Market Factors to Watch | Monday, 11 November 2013 ==================================== GLOBAL MARKETS ==================================== • U.S. STOCKS — U.S. stocks rose on Friday, rebounding from the previous sessions selloff, after an unexpectedly strong payrolls report lent weight to views the worlds largest economy is stronger than previously thought. With Fridays advance, The Dow and S&P 500 recorded their fifth straight week of gains. For the week, the Dow rose 0.9 percent and the S&P 500 index rose 0.5 percent. The Nasdaq fell 0.1 percent for the week. The strong jobs report - 204,000 new jobs were created last month, much more than the expected 125,000 - came before the market open and initially pressured futures because it increased chances the Federal Reserve could begin to scale back its stimulus before the end of the year. The strong data also sent U.S. Treasuries prices lower, lifting the benchmark 10-year yield to its highest in more than three weeks. A four-month rally in yields earlier this year pressured stocks, but the recent strong data has eased concerns over higher borrowing costs. • U.S. TREASURIES — U.S. stocks rose on Friday, rebounding from the previous sessions selloff, after an unexpectedly strong payrolls report lent weight to views the worlds largest economy is stronger than previously thought. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 167.80 points, or 1.08 percent, at 15,761.78. The Standard & Poors 500 Index was up 23.46 points, or 1.34 percent, at 1,770.61. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 61.90 points, or 1.60 percent, at 3,919.23. • FOREX — The U.S. dollar held near two-month highs against a basket of major currencies early in Asia on Monday, having staged a broad rally after upbeat U.S. jobs data bolstered the case for the Federal Reserve to scale back stimulus as early as next month. The dollar index last traded at 81.289, holding on to most of Fridays 0.6 percent gains after a closely watched report showed employers added 204,000 new jobs to their payrolls last month, soundly beating forecasts for 125,000 jobs. That in turn provided support for the dollar, which jumped around 1 percent against the yen on Friday and last stood at 99.17. • GOLD — Spot gold fell 0.2 percent to $1,286.19 an ounce by 0020 GMT. It lost 1.7 percent on Friday - the metals biggest one-day drop in more than a month. Data from the U.S. Labor Department showed employers added 204,000 new jobs to their payrolls last month, well above estimates of 125,000, showing resilience of the economy despite a partial government shutdown. Investors are watching key data on the U.S. economy to gauge when the Fed could begin tapering its $85 billion monthly bond purchases. They fear that strong data would prompt the U.S. central bank to cut back purchases before the end of the year. Barrick Gold Corp signaled on Friday that founder and Chairman Peter Munk will likely leave the board at next years annual meeting, a move that sources say is intended to persuade reluctant investors to buy into the miners $3 billion equity offering. • BRENT — Brent oil rose by nearly $2 per barrel on Friday as traders covered short positions going into the weekend and kept a close watch over a meeting between Western powers and Iran over its nuclear program and renewed violence in Libya. Six western nations and Iran were expected to iron out an agreement during a meeting in Geneva. This could ease sanctions against Iran, which have removed more than 1 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil from world markets. Any increase in supply from the Islamic Republic could push oil prices sharply lower. In Libya on Friday, protesters prevented a tanker from loading 600,000 barrels of oil headed for Italy at the eastern port of Hariga. On Thursday in Tripoli, the worst fighting in months broke out. Still, both Brent and U.S. oil ended with their fourth and fifth straight weeks of losses, respectively, as oil markets remain well supplied. Money managers had also cut their bullish bets in U.S. crude oil futures and options to the lowest since June, government data showed on Friday. • NIKKEI — Japanese stocks tumbled to one-month lows on Friday morning after a sharp drop on Wall Street dented risk appetite, keeping investors on the defensive ahead of a crucial U.S. jobs report later in the day. The benchmark Nikkei dropped 0.9 percent to 14,096.96 in mid-morning trade, after falling to 14,026.17 earlier, the lowest since Oct 9. The Nikkei