Morning Call by Traders University

On Friday the FTSE 100 closed down 12 points at 4,241. On Friday the Dow fell 34.01 points (0.4 %) to 8,438.39. The S&P 500 index fell 1.36 (0.2%) to 918.90. Technology stocks did a little better so the Nasdaq rose 8.68 (0.5%) to 1,838.22 led by Palm Inc the smart phone maker. The US markets were largely unaffected by the UoM Consumer Sentiment Index which rose unexpectedly on Friday but was balanced out by the news that US citizens have increased their savings sharply which in the short term will not support hopes for GDP growth. On the one hand the market may have pushed up too quickly since March (35.8% rally in the S&P 500 from a 12-year low on March 9) and in fact an economic recovery may be further away than hoped initially. However, keep in mind that Tuesday is the end of the quarter; portfolio and fund managers may be keen to take the stock markets higher to bolster their performance numbers for the quarter. Forex news: No high news today. The British Pound stuck to its range for another week, failing to breach the magical 1.6660 line. This week’s key British events: Nationwide HPI, Current Account, Manufacturing PMI, Services PMI and American Non-Farm Payrolls could well shake the Pound.