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.

Asian market preview 14/10/2008

US markets posted the biggest gains in history in terms of percentage and points term last night. Most markets soared up more than 11% after the government, along with other government globally guarantee bank deposits and buying stakes in banks directly. The Fed has also allowed to flood the global financial system with dollars. Investors are rushing back to stocks as it has been discounted significantly in the past week and news about the implementation of $700 billion package only added to the investors' optimism. Analysts believed that current levels is closer to the bottom but has not yet reached the very bottom. There are still a long road ahead before investors' confidence is fully restored as economic data is to come next in the coming days. The Dow soared 936.42 pts or 11.08% to 9,387.61, S&P500 soared 104.13 pts or 11.58% to 1,003.35 while Nasdaq rose 194.74 pts or 11.81% to 1,844.25.

Asian markets may open higher today following the biggest 1-day gainers by US markets overnight. Japanese markets may play catch up today after it was closed yesterday as regional markets rallied. Governments' plans to save banks globally may still have impact after the US also followed to guarantee bank deposits and to buy stakes in banks. Oil prices also soared as global rallies bring optimism to investors. Oil was recently traded around $81.19ish per barrel, gold traded around $842.50ish and JPY traded around 102.20ish. Nikkei futures was closed at 8990 in CME last night compared to the close of 7870 here on Friday and 8605 yesterday on a shortened trading session.

Kospi may open higher today and may add to yesterday's gains as the US markets posted a huge rally last night. Governments worldwide are trying to save banks and to get credit flowing again. Kospi may find its resistance at 180ish today and its support at 172ish.

Hangseng may open higher today and may add to yesterday's gains as US markets rallied the most in history on speculation that the governments' measures to save banks will finally unclog the frozen credit markets. However, yesterday Hangseng have risen more than 10%, it may not add as much today as there are also still some uncertainties linger on the air. Hangseng may find its resistance at 17200ish today and its support at 16500ish.

Asian market preview 13/09/2008

US markets ended a very volatile day on Friday mixed With Nasdaq market ending mildly in positive territory. Dow Jones Industrial Average recorded the wildest swing ever with over 1000 points swing in the day. It started down almost 700 pts then rallied back up to gain more 100 pts before plunging back into negative territory. It spent most of the time down 300-500 pts before in the final hour, it rallied more than 700 pts and closed down 180 pts. Analysts believed that it was better than the previous 7 trading sessions and that investors are trying to bottom fish at current levels. Investors are taking chances ahead of the G-7 meeting to be held over the weekend to discuss the economic meltdown. Investors believed that one of the potential remedies is for governments to guarantee lending among banks. Within a week, The Dow have lost 18.2% and have lost 40.3% since hitting its highest peak a year ago. Analysts believe that trading will remain volatile in the next few weeks, but some brave long term investors are starting to enter the markets at current levels as nobody wants to miss markets' bottom. The Dow ended down by 128 pts or 1.49% to 8,451.49, S&P500 fell 10.70 pts or 1.18% to 899.22 while Nasdaq rose 4.39 pts or 0.27% to 1,649.51.

Asian markets may open mildly lower after losing so much percentage points on Friday. A mild 1%ish drop for US markets may means that markets around Asia may even starting to turn around and have a short-term rally. Depending on the outcome of the G-7 meeting, markets around Asia may even have quite a rally today. Oil prices also dropped on Friday to below $80 per barrel and marked the lowest price for a year. Lower oil prices means lower inflation for countries around Asia and that may give further boost to the stock markets. Oil was recently traded around $77.70ish per barrel, gold traded around $859ish and JPY traded around 100.50ish. Nikkei futures was closed at 8120 in CME compared to the close of 7870 here on Friday. Nikkei will be closed today for holidays.

Kospi may open rather flat today and may go up today following the modest drop in the US. The markets have been heavily oversold in the past week and bargain hunters may start to come in and starts buying stocks for long term. Many analysts have already pushed their investors by saying that it is the best time to enter into the stock market at any time since markets were coming down way too fast and governments around the world are working tirelessly to find a solution to the current situation. However, market may still be very volatile like Friday's session where Kospi was down 9% at one point before rebounding up to close lower by 4%. Kospi may find its support at 160ish today and its resistance at 167ish.

Hangseng may open rather flat with upward bias today following the mild drop in the US and after investors showed some kind of enthusiasm to buy stocks again. Many analysts believe that the bottom is near and a rebound is due to happen anytime soon. Long term investors may want to start early and may start buying stocks at current level. Lower oil prices may also help to boost markets in Hong Kong and China. Howecer, China mainland markets may also play a significant part to determine whether Hangseng will have a huge rally or will it be stopped halfway and go back down again. Hangseng may find its support at 14700ish and its resistance at 15700ish today.

