Market Factors to Watch | Friday, 15 November 2013 ==================================== GLOBAL MARKETS ==================================== • U.S. STOCKS — The Dow and the S&P 500 index ended at new highs on Thursday after comments from Janet Yellen, the U.S. Federal Reserve Chair nominee, suggested the Feds accommodative policies would continue as long as the economy remains fragile. Gains in the technology-heavy Nasdaq and the Dow were held back by Cisco Systems, however, after the networking giant reported disappointing results on Wednesday. Cisco shares fell as much as 13 percent on Thursday. Yellens Q&A followed late gains in the market Wednesday ahead of the release of her prepared remarks. In her testimony, Yellen said the Feds current $85 billion in monthly bond purchases cannot continue forever, but dismissed the notion current prices suggest bubble-like conditions. • U.S. TREASURIES —U.S. Treasury debt prices rose on Wednesday after Janet Yellen, who is likely to become the next Federal Reserve chief, reinforced the markets view that the central bank will maintain accommodative monetary policies for awhile longer. In remarks prepared for delivery to the U.S. Senate Banking Committee on Thursday, Yellen said the U.S. central bank has more work to do to help an economy and a labor market that are still underperforming. Yellen, the Feds vice chair, has been nominated by President Barack Obama to succeed Chairman Ben Bernanke when his term expires in January. Investors will closely monitor her comments on Thursday for hints about future policy actions. U.S. 10-year Treasury note yields dropped below 2.70 percent after Yellens comments, while 10-year Treasury futures edged higher. FOREX — The dollar held gains against most currencies on Thursday, recovering from losses the previous day, as Federal Reserve Chair nominee Janet Yellen provided no negative surprises, defending the U.S. central banks stimulus to spur growth. That prompted investors to further cash in on their short positions on the dollar made after Yellens prepared remarks were released on Wednesday. Yellen spoke on Thursday at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking Committee. The dollar had already recovered against the euro and yen prior to Yellens question-and-answer session, mostly due to weak euro zone data and prospects of currency intervention from the Bank of Japan to keep the yen weak. But market participants said the dollars prognosis remained weak given the underlying softness in the U.S. economy that should prevent the Fed from scaling back its bond purchases, a scenario which has undermined the greenback. The dollar last traded at 100.06 yen, after climbing as far as 100.15 overnight -- a high not seen since Sept. 11. The euro fetched 134.59 yen, not far off Thursdays peak of 134.70. For the week, the dollar is up 1.0 percent on the yen, while the euro is 1.7 percent higher. • GOLD — Gold rose for a second session on Thursday, after the nominee for Federal Reserve chairman, Janet Yellen, defended the U.S. central banks bold steps to spur growth, suggesting the massive bond-buying stimulus will continue. Answering questions before the Senate Banking Committee, Yellen made plain she would press forward with the Feds ultra-easy monetary policy until officials were confident a durable economic recovery was in place that could sustain job creation. Spot gold was up 0.4 percent at $1,284.06 an ounce by 2:23 p.m. EST (1923 GMT), after snapping a four-day losing streak on Wednesday with a gain of nearly 1 percent. U.S. gold futures for December delivery settled up $17.90 at $1,286.30 an ounce, with trading volume about 10 percent below its 250-day average, preliminary Reuters data shows. • BRENT — Brent oil prices rose on Thursday supported by disruptions to Libyan output, while U.S. crude dipped as traders weighed bulging U.S. inventories, but both markets drew support from expectations the Federal Reserve would keep stimulus measures in place. Brents premium to U.S. oil futures shot to an eight-month high of $15.87 a barrel during intraday activity as the U.S. contract dipped to $92.51 a barrel, the lowest level since early June. Traders cited government