Global stock markets mixed as oil price rally fizzles

SEOUL, South Korea — Global stock markets were mixed on Wednesday as investors awaited more policy details from U.S. president-elect Donald Trump. Oil prices retreated, snapping an overnight rally.

KEEPING SCORE: European markets started on a weaker note with Britain’s FTSE 100 down 0.1 percent to 6,783.36. Germany’s DAX lost 0.2 percent to 10,710.68 while France’s CAC 40 was nearly flat at 4,535.83. Futures augured a tepid start on Wall Street with Dow futures down 0.1 percent and S&P futures also dipping 0.1 percent.

ASIA’S DAY: Asian markets finished mostly higher. Japan’s Nikkei jumped 1.1 percent to 17,862.21 and South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.6 percent to 1,979.65. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index closed 0.2 percent lower at 22,280.53, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index edged 0.1 percent lower to 3,205.06. Australia’s S&P/ASX was nearly unchanged at 5,327.70, while benchmarks in Taiwan and Southeast Asia were mixed.

ANALYST’S TAKE: “International markets showed signs of pausing to wait on evidence of policy specifics before extending moves in the direction of the ‘Trump themes’ of fiscal stimulus and inflation,” Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, said in a daily commentary.

OIL: Oil prices rallied overnight on hopes that OPEC members would agree to lower output when they meet later this month. They wavered between gains and losses before turning lower again. Benchmark U.S. crude fell 41 cents to $45.40 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract closed up $2.49, or 5.7 percent, to $45.81 per barrel on Tuesday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, lost 28 cents to $46.67 a barrel in London.

CURRENCIES: The dollar strengthened to 109.46 yen from 108.94 yen while the euro fell slightly to $1.0724 from $1.0731. TVJ

source: business.inquirer.net

Pound, Asia markets collapse as Britain quits EU

HONG KONG—The pound collapsed to a 31-year low and currency, equity and oil markets went into freefall Friday as projections showed Britain has voted to leave the European Union.

Sterling crashed more than nine percent to $1.3305, its weakest level since 1985, while the greenback itself slumped below 100 yen for the first time in two-and-a-half years as traders fled to safety.

In the weeks leading up to Thursday’s historic vote, there had been widespread warnings that a vote to leave would cause another rout across global markets that would wipe trillions off valuations, just months after a painful China-fuelled sell-off.

And as results came in, the doomsday scenario began to unfold as the BBC and other broadcasters called a win for “leave”.

The pound had earlier topped $1.50 following predictions the “remain” group would win but as the Brexit camp posted victories around the country, traders stampeded to put in sell orders.

The dollar slumped briefly to 99.02 yen, the first time it has gone below 100 yen since November 2013, before edging back up slightly. The Japanese unit is considered a safe bet in times of uncertainty and turmoil.

Japan’s Finance Minister Taro Aso will hold an emergency news briefing Friday. He has previously said Japan would closely watch the dollar-yen rate and act accordingly if the yen became too strong, indicating the government could intervene in currency markets.

A flight to safety also saw higher-yielding and emerging market currencies slump, with the Australian dollar down 3.2 percent, South Korea’s won diving 2.4 percent, Malaysia’s ringgit down 2.3 percent and the Indonesian rupiah shedding 1.7 percent.

There were also heavy losses for India’s rupee, the Canadian dollar and the Singapore dollar.

‘Independence day’

The outcome has upturned expectations, which had been for a tight race narrowly won by the “remain”, while bookmakers had said there was a 90 percent chance of staying in.

But as the shock results rolled in, equity markets went into meltdown.

Tokyo plunged more than eight percent in the afternoon, Sydney shed 3.7 percent and Seoul was 3.5 percent off. Mumbai lost three percent and Shanghai sank 1.4 percent by lunch, while Taipei, Wellington, Manila and Jakarta all saw sharp losses.

Hong Kong tumbled 4.7 percent by the break with British banking giants HSBC and Standard Chartered both plunging more than 10 percent.

In the early hours in Britain, Nigel Farage, leader of the anti-Europe UK Independence Party, declared victory, saying it was the country’s “independence day”.

The prospect of a severe hit to the global economy also hammered oil prices, with both main contracts slumping more than six percent.

