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09-11-2007 10:42:49
GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks pressured as dollar hit new lows
By Ian Chua HONG KONG, Nov 9 (Reuters) - The dollar slumped to a record low versus the euro on Friday after comments from the U.S.
central bank chief boosted interest rate cut speculation, undermining Asian stock markets as exporters slipped.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned growth at Asia's top export destination could prove weaker than expected and inflation higher, although he told lawmakers the U.S. economy did not appear headed for recession. [ID:nN08239430] The weak dollar provided support for gold
, which was within easy reach of a 28-year peak of $845.40 set this week, while U.S. crude
inched up to $96.45 a barrel to be near the record high $98.62 reached on Wednesday.
Resouce stocks were in focus, with miner Rio Tinto
soaring after rival BHP Billiton
confirmed it had approached the company about an all-share takeover aimed at creating a $350 billion-plus mining giant. [ID:nL082782] By the end of morning trade, Tokyo's Nikkei average <.N225> had fallen 1.1 percent, reversing early gains as the market struggled to find traction after Thursday's 2 percent fall.
MSCI's measure of other Asia Pacific stocks <.MIAPJ0000PUS> fared better and were up 0.2 percent by 0235 GMT, outperforming as merger and acquisition activity helped outweigh a weak lead from Wall Street overnight.
The MSCI index has lost about 6 percent from the Nov. 1 record high, but is still up about 40 percent this year, more than triple the gains for MSCI's main global stock index <.MIWD00000PUS>.
Markets in Hong Kong <.HSI>, Sydney <.AXJO> and Seoul .
rose, while Singapore <.STI> and Malaysia <.KLSE> eased, playing catch up to the region's selloff on Thursday after their respective public holidays.
RIO SHINES Among the bright spots in the region, global miner Rio Tinto
jumped 16 percent after it rejected BHP Billiton's
long-awaited bid approach.
BHP shares fell 1.4 percent on speculation that the mining giant will have to lift its offer.
"This is probably just the first move in the chess game," said Greg Goodsell, equity strategist at ABN AMRO.
"The interesting issue is what other combinations and transactions will emerge out of this." Some exporters suffered as the dollar crumbled.
A weak greenback usually translates to lower profits for exporters that make most of their sales in dollars.
Samsung Electronics <005930.KS> was flat after rising more than 2 percent earlier, while Canon Inc <7751.T>, Toyota Motor <7203.T> and steel maker POSCO <005490.KS> all lost ground.
DOLLAR UNLOVED The dollar carved out a fresh all-time low against the euro and was poised to retest a record low against a basket of currencies as investors raised their bets that the Fed will have to cut interest rates again after Bernanke's comments.
Lower rates reduces the appeal of dollar-denominated assets, especially for yield-hungry speculators.
The dollar index <.DXY> has fallen 10 percent this year and nearly 7 percent in the past three months alone.
Bernanke told U.S. lawmakers that the Fed expected economic growth to slow noticeably in the fourth quarter and the first half of next year, citing credit industry turmoil and the likelihood that the housing slump will deepen.
"The market seems to be less willing to take risks after Bernanke's comments and U.S. stocks failed to rebound into positive territory overnight," said Minoru Shioiri, chief manager of forex trading at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities, adding the dollar was likely to remain vulnerable.
The euro hit a high near $1.4740
, surpassing the previous peak of about $1.4730 set two days ago, and inched up to 165.51 yen
.
Against the Japanese currency, the dollar was little changed at around 112.55 yen
.
Investors ran to the relative safety of government bonds as stocks reversed early gains with Japanese government bonds (JGBs) benefiting from the fall in the Nikkei.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year JGBs
slipped 1.5 basis points to a near two-month low of 1.52 percent.
Sub-prime will be here for a long time unless Bush looks for another war.... :))
Can someone get rid of US sub-prime? It keeps coming to haunt the bull market.
HSI is green now.
STI is also moving toward that direction.
