Asian market preview 04/08/2008

US markets were closed lower on Friday after another decline in jobs, flat manufacturing activity and a massive quarterly loss at General Motors. Despite the pullback, markets were calmer than the first 4 days of the week when The Dow had triple digit losses or gains over good economic data or bad news from financial sector. Friday's report was not as bad as anticipated as they portrayed that the economy is still sagging in 2nd half of the year. The Labor Department said that jobs fell for 7th straight month to 51,000 which was less than expected but unemployment rate rose greater-than-expected 5.7%. The report came after jobless claims jumped unexpectedly to a five-year high on Thursday. Meanwhile, the Institute for Supply Management said manufacturing activity was flat in July and Commerce Department reported that building activity decline in June. Oil price also rose $1.02 to $125.10 per barrel but have retreated from an earlier spike of more than $4. The Dow fell 51.70 pts or 0.45% to 11,326.32, S&P500 fell 7.07 pts or 0.56% to 1,260.31 while Nasdaq fell 14.59 pts or 0.63% to 2,310.96.

Asian markets may open lower today following another string of weak economic data which came out of the US on Friday. With oil prices rose again, halting the decline, investors may come to think that the prospect of oil prices to drop below $100 in near term is still quite far. However, Asian markets may shrug off the negative start to the day if oil prices stabilize again and if the prospect of earnings around the region is still positive. Oil was recently traded around $125.80ish per barrel, gold traded around $911.25ish and JPY traded around 107.50ish. Nikkei futures was closed at 13110 in CME compared to the close of 13125 here on Friday.

Kospi may start the day lower today and may even breach the 200 mark if investors get into selling mood at the 1st day of the trading week. Kospi was recently been battered quite bad even with regional positive boost. If Kospi managed to stay above 200 mark, it may stabilize and may even go higher later on in the day. Volatility may be high as investors are still struggling with the prospect of higher oil and more financial troubles from the US and disappointing local earnings.

Hangseng may open lower today at around 22700ish. However, with strong China markets outlook, Hangseng may even turn the decline into positive thing later on in the session as it did on Friday. Investors may already take into account the higher oil prices and they're expecting the Chinese government will enforce the economic growth in near term rather than fight inflation. With Olympic games approaching, China markets may also get a positive boost and that may help Hangseng. Hangseng may find its support at 22600 and its resistance at 23200 today.