Asian market preview 14/11/2008

US markets fell for a third straight week, the longest losing streak since August after forecast from AT&T, American Express and Tiffany & Co almost confirmed that the six-year economic expansion is ending. The Dow lost 246.79 pts or 1.92% to 12,606.30 and S&P500 declined 48.58 pts or 1.95% while the Nasdaq lost 19.31 pts or 1.36% which makes it the worst start to the year since 1982. However, the statement made by the Fed chairman earlier last week, signaled that the Fed will do something to support growth and the speculation of even a 75 basis points cut rose from 0% to 34% at the end of the week.
Asian markets are set to open lower again today with the plunge in Wall St on Friday, marking its 3rd straight weekly losses. Crude oil also declined to its lowest in 3 weeks after it reach $100 mark 2 weeks ago. Crude oil was traded around $92.80ish per barrel, gold at $895ish, JPY at 108.50ish. Nikkei futures was settled at 14160 in CME, down from a close of 14210 on Friday. Japanese market will be closed today for public holiday. Gold may help put some positive light in the Asian markets and also the optimism of a Fed rate cut at the end of the month may help some markets to limit the declines.
The Kospi may open lower today. Kospi may break 220 level today if investors are running away from stock markets and impact on exporters are huge. Kospi may open around the 221ish level but I don't recommend anything at this time due to this much uncertainties. It is possible for Kospi to actually bounce back instead of going down coz it has gone down so much even on Friday, it was down more than 2%. Kospi may move around: 218ish-227ish.
Hangseng may open lower after US markets tumbled on economic data and bad earnings. The Hangseng may even go lower than 26000 if investors are pulling away from the stock markets. Exporters may be hit hard witht he bad economic in the US but there's still some hope as HongKong is also tight closely to China in terms of its economic condition. Hangseng may open around 26200ish but I do not recommend anything at the open. It may be best to wait and see in this uncertain times but should Hangseng touch 26000 mark, it may be a good opportunity to get a BUY and expect a rebound. Hangseng may move around 25800ish-26600ish today.