Fell by more than 2%.
| Name |
Prev |
Last |
+/- |
% |
High |
Low |
| All-S Equities Com |
1262.82 |
1247.01 |
-15.81 |
-1.2 |
1250.37 |
1244.54 |
| All-S Equities Cons |
636.44 |
628.04 |
-8.40 |
-1.3 |
629.68 |
625.12 |
| All-S Equities Fin |
2519.81 |
2465.30 |
-54.51 |
-2.2 |
2497.30 |
2465.30 |
| All-S Equities Hotels |
1461.76 |
1435.19 |
-26.57 |
-1.8 |
1436.82 |
1435.19 |
| All-S Equities Mfg |
1603.90 |
1579.32 |
-24.58 |
-1.5 |
1588.71 |
1578.94 |
| All-S Equities MultiI |
2847.55 |
2777.97 |
-69.58 |
-2.4 |
2816.99 |
2777.97 |
| All-S Equities Prop |
1483.30 |
1454.58 |
-28.72 |
-1.9 |
1470.36 |
1454.58 |
| All-S Equities TSC |
1876.94 |
1834.33 |
-42.61 |
-2.3 |
1849.02 |
1834.33 |
| All-SingEquities |
1022.09 |
1001.90 |
-20.19 |
-2.0 |
1009.26 |
1001.90 |
| BT-SRI |
1907.55 |
1864.65 |
-42.90 |
-2.2 |
1892.61 |
1864.65 |
| SingEquities Elect |
113.83 |
111.15 |
-2.68 |
-2.3 |
112.63 |
110.70 |
| SingEquities Foreign |
370.19 |
363.68 |
-6.51 |
-1.8 |
367.92 |
363.68 |
| SingEquities Mainbd |
191.96 |
188.22 |
-3.74 |
-1.9 |
189.70 |
188.22 |
| Straits Times Index |
3673.01 |
3594.98 |
-78.03 |
-2.1 |
3632.76 |
3590.07 |
| UOB Sesdaq |
225.86 |
221.27 |
-4.59 |
-2.0 |
222.85 |
221.15 |
as usual Singapore KS market... when others down, we dive... when others up, we anticipate losses... so when can Singapore change?
Bloody opening. Totally ignore regionally green opening.
STOCKS NEWS ASIA-Markets steadier after selloff; Rio jumps
Asian stocks rose on Friday as investors picked up beaten-down shares after the previous session's sell-off, while a surge in take-over target Rio Tinto helped prop up the Australian market.
But further substantial gains were unlikely given worries about weakness in the U.S. economy, Asia's top export destination, which Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke underscored in his testimony to U.S. lawmakers.
Bernanke warned U.S. growth could prove weaker than expected and inflation higher, although he said the U.S. economy did not appear headed for recession. [ID:nN08239430] At 0033 GMT, Tokyo's Nikkei average <.N225> had advanced 0.3 percent, steadying from Thursday's 2.0 percent fall, while MSCI's measure of other Asia Pacific stocks <.MIAPJ0000PUS> gained nearly 0.5 percent, following the 3-percent drop.
The MSCI index has fallen about 6 percent from the Nov. 1 record high.
South Korea's KOSPI <.KS11> gained 1.4 percent and Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index <.AXJO> added 0.5 percent.
Investors picked up stocks that had been hit hard in Thursday's sell-off. Samsung Electronics <005930.KS> rebounded 2.4 percent after a near 6-percent drop, Canon Inc <7751.T> rose 0.4 percent and National Australia Bank gained 1.3 percent.
National Australia Bank also met forecast with a 20 percent rise in second-half profit on Friday and said it targeted revenue growth above the industry average. [ID:nSYD110379] But the star performer was global miner Rio Tinto , which jumped 16 percent after it rejected BHP Billiton's long-awaited bid approach aimed at creating a $350 billion-plus mining giant. [ID:nL082782] BHP shares fell 0.6 percent on speculation that the mining giant will have to lift its offer.
"This is probably just the first move in the chess game," said Greg Goodsell, equity strategist at ABN AMRO.
"The interesting issue is what other combinations and transactions will emerge out of this." On Wall Street, falls in technology stocks sent the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> down nearly 2 percent, while the blue-chip Dow <.DJI> lost about 0.3 percent.
A worrisome outlook from bellwether Cisco Systems had fuelled a slide in the tech sector.