data showing the eighth straight week of U.S. stockpiles builds and the fifth increase at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery point for the U.S. contract as dragging down prices. The December Brent contract, which expired on Thursday, traded up $1.42 to settle at $108.54 a barrel after breaking above its 200-day moving average for the first time in almost two weeks. The contract has rallied by more than 5 percent since hitting a four-month low near $103 a barrel last week, supported by the supply outages in Libya. • NIKKEI — The Nikkei share average jumped 2.1 percent to a near six-month closing high on Thursday, helped by dovish comments from Federal Reserve vice chair Janet Yellen and data showing the Japanese economy notched up its fourth straight quarter of growth. The benchmark Nikkei gained 309.25 points to 14,876.41, its highest close since May 22. It is up 43 percent this year. Traders said gains were led by hedge funds buying Nikkei 225 futures ahead of their book closings due later this month. Benchmark heavyweights Fast Retailing Co Ltd and KDDI Corp climbed 5.2 percent and 5.3 percent, respectively. ==================================== MALAYSIA ==================================== • PALM OIL — Malaysian palm oil futures ended lower on Thursday as investors turned cautious about risky bets, but uncertainty about supplies of competing edible oil from the Philippines propped up prices. Palm oil prices rose to near two-week highs on Wednesday on concerns that Typhoon Haiyan had damaged coconut crops in the Philippines and could disrupt the supply of coconut oil from one of the worlds top producers. By Thursdays close, the benchmark January contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange had edged down 0.6 percent to 2,588 ringgit ($809) per tonne, with prices moving in a tight range between 2,583-2,617 ringgit. Total traded volume stood at 29,368 lots of 25 tonnes each on Thursday, lower than the average 35,000 lots as some investors chose to stay on the sidelines. • COMPETING VEGOIL — In competing vegetable oil markets, the U.S. soyoil contract for December rose 0.4 percent in late Asian trade. The most active May soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange rose 1 percent. • FBM KLCI — The FBM KLCI snapped out from its recent losses and ended Thursday on a firmer note despite narrowing its gains on late selling. At 5pm, the KLCI was up 1.71 points to 1,784.20. Turnover was 1.54 billion valued at 1.79bil. There were 503 gainers, 282 decliners while 340 counters unchanged. Reuters reported Asian stocks bounced from six-week lows on Thursday, spurred by Federal Reserve Vice Chair Janet Yellens dovish comments which suggested the US economy could count on stimulus support for a longer period than markets anticipate. It said Yellen, in remarks released ahead of her closely-watched Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday to succeed Fed chief Ben Bernanke, said the Fed has more work to do to help the economy, indicating she was in no hurry to start tapering stimulus. ==================================== CLOSING PRICES FOR U.S. MARKET Thursday, 14 November 2013 ==================================== • DJIA Down Up 54.59 points at 15,876.22 • NASDAQ Up 7.17 points at 3,972.74 • S&P 500 Up 8.62 points at 1,790.62 • US Soybean Oil [Dec’13] Up 0.01 points at 40.97 dollars per metric ton • NYMEX Light Sweet Crude Oil (WTI) [Dec’13] Down -0.12 points at 93.76 dollars a barrel • US COMEX Gold [Dec’13] Up 17.9 points at 1286.3 dollars an ounce ==================================== CLOSING PRICES FOR CHINA MARKET Thursday, 14 November 2013 ==================================== • DALIAN SOYBEAN (May 14) up 12 at 4519 • DALIAN SOYBEAN OIL (May 14) up 70 at 7282 • DALIAN PALM OIL (May 14) closed up 36 points at 6332 ==================================== CLOSING PRICES FOR MALAYSIA MARKET Thursday, 14 November 2013 ==================================== • FCPO (Jan 14) closed down 16 at 2,588 • FKLI (Nov 13) closed up 6.5 at 1,783.0 • FBM KLCI up 1.71 points to close at 1,784.20 • FGLD (Nov 13) closed up 0.75 at 132.60 • FGLD (Dec 13) closed up 0.70 at 132.95
Posted on: Fri, 15 Nov 2013 02:03:38 +0000