Market Factors to Watch | Wednesday, 31 December 2014 ==================================== GLOBAL MARKETS ==================================== • US MARKETS — U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday as investors engaged in profit-taking to pull major indexes from record levels, while the trend of modest moves and low volume continued heading into the final trading day of the year. The days losses were broad, with each of the ten primary S&P 500 sectors in negative territory. Utilities - 2014s best sector performer - led the decline with a drop of 2.1 percent. Equities have enjoyed a solid rally of late, buoyed by strong economic data and the U.S. Federal Reserves commitment to be patient about raising interest rates. The S&P 500 gained nearly 6 percent over the prior eight sessions and managed to score its 53rd record close of the year on Monday. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 55.16 points, or 0.31 percent, to 17,983.07, the S&P 500 lost 10.22 points, or 0.49 percent, to 2,080.35 and the NASDAQ Composite dropped 29.47 points, or 0.61 percent, to 4,777.44. In the latest economic data, consumer confidence rose slightly less than expected in December, while U.S. single-family home price appreciation slowed less than forecast in October. The benchmark S&P 500 posted 25 new 52-week highs and 6 new lows; the NASDAQ Composite recorded 107 new highs and 39 new lows. • US TREASURIES — The yield on Greeces 10-year bond ticked lower on Tuesday after a sharp move higher on Monday. The left-wing Syriza party, which could win a snap election next month, has said it wants to abandon many drastic spending cuts that are part of a European Union and International Monetary Fund bailout program. Weaker stocks and concerns about Greece helped push U.S. Treasuries prices higher. The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note was up 4/32, and its yield down to 2.20 percent. • FOREX — The U.S. dollar hit a 1-1/2-week low against the safe-haven yen on Tuesday after traders booked profits from recent multi-year highs in the greenback and parked their winnings in the Japanese currency. The euro also fell against the yen, and was last down 0.91 percent against the Japanese currency at 145.26 yen after hitting a nearly 1-1/2-month low of 144.77 yen The euro was weak against the yen and erased early gains against the dollar on growing expectations that the European Central Bank will bolster its monetary stimulus by announcing outright purchases of government bonds, potentially at its next meeting on Jan. 22. That move is expected to weaken the euro. • GOLD — Gold rose 2 percent on Tuesday, while silver jumped more than 4 percent as the dollar weakened and stock markets slid, with concerns over tension between Russia and the West also helping push the metal through key chart levels. U.S. gold futures for February delivery settled up $18.50 an ounce, or 1.6 percent, at $1,200.40. • OIL — Crude futures closed up slightly Tuesday, getting some relief from a weak dollar but not making significant strides as traders prepared for the end of the year. The benchmark Brent LCOc1 settled up 2 cents at $57.90 while U.S. crude settled up 51 cents at $54.12 a barrel. Both measures hit 5-1/2-year lows on Monday before rebounding slightly. U.S. crude was supported slightly by news that the Obama administration took two long-awaited steps that could increase the amount of processed light crude that can be shipped under the 40-year-old ban on exports of most domestic crude. • NIKKEI — TOKYO’S Nikkei 225 stock index climbed more than 7 percent in 2014, ending on Tuesday near its highest levels since before the global financial crisis struck. The rise adds to a 57 percent surge in 2013 — its best annual return in four decades as the Bank of Japan’s monetary easing blitz sharply weakened the yen, a plus for exporters such as Toyota and Sony. On the year’s last trading day yesterday the Nikkei 225 declined 1.57 percent on profit-taking, losing 279.07 points to close at 17,450.77. =================================== MALAYSIA ==================================== • PALM OIL — Malaysian palm oil slipped on Tuesday as traders took profits after an eight-day rally, but prices remained supported by monsoon floods that have inundated plantations, threatening to reduce output in the worlds second-largest producer. Severe monsoon flooding in Malaysia that has forced nearly a quarter of a million people to evacuate, is likely to cause a bigger-than-expected disruption to crude palm oil production in December with the impact likely to last well into the first quarter of 2015. By Tuesdays close the benchmark March contract had slipped 0.09 percent to 2,283 ringgit ($653) per tonne after hitting 2,305 ringgit earlier in the day. Thunderstorms prevent plantation workers from harvesting fresh fruit bunches from oil palm trees, leaving them to over ripen and in some cases rot. Fruits that do get harvested, however, may not make it to mills in time to be crushed as roads are inundated with water, or may have to be turned away as mills are shut due to flooding. The Malaysian Palm Oil Association, a group of growers, forecast that crude palm oil production in Malaysia fell 21 percent between Dec. 1 and 20 compared with the same period a month ago. • COMPETING VEGOIL — Soybean oil rose 0.3 per cent to 33.03 cents a pound on the Chicago Board of Trade, while soybeans climbed 0.4 per cent to US$10.5325 (RM36.8638) a bushel. Soybean oil’s premium over palm was US$72.17 a tonne on Tuesday compared with the 2013 average of about US$244, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. • FBM KLCI — Shares on Bursa Malaysia closed lower on Tuesday dampened by selling in small caps. At the close, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI declined 1.58 points to 1,766.83 after hovering between 1,753.95 and 1,770.52 throughout the day. ==================================== CLOSING PRICES FOR US MARKET Tuesday, 30 December 2014 ==================================== • DJIA Down 55.16 points at 17,983.07 • NASDAQ Down 29.47 points at 4,777.44 • S&P 500 Down 10.22 points at 2,080.35 • US Soybean Oil (Mar 15) Up +0.14 points at 33.07 dollars per metric ton. • NYMEX Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) (Feb 15) Up +0.51 points at 54.12 dollars a barrel. • US COMEX Gold (Feb 15) Up +18.5 points at 1200.4 dollars an ounce. ==================================== CLOSING PRICES FOR CHINA MARKET Tuesday, 30 December 2014 ==================================== • DALIAN SOYBEAN (May 15) closed up 11 at 4515 • DALIAN SOYBEAN OIL (May 15) closed up 42 at 5732 • DALIAN PALM OIL (May 15) closed up 52 at 5082 ==================================== CLOSING PRICES FOR MALAYSIA MARKET Tuesday, 30 December 2014 ==================================== • FGLD (Dec 14) close unchanged at 133.50 • FGLD (Jan 15) closed down 0.25 at 134.40 • FCPO (Mar 15) closed down 3 at 2,283 • FKLI (Dec 14) closed down 9.0 at 1,759.0 • FBM KLCI closed down 1.58 at 1,766.83
Posted on: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 01:34:22 +0000
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