QUOTES:
Asian economy faces only mild slowdown, IMF official says
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SEOUL - ASIAN economies have weathered the United States subprime mortgage crisis well and will experience only a mild slowdown next year, a senior International Monetary Fund official said.
But any sharp US slowdown would have a significant effect on the region, especially if other industrial countries followed suit, said Mr Jerald Schiff, the IMF's assistant director for the Asia-Pacific on Thursday.
'Like the region as a whole, Korea weathered very well the crisis in the summer,' Mr Schiff said in a speech on the economic outlook for South Korea and the region.
Mr Schiff said the outlook for Asia remains positive next year, 'although global developments have increased significantly the downside risks'. He said the IMF projects a mild slowdown in Asia in 2008 and a moderate slowdown globally but 'there is a sizeable risk of a US recession and a sharper global slowdown'.
This would most likely be triggered by extended weakness in the US housing market, spreading to lower consumption and investment and higher unemployment.
The US housing market showed few signs so far of recovery.
Mr Schiff noted that Asia remains quite dependent on trade with the US and the European Union. But many regional countries including Korea had scope to loosen monetary policy, although further oil price rises would complicate policy.
The IMF executive said Korea's outlook largely mirrors that of the region.
'US domestic demand growth and Korean export growth is very strongly correlated.'
A one percentage point fall in the US growth rate could lead to a decline in Korea of a quarter to half a per cent, he said, predicting Korean growth of 4.6 per cent in 2008 compared to about 4.8 per cent tipped for this year.
'In addition, while Korea escaped largely unscathed from the summer turmoil, further global financial volatility could have a longer-lasting impact, e.g. via business and consumer confidence,' he noted.
South Korea also faces several country-specific risks, Mr Schiff said, citing the rapidly ageing population and high household debt.
Next year, and especially in 2009, many mortgage payments would rise sharply with the lapsing of grace periods. 'This could impact (on) consumption and economic growth for the next several years.'
In the longer run the 'quite dramatic' ageing of society would erode the low-wage manufacturing base. Raising the service sector's productivity was crucial through liberalisation and opening it to competition.
The National Statistical Office in July forecast that South Korea would have the world's most aged society by 2050 if the current trend of fewer births continued.
However, figures released the following month showed that the number of births increased in 2006 for the first time in six years, slightly easing concerns.
Despite such problems, 'Korea's impressive economic history gives confidence that these challenges will be successfully addressed,' Mr Schiff said.
|
SE Asia Stocks-DBS weighs on Singapore, Malaysia rises
Southeast Asian stock markets were mixed on Wednesday, with Singapore falling on DBS
after news the bank may raise its stake in struggling Thai lender TMB, though gains in financial shares helped boost Malaysia.
Singapore's Straits Times Index <.STI> dropped 0.27 percent as the region's largest bank DBS Group fell 2.3 percent, offsetting gains in Singapore Telecommunications
, which posted strong quarterly earnings.
Malaysia's index <.KLSE> rose 1.8 percent, lifted by strong bank earnings, while high oil prices drove shares of palm oil firms higher.
The Jakarta Composite Index <.JKSE> gained 1.2 percent and the Philippine index <.PSI> rose 0.4 percent, but Thai stocks <.SETI> lost 0.7 percent and Vietnam stocks <.VNI> fell 0.05 percent.
In Singapore, losses in DBS dashed initial optimism in the market when an overnight gain on Wall Street and strong earnings of SingTel had led to a higher open for the benchmark index.
SingTel rose 1.02 percent after Southeast Asia's top phone firm reported a 3.3 percent rise in quarterly profit, with a strong performance at home and record subscriber growth at its Indian affiliate, but weaker earnings at its Australian unit.
But DBS dragged other financial shares down after investors balked at its move to raise its stake in Thailand's sixth-biggest lender TMB Bank
.
"TMB is really not in the best shape in view of additional provisions for NPLs (non-performing loans) and poor earnings," said Leslie Phang, Asia head of investments at Commonwealth Private Bank, who helps manage $1 billion of funds globally.
"Definitely the market doesn't like it because it is like throwing good money after bad." He said that the financial sector in Singapore may also be challenged because of a perception that banks may not have made enough provisions for collateralised debt obligations (CDOs) on their books.
Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp
on Tuesday wrote-down almost 82 percent of its asset-backed CDOs, far exceeding the write-downs made by DBS and United Overseas Bank
.
OCBC fell 1.1 percent, while UOB was down 0.5 percent.
In Malaysia, palm oil firm IOI Corp
rose 8.4 percent on the back of record palm oil and crude oil prices.
Malaysia's second-biggest lender Bumiputra-Commerce
climbed 4.6 percent, while Hong Leong
, the country's six-biggest, climbed 2.4 percent after it posted a 30 percent jump in first quarter profit.
In Thailand, shares were hurt after investors sold Thailand's top energy firm PTT PCL
, which fell 0.99 percent, while PTT Exploration and Production
declined 1.95 percent on concerns that it may post a small profit despite higher gas sales.
Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co (PLDT)
, the country's largest listed company and biggest phone operator, rose 0.5 percent, extending its 1.9 percent gain from Tuesday when it posting a 13 percent rise in third-quarter operating profit and raised its earnings guidance. [ID:nMAN261105] In Indonesia, Telkom Indonesia
rose 2.2 percent.
Sianz... financial sector dragging the index down.
OCBC and DBS with good reports also can't help the market.
| Name |
Prev |
Last |
+/- |
% |
High |
Low |
| All-S Equities Com |
1268.70 |
1262.82 |
-5.88 |
-0.5 |
1285.24 |
1259.52 |
| All-S Equities Cons |
636.43 |
636.44 |
+0.01 |
0.0 |
648.22 |
635.07 |
| All-S Equities Fin |
2548.09 |
2519.81 |
-28.28 |
-1.1 |
2557.64 |
2512.75 |
| All-S Equities Hotels |
1463.94 |
1461.76 |
-2.18 |
-0.1 |
1474.52 |
1459.94 |
| All-S Equities Mfg |
1577.16 |
1603.90 |
+26.74 |
+1.7 |
1606.64 |
1588.58 |
| All-S Equities MultiI |
2832.11 |
2847.55 |
+15.44 |
+0.6 |
2865.30 |
2826.73 |
| All-S Equities Prop |
1499.50 |
1483.30 |
-16.20 |
-1.1 |
1514.00 |
1481.08 |
| All-S Equities TSC |
1866.09 |
1876.94 |
+10.85 |
+0.6 |
1891.79 |
1863.83 |
| All-SingEquities |
1021.24 |
1022.09 |
+0.85 |
+0.1 |
1030.56 |
1018.75 |
| BT-SRI |
1900.84 |
1907.55 |
+6.71 |
+0.4 |
1924.80 |
1898.74 |
| SingEquities Elect |
112.82 |
113.83 |
+1.01 |
+0.9 |
114.75 |
113.42 |
| SingEquities Foreign |
365.33 |
370.19 |
+4.86 |
+1.3 |
374.73 |
368.89 |
| SingEquities Mainbd |
191.50 |
191.96 |
+0.46 |
+0.2 |
193.64 |
191.37 |
| Straits Times Index |
3683.10 |
3673.01 |
-10.09 |
-0.3 |
3719.56 |
3664.72 |
| UOB Sesdaq |
228.78 |
225.86 |
-2.92 |
-1.3 |
230.12 |
223.87 |
$come$go,
We don't "indulge" our life in the stock market, but rather we "indulge" in the stock market to make our life a better one.
Go on, have a great holiday tmr with your loved ones!
game over liao, currently STI -11.39 (1700hrs) let's see whether the nose is above water (1705hrs).....sianz ahhhhh
tks Pinnacle.. indeed.. holiday mood and concern were wat i could tink of.
Euro open in Green.. hope can turn the tide here...
huatah... the only reasoning I can think of is because tomorrow is holiday.
So our market is subjected to 2 days of uncertainty.
