, to 1,491.22.

Currencies and Commodities

The dollar rebounded against major currencies after being driven down since the Fed announcement on Wednesday. The dollar traded at 95.422 yen, a gain of 0.9458% in the currency market. The euro lost 0.529% to $1.3593, while the pound depreciated 0.3334% to $1.4455. Gold dropped $2.80 to $956 an ounce on the stronger dollar, however the precious metal has risen almost 7% an ounce since the FOMC statement. After closing at its highest level of the year above $51 per barrel, crude for April delivery was down 47 cents to $51.14. The last thing this economy needs is a consumer faced with significantly higher energy prices

Corporate News

General Electric (GE) expects GE Capital to be profitable in the first quarter of 2009 and for the full year. Shares of the company have been hammered on worries that their credit arm will continue to face severe losses. However, the stock has gained over 35% since S&P gave the company a stable credit outlook.

Xerox (XRX) is cutting its 1st quarter profit outlook by 80%; the company now expects earnings per share in a range of 3 cents to 5 cents, down from its earlier forecast of 16 cents to 20 cents.

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