Asian market preview 28/08/2008

US markets were closed higher last night after durable goods surprisingly rose for 2nd month in a row. The Commerce Department reported that durable goods jumped 1.3% in July, led by a big gain in demand for commercial aircraft. The strong number in durable goods indicated that manufacturing is holding quite well and it also showed that business spending and consumer confidence may pick up later on. Meanwhile, crude oil kept rising last night, it rose $1.88 to settle at $118.15 per barrel as fears that tropical storm Gustav might hit the Gulf of Mexico installations. Financial sector also get a boost after durable goods number jumped as it eased fears that further economic slowdown will hit the already troubled banks and lenders. Dow ended up by 89.64 pts or 0.79% to 11,502.51, S&P500 rose 10.15 or 0.80% to 1,281.66 while Nasdaq rose 20.49 pts or 0.87% to 2,382.46. Trading volumes are light ahead of the long Labor Day weekend.

Asian markets may open higher today following Wall St's positive close last night as durable goods order rose which gave some positive vibe to the markets. However, further increase in crude oil prices may hurt oil-sensitive stocks such as airlines and may also hurt the overall markets around the region. Markets dominated by commodity companies such as Indonesia may get the advantage with rising oil. Oil was recently at $118.15ish per barrel, gold traded at $834ish and JPY traded at 109.54ish. Nikkei futures was closed at 12865 in CME compared to the close of 12755 here yesterday.

Kospi may open higher today following more good news from the US and the stronger markets close over there. However, if foreigners keep selling off stocks locally and if oil prices keep rising, Kospi may be hurt again today. Kospi touched its new year's low at 189.10 yesterday but managed to close well above the 190 level again. Kospi may extend yesterday's slight gain and may try to get towards 195 level today with strong support stands at 190 and its current year low of 189.10.

Hangseng may open higher today following the strong US markets close last night and may extend yesterday's gains. Hangseng was closed up almost 2% yesterday after China Mobile and China Life led the rally and the big gains were caused by futures rollover buying late yesterday afternoon. The market may extend those gains today but the high oil prices may weigh on the market too. Today's market may be influenced by the first half earnings of 2 heavyweights in PetroChina and CNOOC. Both are oil-related companies. Hangseng may find its support at 21200 today and its resistance at 22000.