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FBM KLCI up, bucking regional trends
Corporate Results In Brief
Euro zone, technicals unnerve Wall Street

Posted: 17 Nov 2011 05:24 PM PST

KUALA LUMPUR: The local FBM KLCI was higher in early trade despite opening in the red, bucking regional trends and escalating concerns over the Eurozone sovereign crisis.

In a market preview, HwangDBS Vickers Research said the bearish external mood will probably force the benchmark FBM KLCI to slide towards the immediate support level of 1,445 ahead.

The local bourse added 2.64 points to 1,468.11.

While on the local economic front, it said investors will be watching out for the third quarter gross domestic product report card this evening, which would indicate whether the Malaysian economy is on track to meet the official full-year growth forecast of 5% to 5.5%

Stocks to watch today, TSH Resources surprised consensus with a higher net profit, while YTL Land and Kossan Rubber posted results below expectations.

Nymex crude oil was shed 48 cents to USD98.31 per barrel. Spot gold was USD1,715.30 per troy ounce while silver was USD31.33 per ounce.

The ringgit was quoted at 3.1613 to the USD and 4.2563 to the euro.

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Corporate Results In Brief

Posted: 17 Nov 2011 04:03 PM PST

Friday November 18, 2011

Kuala Lumpur: Results fromKossan, CBIP, Kian Joo, MMHE and Tan Chong.

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Euro zone, technicals unnerve Wall Street

Posted: 17 Nov 2011 03:52 PM PST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Trigger-happy investors dumped stocks on Thursday, scared by the market's sudden fall through a key technical level brought on by more worries about Europe's debt troubles.

The S&P 500 steadily slipped through the morning until it broke through 1,225, when selling picked up in both the futures and cash markets.

Investors have been increasingly focused on Europe, and markets were cautious early as bond yields in Spain and Italy rose to levels viewed as unsustainable.

Some market sources cited squabbling between Democrats and Republicans on the congressional "supercommitee" formed to find ways to cut the U.S. debt.

But Peter Costa, president at Empire Executions said from the NYSE floor that none of the catalysts market participants were pointing to as triggering the sell-off was new "news."

"It doesn't take much if you're teetering on a support or resistance level," he said. "When you're on the precipice of either one, and something comes out, this computer-generated trading pops into effect and that usually accelerates any reaction you're seeing."

The fall around midday was swift and volume picked up once the 1,225 level was breached. About 2.83 million S&P E-Mini futures contracts traded on Thursday, with nearly 250,000 changing hands in an unusually busy 15-minute period when the market fell more than 1 percent.

The S&P struggled to break above 1,225 in August and September before piercing it on the way to a two-month high in late October. Computer-generated trading usually uses previous clusters of buying and selling as triggers.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> fell 134.71 points, or 1.13 percent, to 11,770.88. The S&P 500 <.spx> lost 20.73 points, or 1.68 percent, to 1,216.18. The Nasdaq Composite <.ixic> dropped 51.62 points, or 1.96 percent, to 2,587.99.

About 8.6 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Amex and Nasdaq, above the current daily volume average of just above 8 billion shares.

Declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a ratio of more than 4 to 1, while on the Nasdaq, more than five stocks fell for every two that rose.

Declines in materials and energy shares accelerated with losses of more than 3 percent in crude futures and copper prices <.cmcu3>. The S&P energy index <.gspe> fell 2.1 percent and the S&P materials index <.gspm> declined 2.9 percent.

Tech shares also dragged the market lower, with the S&P technology index <.gspt> down 2.2 percent. The 10 major S&P 500 sectors closed in the red for the day.

The broad sell-off repeated the pattern seen lately in which stocks are treated as an asset class, with little differentiation between winners and losers.

"Pretty much everything's for sale. There's a move toward cash, and (US) bond prices are (up)," said Tom Schrader, managing director of U.S. equity trading at Stifel Nicolaus Capital Markets in Baltimore.

Earlier, Spanish bond yields hit their highest level since 1997 at a 10-year auction, while a French bond auction also drew high yields.

The 7 percent mark for bond yields that both Italian and Spanish benchmarks are close to is viewed as a line in the sand. Both Greece and Portugal were forced to seek bailouts after yields hit similar levels.

Investors have worried that the debt problems in the euro zone could tip the global economy into another recession, even as U.S. data has suggested the economy is picking up.

New U.S. claims for jobless benefits hit a seven-month low last week and permits for future home construction rebounded strongly in October, the latest data to suggest the economy was gaining traction.

While traders on the New York Stock Exchange floor gloomily watched prices fall, hundreds of Occupy Wall Street protesters marched, vowing to interfere with business. But trading was unaffected and about 100 protesters were arrested.

The Occupy Wall Street movement criticizes an economic system members view as favoring the rich and powerful. It has chosen Wall Street as a symbol of corporate greed.

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Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Khamis, 17 November 2011