Kamis, 17 April 2008

Asian market preview 17/04/2008

US markets were closed much higher overnight after better-than-expected earnings report from Intel, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Coca-Cola, Wells Fargo Inc. and other companies. Financials sector managed to hold their gains from previous session as earnings met analysts' forecast or even better which assured investors that the recovery is well along the way. Government report regarding the CPI data also provided some ease amongst investors. Labor department reported Consumer Price rose 0.3% in March, in line with expectations while Core inflation, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 0.2% also in line with expectations. These data showed that inflation is still under control. The earnings data showed that the US economy may be slowing but global growth is not very affected by it and looks like they're supporting the weakening US economy growth. The Dow finished 256.80 pts higher or 2.08% to 12619.27, S&P500 surged 30.28 pts or 2.27% to 1364.71 while Nasdaq rose 64.07 or 2.80% to 1364.71.

Asian markets may open higher again today and may continue yesterday's rally following strong US earnings and mild inflation data which suggests that the weakening economy does not affect earnings by much and that inflation is still under control. Meanwhile, oil rose to record highs again and gold prices also rose overnight. Oil was recently traded around $115.10ish per barrel, gold traded around $944.50ish and JPY traded around 101.83ish. Nikkei futures was closed at 13505 in CME compared to the close of 13120 here yesterday.

Kospi may open higher today around 232ish following the strong US close overnight. Easing concerns in the US may spark further rally and Kospi may test out the 235 level today. High oil prices may still put pressure on Airlines companies but oil players may gain some advantage from it. Commodity players also may get advantage from the rising prices.

Hangseng may open higher around 24400ish today following the strong US close. Hangseng may test out the 24500 level and if it's able to breach that, it may try and go towards 24800 or even 25000 today. However, markets in mainland China will be paid close attention too and if investors are still nervous over in China, gains may be limited with concerns about the Chinese government may raise interest rate to curb inflation. Oil refiners and airlines companies may be hurt by the rising oil prices. Overall sentiment in the market should be positive today.

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