MARKET ROUNDUP

U.S. Stocks Fall as Fed Maintains Plan as Economy Shrinks
The S&P 500 fell 0.4 percent to 1,501.96 at 4 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 44 points, or 0.3 percent, to 13,910.42. Both measures yesterday reached their highest levels since 2007. Gross domestic product, the volume of all goods and services produced, dropped at a 0.1 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter, weaker than any economist forecast in a Bloomberg survey and the worst performance since the second quarter of 2009, when the world's largest economy was still in the recession. Companies in the U.S. added 192,000 workers in January, data from the Roseland, New Jersey-based ADP Research Institute showed today. The median forecast of 38 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for an advance of 165,000.

Oil Rises to Four-Month High as Fed Keeps Asset Buying
West Texas Intermediate for March delivery rose 37 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $97.94 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest settlement since Sept. 14. Prices are up 6.7 percent this month. The Fed asset purchases will remain divided between $40 billion a month of mortgage-backed securities and $45 billion a month of Treasury securities.

Gold Heads for Biggest Gain in 3 Weeks on U.S. GDP Data
After a report showed the U.S. economy unexpectedly shrank in the fourth quarter, boosting demand for the metal as a havenGold futures for April delivery climbed 1.1 percent to settle at $1,681.60 an ounce at 2:01 p.m. on the Comex in New York, the biggest gain for a mostactive contract since Jan. 10. Prices rose as much as 1.3 percent in electronic trading after the Fed's announcement. (Source: Bloomberg)

Jupiter Securities Research - 31 January 2013