February in Figures
February 29, 2012
February was a replay of January in certain respects, but there will also some notable market differences between the two months. The similarities involved a weaker dollar, stronger share prices and pinned short-term interest rates. One notable shift was the very weak yen in February compared to January when it merely shadowed the dollar. This past month saw the dollar advance 6.5% against the yen and the euro rocket upward as much as 10.7% from a period low of 99.26 yen to a high for the month of 109.9. A second way the months were different concerned commodities. In January, gold had soared 11.2%, while oil edged 0.5%. But they traded roles this past month, as gold fell by 1.8% on balance thanks to today’s plunge, while oil advanced 8.8%. The third dissimilarity between January and February was the upward bias of 10-year interest rates in the more recent month. In January, yields had mostly eased.
| 10-Yr Yield | 01/31/12 | 02/29/12 | Chg vs End-Jan |
| U.S. | 1.79% | 1.97% | +18 Basis Points |
| Germany | 1.79% | 1.82% | +3 |
| Japan | 0.97% | 0.96% | -1 |
| U.K. | 1.97% | 2.15% | +18 |
| Canada | 1.88% | 1.98% | +10 |
| Switzerland | 0.72% | 0.71% | -1 |
| 3-month euros | Chg vs End-Jan | ||
| U.S. | 0.54% | 0.49% | -5 Basis Points |
| Euroland | 1.13% | 0.98% | -15 |
| Japan | 0.20% | 0.20 | 0 |
| U.K. | 1.08% | 1.06% | -2 |
| Canada | 1.39% | 1.38% | -1 |
| Swiss | 0.07% | 0.09% | +2 |
| FX | Pct Chg in USD | ||
| EUR/USD | 1.3078 | 1.3326 | -1.9% |
| USD/JPY | 76.25 | 81.18 | +6.5% |
| USD/CHF | 0.9208 | 0.9043 | -1.8% |
| GBP/USD | 1.5713 | 1.5917 | -1.0% |
| AUD/USD | 1.0613 | 1.0734 | -1.1% |
| NZD/USD | 0.8249 | 0.8344 | -1.1% |
| USD/CAD | 1.0028 | 0.9896 | -1.3% |
| USD/CNY | 6.3072 | 6.2956 | -0.2% |
| Equities | Pct Change | ||
| S&P 500 | 1312 | 1366 | +4.1% |
| Nasdaq | 2814 | 2967 | +5.4% |
| Djia | 12633 | 12952 | +2.5% |
| Dax | 6459 | 6856 | +6.1% |
| Nikkei | 8805 | 9723 | +10.5% |
| Ftse | 5682 | 5872 | +3.3% |
| Canada TSE | 12452 | 12644 | +1.5% |
| Swiss SMI | 5970 | 6110 | +2.3% |
| Commodities | Pct Change | ||
| Oil, $ per brl | 98.38 | 107.07 | +8.8% |
| Gold, $ per oz | 1740.90 | 1709.90 | -1.8% |
Copyright Larry Greenberg 2012. All rights reserved. No secondary distribution without express permission.
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