Asian market preview 05/09/2008

US markets plunged last night after retail and employment data mounted more fears on economic slowdown for investors and devastated hopes for a late-year recovery. Investors were already nervous waiting for August employment report due on Friday, so the weak retail sales released last night added to the worries as a major blow and investors did not like it one bit. Higher gas and food prices have caused shoppers to cut their spendings on luxury items. Another bad news came from Labor Department where they said that new applications for unemployment rose by 15,000 last week from the previous week signaling weak job markets. The market was overwhelmed by the strings of bad news that it showed little reaction when the ISM said that service sector grew unexpectedly in August for first time in 3 months as new orders increased and inflation moderated. The Dow plunged down 344.65 pts or 2.99% to 11,188.23, S&P500 fell 38.15 pts or 2.99% to 1,236.83 and Nasdaq fell 74.69 pts or 3.20% to 2,259.04.

Asian markets may open lower today and Japan market have traded lower since the open. It opened at 12200 and it edged down lower further and was recently traded around 12180 after reaching its current low of 12155 and its high of 12255. With the Yen strengthening against US$, it is quite hard for Japanese stocks to get a lift today and may trade around this range for the rest of the day. However, bargain hunters may be a surprise package and may give Nikkei some boost later on in the afternoon. Oil was recently traded around $107.68ish per barrel, gold traded around $798.20ish and JPY traded around 106.87ish. Nikkei futures was recently traded around 12190.

Kospi have opened lower and currently traded off its current day low. It opened at 180.00 and have reached its lowest of 179.75 and its current high at 181.15. It is currently traded around 180.80. Kospi may trade around this region for the rest of the day but it may go up if bargain hunters decided to buy into the cheap stocks available in the market now. South Korean government attempt to curb the falling Won may also help the market a bit and give some optimism to investors. Kospi have been battered quite bad in recent weeks and that may give investors some reason to buy and as oil prices stayed below $110 per barrel, it may give positive impact in long term as inflation pressure moderated around the region.

Hangseng may open lower today and may go well below 20,000 today. It may open around 19700 and may even go down further if investors think that Hangseng is not quite cheap enough right now. If Hangseng did not manage to close above 20,000 by the end of the day, it may go down further next week. Hangseng may find its support at 19,500 today and its resistance at 20,300 today. Volatility may be high as bargain hunters may kick in to buy into the market as Hangseng fall below the 20,000 level for first time this year.