“We are seeing oil swept up in the general market nervousness to the vote,” Ric Spooner, a chief analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney, told Bloomberg News.

“Corrections are likely to be fairly shallow in oil because prices will be supported by the fact a balanced market is firmly on the horizon.”

source: business.inquirer.net

Global shares mixed after Wall Street slump, oil price rally

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — European stocks were mostly higher Thursday while Asian shares were mixed after a weak session on Wall Street. Tokyo shares rebounded after a weak start as the yen weakened against the U.S. dollar.

KEEPING SCORE: France’s CAC 40 rose 0.2 percent at 4,325.09 and Germany’s DAX gained 0.1 percent to 9,986.52. Britain’s FTSE 100 was nearly flat at 6,158.38. Dow and S&P 500 futures rose 0.4, suggesting a positive start for Thursday trading.

BRITISH FACTOR: A raft of data is due out later Thursday

and traders are watching for further clues on monetary policy from a speech by Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, especially in light of Britain’s referendum on continued EU membership due next month.

TOYOTA PROFIT: Shares in Toyota Motor Corp. fell 1.4 percent after a 6.1 percent drop overnight in New York. On Wednesday, the company projected a 35 percent plunge in profit for the fiscal year through March 2017 as the perks of a favorable exchange rate fade, and it reported a 4 percent drop in profit for January-March on-year. Other exporters can expect similar woes thanks to the yen’s recent gains against the U.S. dollar.

OIL PRICES: Already trading at its highest price in six months, benchmark U.S. crude rose overnight after the government reported a surprise decline of 3.4 million barrels in supplies for last week and a 6 percent reduction in U.S. oil output. U.S. oil gained 1 cent to $46.24 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It jumped $1.57, or 3.5 percent, to $46.23 a barrel on Wednesday. Brent crude, the international benchmark, gained 5 cents to $47.65 a barrel. It had jumped $2.08, or 4.6 percent, to $47.60 a barrel in London.

ANALYST VIEWPOINT: “Commodity stocks are among the few positive movers today, following a major oil rally on the back of U.S. evidence consumption is eating into the historically high stock piles of crude,” Michael McCarthy of CMC Markets said in a commentary. “This better demand picture combined with a slightly weaker USD makes energy and materials the sectors du jour.”

ASIA’s DAY: Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock index rose 0.4 percent to 16,646.34, while the Hang Seng index of Hong Kong dropped 0.7 percent to 19,915.46. South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.1 percent to 1,977.49 and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.2 percent to 5,359.30. Taiwan fell but most benchmarks in Southeast Asia rose.

CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 108.99 yen from 108.40 in the previous session. The euro slipped to $1.1413 from $1.1424. The yen-dollar rate has “slipped back down to 108 levels, as a short-squeeze in the early week abated with no more official talk of intervention yesterday, while markets are also doubting if Japan would intervene in advance of the G7 summit,” Mizuho Bank Ltd. (Singapore branch) said in a commentary. TVJ

source: business.inquirer.net

Asian stock indexes mostly lower as oil prices sink

TOKYO  — Shares were mostly lower in Asia on Wednesday, as crude oil prices dipped and mainland Chinese markets were hit by sell-offs late in the day.

KEEPING SCORE: Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 edged up 0.2 percent to finish at 16,906.54 and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.5 percent to 5,216.00. But most other regional markets fell. South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.3 percent to 2,005.83. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.3 percent to 21,164.78, while the Shanghai Composite slipped 2.6 percent to 2,964.89, dipping by over 4 percent before recovering some of those losses.

OIL PRICES: Benchmark U.S. crude fell $1.00, or 2.4 percent, to $41.47 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. At one point it fell by 2.8 percent to $41.30 a barrel. It rose 84 cents on Tuesday. Brent crude, the international benchmark, slipped $1.02 cents to $43.01 a barrel in London.

EUROPE FOCUS: The European Central Bank’s governing council is meeting, and investors are closely watching for what President Mario Draghi might say at the news conference later this week. Doubts persist whether the stimulus measures the bank has taken are really working, such as cutting interest rates and expanding a government bond-buying.

