Betfair Official Blog

Bulls haven't had this much fun since last year's Pamplona encierro

Daily View - 26th March...

A nice big bull day yesterday and my comments concerning a secondary rally from my initial call of up 120 came to fruition, as the bears were squeezed in the sunshine of a strong bull move and we closed up almost 200 points at 5689.

Markets did almost nothing overnight and the US also closed virtually unchanged after Monday's excitement. This means that Europe's day of catching up is now over and we must now look at where we are once more.

The last five trading days in the FTSE have had four 200 point ranges which does not look too much like a market on the brink of settling down. It might be interesting to note however, that the actual major supports held at around 5460 for four days in a row which may give the long-suffering bulls something to go on. The market is still, obviously, in a negative trend, but all trends must come to an end some day.

The early call today is for the index to open some 40 points lower at 5650 as the exuberance of yesterday quietens down a bit, and sellers will have noted that 5700 held steady three times in yesterday's session. Buyers will probably remain on the sidelines until a more certain indication of stability is evident.

On the currency front the Pound has regained some composure after last weeks drubbing and we are back above the $2 level. We have even managed to regain something against the Euro as well, but given the fall-out over the past few months this is small comfort.

The commodities markets were a bit brighter yesterday, and Gold managed a 25 buck rally as buyers came in expecting a continuation of the rally after the recent sell off. Weakness in the Dollar also helped slightly but volumes were light. The yellow metal is opening at 937.8-938.3, unchanged overnight. The support at around 905 (where there was quite a battle a month or so ago) held well over the last few sessions and the bounce will have taken out quite a few weak shorts. We are now back at the levels that were quite a resistance to going higher in January so a close above 940 would be welcomed by the bulls as possible evidence of a rejection of the recent falls.