Asian market preview 11/04/2008

US markets closed higher overnight despite mixed data came out of the retail sector and Labor department. Stocks were boost after labor department said that jobless claims fell more than expected and also after better-than-expected sales performance by discount retailers. Big retailers such as Gap Inc. and Saks Inc. said that March sales were sluggish as consumers did not want to spend much on these luxury goods. Intel led semiconductor shares to a 2-month high after analysts said that the company will boost profitability and buy back more stocks. Cisco systems rallied after Morgan Stanley said revenue may top estimates. Analysts said that technology sector is overweight now as shares are cheap after recent big drops on the Nasdaq. The Nasdaq got a big boost after Japanese drug maker Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. announced an $8.8 billion, all-cash bid for US biotechnology company Millenium Pharmaceuticals which boosted Millenium shares by 49%. The Dow rose 54.72 pts or 0.44% to 12581.98, S&P500 rose 6.06 pts or 0.45% to 1360.55 while Nasdaq rose 29.58 pts or 1.27% to 2351.70.

Asian markets may open higher today after a mixed session yesterday. Markets may track the US markets and trade higher after some confidence is restored back into the market with the fall in jobless claims. Crude oil fell after it rose to a record and was recently traded around $109.70ish per barrel. Gold was traded around $928ish and JPY traded around 101.70ish. Nikkei futures was closed at 13065 in CME compared to the close of 12925 here yesterday.

The Kospi may open higher today extending the advance from yesterday. Kospi may open around 230ish and may extend its rally towards the 232ish level. Chip makers may boost the market today and slight optimism shown from the drop in jobless claims in the US may bring back some foreign investors to the country.

Hangseng may open higher today and extend its rebound from yesterday. The highly anticipated earnings reports from Chinese banks which was expected to post high profit in Q1 is going to be released today and may be the driving factor for the market today. Market may test the 24500 level and if it's able to breach that, it may go higher towards 24800ish. If market should drop, it may test the 23800 level.