Morning Call by Greg Secker

The FTSE closed yesterday down 22 points at 4,579 as volume returns to its normal levels after the Christmas break. A break of 4,660 could see the confirmation of the double bottom, but yesterday saw the run of 4 up days end so it’ll be interesting to see what happens today especially with the Bank of England Interest Rate announcement due out at lunchtime on Thursday. Yesterday the Dow pulls back 75 points to 8,953.The Dow rallied sharply late last week and tested the major 9,000 level for the first time in several weeks and continues to hold just beneath this level. The index has repeatedly tested 9,000 since early November and if it cannot rise above the 9,050 level look for another possible drop back toward near-term support at around 8,370. Yesterday the US President-elect Barack Obama described the US economy as "very sick" and said the situation is worsening, and this may well affect the markets. He also said he expected that the latest US unemployment figures, due out later this week, would be sobering. Investors and businesses are still contending with fears about everything from the state of corporate earnings to consumers’ willingness to spend during a recession. Today is a heavy news day in the Forex markets: HPI was released at 07:00 GMT and was – 2.5%, and PMI is due out at 09:30. Over the Pond, at 15:00 Non-Manufacturing PMI and Pending Home Sales are due for release and this could affect the USD. At 19:00 the minutes from the last FOMC meeting are released and if they are more bullish than expected then this may be good for the USD. For those of you trading into the evening today on the NZD may like to know that the New Zealand Trade Balance is due for release at 21:45. Good Trading.