remains below 14,193.99, a 50 percent retracement of its May high to its June low. On Friday, bellwether exporters were weaker as some investors trimmed their positions ahead of the U.S. jobs data. A strong jobs report would give the U.S. Federal Reserve a reason to taper its monthly purchases of $85 billion in assets sooner rather than later, particularly after a much better-than-expected U.S. gross domestic product report on Thursday. ==================================== MALAYSIA ==================================== • PALM OIL — Malaysian palm oil futures slipped to a near two-week low on Friday as a bout of technical selling pressured prices, but the market was range-bound ahead of a key industry report on production and stocks in the worlds No.2 producer. A surge in the palm market last Friday prompted a round of profit-taking and a technical correction this week, stretching losses into a fourth straight day and dragged prices to post their biggest weekly loss since early March. Market players are waiting for official data on Malaysian end-October palm oil stocks, exports and output that will be released on Monday by industry regulator, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB). A Reuters survey on Thursday showed that Malaysian palm oil stocks probably inched up to 1.82 million tonnes in October, with the increase in inventories limited as the seasonally high-cycle began to wane and monsoon rains dented production. • COMPETING VEGOIL — In other markets, Brent futures held steady above $103 a barrel on Friday as a rebound in export growth added to signs of an improving economy in the second-biggest oil consumer, overshadowing a fall in crude imports to a 13-month low. A U.S. plan to ban artificial trans fats in processed foods could strip away as much as 15 percent of the nations edible soyoil demand, industry officials say, and give way to alternative vegetable oils such as palm oil to replace the partially hydrogenated soyoil used in foods ranging from cookies to frozen pizza. Investors will also be keeping watch on export data for the first 10 days of November, which will also be released on Monday, to gauge demand for the tropical oil especially from major buyer China. • FBM KLCI — Blue chips extended profit-taking correction last week due to post-2014 Budget blues and uncertainty over the timeline for tapering of stimulus by the United States Federal Reserve, but the strong dual initial public offering debut of Karex Bhd and Barakah Offshore Petroleum Bhd managed to offset the dour sentiment on the blue-chip sector. Investors were also sidelined ahead of the closely-watched October US jobs data, hoping for evidence that could delay stimulus tapering. The blue-chip benchmark FBM Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (FBM KLCI) slid another 5.93 points, or 0.33 per cent, last week to 1,804.48, with almost all the losses represented by Petronas Chemicals (-29 sen), Genting Bhd (-28 sen), PPB Group (-64 sen) and Petronas Gas (-42 sen). Average daily traded volume and value improved to 1.93 billion shares and RM1.84 billion, compared to the 1.79 billion shares and RM1.87 billion averages respectively the previous week, as trading participation focused on the cheaper ACE Market and penny stocks. ==================================== CLOSING PRICES FOR U.S. MARKET Friday, 08 November 2013 ==================================== • DJIA Up 167.80 points at 15,761.78 • NASDAQ Down 1.11 points at 3,918.12 • S&P 500 Up 23.46 points at 1,770.61 • US Soybean Oil [Dec’13] Down -0.50 points at 40.24 dollars per metric ton • NYMEX Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) [Dec’13] Up 0.40 points at 94.60 dollars a barrel • US COMEX Gold [Dec’13] Down -23.9 points at 1284.6 dollars an ounce ==================================== CLOSING PRICES FOR MALAYSIA MARKET Friday, 08 November 2013 ==================================== • FCPO (Jan 14) closed down 38 at 2,506 • FKLI (Nov 13) closed down 4.0 at 1,801.0 • FBM KLCI down 2.13 points to close at 1,804.48 • FGLD (Nov 13) closed down 0.15 at 134.50 • FGLD (Dec 13) closed down 0.30 at 134.85 ==================================== CLOSING PRICES FOR CHINA MARKET Friday, 08 November 2013 ==================================== • DALIAN SOYBEAN (May 14) up 14 at 4487 (+0.31%) • DALIAN SOYBEAN OIL (May 14) down 42 at 7160 (-0.58%) • DALIAN PALM OIL (May 14) closed down 42 points at 6228 (-0.67%)
Posted on: Mon, 11 Nov 2013 01:27:00 +0000
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