THE QUOTE: “Sentiments will be driven by the ECB President Draghi when he speaks,” said Alex Wijaya, senior sales trader at CMC Markets in Singapore. “In his previous speech, Mr. Draghi hinted that the deposit rate won’t be cut further into negative territory. However with persistent low inflation and the euro now trading at six-month highs, Mr. Draghi could possibly backtrack on his previous statement and consider a further rate cut to fight deflationary pressure.”

source: business.inquirer.net

Asian indexes little changed as Belgian attacks worries ease

TOKYO — Asian stock indexes fell Wednesday in cautious trading, following the deadly bombings in Belgium.

KEEPING SCORE: Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 0.3 percent to 17,000.98. South Korea’s Kospi edged 0.1 percent lower to 1,995.12. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.7 percent to 20,524.41, while the Shanghai Composite dropped 0.5 percent to 2,983.86. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.5 percent at 5,204.30. Southeast Asian markets were mostly lower.

ATTACK WOES: News of the attacks in Belgium, which killed at least 34 people, had pulled global markets lower, and airlines and travel companies continued to slip in Asia. Major Japanese carrier ANA fell 0.6 percent, while Australia’s flagship carrier Qantas Airways was down nearly 0.3 percent. HIS Co., a major Japanese travel company, slipped 2.3 percent.

WALL STREET: The Dow Jones industrial average lost 41.30 points, or 0.2 percent, to 17,582.57. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index dipped 1.80 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,049.80. The Nasdaq composite added 12.79 points, or 0.3 percent, to 4,821.66.

THE QUOTE: “The Brussels explosions gave the market a shock yesterday,” said Margaret Yang Yan, market analyst at CMC Markets Singapore. “This attack, together with a series of terrorist attacks believed to have been perpetrated by ISIS since last year, will have an impact on investors’ confidence.”

ENERGY: U.S. crude slipped 52 cents to $40.93 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It fell 7 cents to $41.45 a barrel on Tuesday. Brent crude, the benchmark for international oils, fell 38 cents to $41.41 a barrel in London.

CURRENCIES: The euro rose slightly to $1.1206 from $ $1.1200, while the dollar rose to 112.34 yen from 111.65 yen. TVJ

source: business.inquirer.net

Oil steadies near $58 as US rig count offsets Chinese data

LONDON - Brent crude prices steadied near $58 a barrel on Monday as falling U.S. oil rig counts and signs of healthy U.S. growth offset concerns over the strength of the Chinese economy.

China's trade performance slumped in January, pointing to lower fuel demand in the world's biggest energy consumer. Exports fell 3.3 percent from a year earlier while imports tumbled 19.9 percent, highlighting a deepening slowdown.

But the falling number of U.S. oil rigs, at its lowest since December 2011, reduced the impact of the Chinese data on oil prices, which have dropped more than 50 percent since June.

Stronger-than-expected growth in U.S. jobs in January also helped support oil, as non-farm payrolls increased 257,000, outstripping Wall Street forecasts.

Global benchmark Brent crude oil LCOc1 for March was up 10 cents at $57.90 a barrel by 1118 GMT (06:18 a.m. EST) after rising as high as $59.06 earlier in the session. U.S. crude CLc1 was up 56 cents at $52.25 a barrel, having hit a session high of $53.40.

While signs of an economic slowdown in China depressed the market, analysts said crude import figures remained high and the disappointing data was unlikely to derail a rally in oil prices.

"I think we'll get a bit of a pullback. But will it send prices back to the lows? I'm not convinced about that," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets.

"We've had such a strong decline that some sort of bounce back is inevitable."

Brent rose more than 9 percent last week, its biggest weekly rise since February 2011. The North Sea oil futures contract has climbed more than 18 percent in the past two weeks, its strongest showing since 1998.

"It's still the same pattern," said Carsten Fritsch, senior oil and commodities analyst at Commerzbank in Frankfurt. "Markets are ignoring the bearish news and rather trade on the bullish news."

Preliminary Chinese January customs data came in at 27.22 million tonnes of crude imports, though estimates from Thomson Reuters Research and Forecasts put the final figure at about 30 million tonnes.

Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said crude charts suggested the increase in prices may have ended for a while.

"I prefer a bearish bias," Wang Tao told Reuters Global Oil Forum. "Both WTI and Brent may correct in this week before seeking their next direction."  — Reuters