Everybody play caution and cash out for the holiday.
| Europe |
Last Trade |
Change |
Related Info |
| ^ATX |
ATX |
Austria |
4,703.10 12:35AM SGT |
 11.52 (0.25%) |
Components, More |
| ^BFX |
BEL-20 |
Belgium |
4,321.83 4:16PM SGT |
19.68 (0.46%) |
More |
| OMXC20.CO |
OMXC20.CO |
Denmark |
503.76 4:16PM SGT |
3.54 (0.71%) |
Components, More |
| ^FCHI |
CAC 40 |
France |
5,752.43 4:16PM SGT |
43.01 (0.75%) |
More |
| ^GDAXI |
DAX |
Germany |
7,838.58 4:01PM SGT |
11.39 (0.15%) |
More |
| ^AEX |
AEX General |
Netherlands |
535.17 4:16PM SGT |
1.47 (0.28%) |
More |
| ^OSEAX |
OSE All Share |
Norway |
599.04 4:01PM SGT |
1.74 (0.29%) |
Components, More |
| ^MIBTEL |
MIBTel |
Italy |
30,847.0000 4:16PM SGT |
136.0000 (0.44%) |
Components, More |
| ^IXX |
ISE National-100 |
Turkey |
105.08 6:00AM SGT |
0.00 (0.00%) |
More |
| ^SMSI |
Madrid General |
Spain |
1,723.61 12:38AM SGT |
6.72 (0.39%) |
Components, More |
| ^OMXSPI |
Stockholm General |
Sweden |
379.23 4:16PM SGT |
1.86 (0.49%) |
More |
| ^SSMI |
Swiss Market |
Switzerland |
8,816.35 4:16PM SGT |
46.06 (0.53%) |
More |
| ^FTSE |
FTSE 100 |
United Kingdom |
6,510.40 4:16PM SGT |
35.50 (0.55%) |
Components, More |
Pinnacle Sir.. can advise Y Dow cheonged.. yet STI lau sai?? not logically rite, if based on the trend??
Sianz lah, Dow cheong STI lau sai, good Q result oso kena whack!! think bad Q result will kena whack whack
Hai.. dun seem to look good.. looking at the performance rite now.. game over liao.. Hopefully during our holiday.. something good happened and investors boosted once again.. so tat opening on Friday for us is up up and away...
A bit green already. Don't give up!
| Name |
Prev |
Last |
+/- |
% |
High |
Low |
| All-S Equities Com |
1268.70 |
1267.91 |
-0.79 |
-0.1 |
1285.24 |
1259.52 |
| All-S Equities Cons |
636.43 |
639.00 |
+2.57 |
+0.4 |
648.22 |
637.21 |
| All-S Equities Fin |
2548.09 |
2522.08 |
-26.01 |
-1.0 |
2557.64 |
2519.28 |
| All-S Equities Hotels |
1463.94 |
1463.45 |
-0.49 |
0.0 |
1474.52 |
1459.94 |
| All-S Equities Mfg |
1577.16 |
1598.17 |
+21.01 |
+1.3 |
1606.64 |
1588.58 |
| All-S Equities MultiI |
2832.11 |
2855.22 |
+23.11 |
+0.8 |
2865.30 |
2826.73 |
| All-S Equities Prop |
1499.50 |
1491.15 |
-8.35 |
-0.6 |
1514.00 |
1485.56 |
| All-S Equities TSC |
1866.09 |
1873.21 |
+7.12 |
+0.4 |
1891.79 |
1863.83 |
| All-SingEquities |
1021.24 |
1022.35 |
+1.11 |
+0.1 |
1030.56 |
1018.75 |
| BT-SRI |
1900.84 |
1905.65 |
+4.81 |
+0.3 |
1924.80 |
1898.74 |
| SingEquities Elect |
112.82 |
113.53 |
+0.71 |
+0.6 |
114.75 |
113.42 |
| SingEquities Foreign |
365.33 |
369.65 |
+4.32 |
+1.2 |
374.73 |
369.08 |
| SingEquities Mainbd |
191.50 |
191.97 |
+0.47 |
+0.3 |
193.64 |
191.37 |
| Straits Times Index |
3683.10 |
3683.68 |
+0.58 |
0.0 |
3719.56 |
3664.72 |
| UOB Sesdaq |
228.78 |
226.22 |
-2.56 |
-1.1 |
230.12 |
225.98 |
year-end so got a lot of dinner & dance =D
