This morning U.S. markets are expected to be sluggish after falling yesterday. The S&P 500 and the Dow are flat at last check. U.S. new applications for unemployment rose to 317,000.
In Asia markets were down after yesterday’s slip by U.S. stocks. The Hang Seng was down 0.35%, and the Nikkei was down 0.64%, while the Mumbai Sensex was up 0.40%.
European markets are up though technical issues delayed trading for France’s CAC 40 by 30 minutes. The FTSE is up 0.19% and the CAC is up 0.25%.
Amid concerns over hostilities in Iraq, energy futures are up this morning. West Texas Intermediate crude oil up $1.79 while natural gas is up $0.04. In metals, gold is up $4.50, while platinum is down $29.70. The Dollar is up versus the Euro and the Yen.
CONSOL Energy Inc. (CNX), Hewlett-Packard Company (HPQ), and Noble Energy Inc. (NBL) are moving up today. Lulumon Athletica Inc. (LULU), AmeriGas Partners LP (APU), and Tableau Software Inc. (DATA) are down.
