Asian market preview 15/10/2008

US markets ended a relatively calm day with modest loss on profit taking after posted its biggest gains in history the day before. Financial stocks surged again last night as bargain hunters still buy into the already battered stocks. Investors remained nervous about the whole economic situation and the fears of global recession still become the theme for markets. Analysts have mixed opinion of whether or not we have reached the bottom. It seems that the government plan is beginning to work as banks are starting to become more willing to lend to one another as shown by the slight drop in Libor rate from 4.75% to 4.64%. In the US, Nasdaq was hit worst as investors are nervous, waiting for Intel's results. The Dow ended lower by 76.62 pts or 0.82% to 9,310.99, S&P500 fell 5.34 pts or 0.53% to 998.01 while Nasdaq fell 65.24 pts or 3.54% to 1,779.01.

Asian markets may open slightly lower following the profit taking session that took place in the US last night. Markets around the region may also have similar reaction as it has rallied big time for the past 2 days. Investors still remain cautious about the whole economic situation and they may want to wait further as more economic data to come out of the US this week. Markets may move with quite a high volatility today. Oil was recently traded around $78.87ish per barrel, gold traded around $842.10ish and JPY traded 102.04ish. Nikkei futures was closed at 9440 in CME last night compared to the close of 9660 here yesterday.

Kospi may open slightly lower today and profit taking may come in as investors want to lock in profits after recent big gains in the market. Chip makers may be boosted after Intel posted better-than-expected Q3 results and it seems that Intel is little affected by the whole financial crisis situation. Trading may be highly volatile as it has been for the past 2 weeks today as uncertainty still lingers. Kospi may find its support at 173ish and its resistance at 180ish today.

Hangseng may open lower today and may continue lower for a bit for some profit taking action. The drop in oil to below $80 per barrel may be a bonus to refiners and ease inflationary concerns but the outlook with the whole global economy is still gloomy. Analysts predicted that Hangseng will swing wildly within 5000 range for the next few months as investors are trying to find solid ground with the whole situation. Chinese mainland markets may also dominate how well Hangseng may perform today. Hangseng may find its support at 16500ish and its resistance at 17300ish today.