Asian market preview 10/10/2008

US markets tumbled for the 7th straight session, posting its lowest close in 5 years on the anniversary when the markets hit its highest point just one year ago. Markets plunged in the final hour of trading, after S&P ratings services put GM and its finance affiliate GMAC LLC under review to see if its rating should be cut. GM has been struggling with weak car sales in North America. S&P also put Ford Motor Co. on credit watch negative. Credit markets are still frozen despite a combined efforts by central banks worldwide to cut interest rates to stimulate investors' confidence. Libor, tha bank-to-bank lending rate remains stubbornly high, rose to 4.75% from 4.52% on Wednesday and until that starts to come down, it will be hard to get investors excited about stocks again. Almost 3000 stocks fell on NYSE and less than 250 advanced. The Dow plunged 678.91 pts or 7.3% to 8579.19, S&P500 fell 75.02 pts or 7.6% to 909.92 while Nasdaq fell 95.21 pts or 5.5% to 1,645.12. Analysts believe that the markets are way oversold but has yet to determine its real bottom now.

Asian markets may open lower yet again today and may come under pressure again as selling and fears gripped markets worldwide. Most investors are choosing to get out of stocks at any price as more uncertainty looms in the fate of global economy. Oil prices also fell as investors predict weaker demand in this kind of sluggish economic conditions. Gold price meanwhile is predicted to go back beyond $1000 per troy ounce and may even go towards $2000 within the next year as some analysts believe. Oil was recently traded around $84.90ish per barrel, gold traded around $918ish and JPY traded around $99.50ish. Nikkei futures was closed at 8620 in CME compared to the close of 9300 here yesterday.

Kospi may open lower today after staging a slight recovery rally yesterday on new found optimism over coordinated global rate cuts. However, investors are still nervous and may be in fear yet again today following another massive sell-off in the US last night. Kospi may even fall below 160 mark today if investors are afraid enough and do not want to hold stocks over the weekend. Kospi may find its support at160ish today and its next support may be at 157ish while its resistance at 167ish.

Hangseng may open lower today and may fall after staging more than 3% rally yesterday on global rate cuts optimism. Hangseng may fall below the 15000 mark today and may even test the 14700 levels. Chinese markets may also determine whether Hangseng will fall more deeply or it can contain the freefall for Hangseng. Hangseng may find its support at 14700ish and its resistance at 15500ish today.

Asian market preview 09/10/2008

US markets tumbled for the sixth straight session after an emergency rate cut failed to sustain markets' rally during the morning session. Markets initially rallied up after The Fed joined ECB, BOE, Bank of Canada, Swedish Riksbank and the Swiss National Bank to cut interest rate in an unprecedented move to battle credit freeze. After a while, markets zig-zagged in and out of positive and negative territory before finally gave up its gains in the final 30 minutes after Henry Paulson's comments stating that it could take weeks before the $700 billion bill starts to buy troubled mortgage-backed assets from banks. Global recession fears around the world have sent global markets tumbled down for the past week and yesterday alone, some markets lost over 10% and was shut down early. It is hard to determine the real bottom in this situation, although as we see, stocks are generally at bargain prices at these levels. Investors' confidence have to be restored before any stock markets rally can be sustained. Meanwhile, troubled insurance giant AIG will be granted an additional $37.8 billion in additional liquidity from New York Fed. Earning season have started too in the US and Alcoa gave a lower-than-expected profit while IBM's early report stated that it beat expectations. The Dow ended lower by 189.01 pts or 2% to 9,258.10, S&P500 fell 11.29 pts or 1.13% to 984.94 while Nasdaq fell 14.55 pts or 0.83% to 1,740.33.

Asian markets may open lower again today, but may limit its losses after mounting several heavy losses for the past week. The combined rate cut efforts performed by central banks worldwide may help give some comfort to investors and may breathe life to the stock markets around Asia today. However, volatility may still be very high as investors are still very much concerns regarding the overall global economic outlook. More steps are being arranged by central banks around the world to unclog the credit market so that banks would want to lend money more freely. Oil prices also dropped overnight, it is recently traded around $88.81ish per barrel and it eases inflation concerns around the world. Gold was recently traded around $907.50ish as investors seek have haven. JPY was recently traded around 99.50ish and Nikkei futures was closed at 9200 in CME compared to the close of 9165 here yesterday.

Kospi may open lower today but may turn to the upside following the rate cuts peformed by central banks worldwide last night. Some bargain hunting may also emerge if there's enough positive news around Asia to fuel a stock market rally today. Volatility may still be high today as investors are still very much fearful regarding the uncertainty of global economy but generally, Kospi have performed slightly better than other markets. Kospi may find its resistance around 170ish and its support at 160ish today.

Hangseng may open slightly higher and may perform a rally today after Hong Kong's central bank announced that they will cut interest rate by 100 bps today. The combined rate cuts peformed last night may also give reasons for investors to buy the already cheap stocks today. Technically, markets around the region are bound for a rebound, it's just a matter of time when will investors be confident enough to buy stocks and sustain markets' rally. Chinese markets may also set to rebound today after Chinese bank announced that it will start slashing rates to stimulate more growth to the economy. Hangseng may find its support at 14700 and its resistance at 16000ish today.

Indonesian stock market was closed early yesterday after it plunved more than 10% to its lowest close this year at 1,451.67. Market may find some life today if regional markets are strong enough to sustain a rally fueled by emergency rate cuts around the world. However, as investors' confidence have been hurt badly in recent days, market may still get heavy selling pressures. IHSG will still be closed today as market's officials are trying to determine when to open up the market again. If market is open today, it may find support at 1,400ish and resistance at 1,470ish today.

Asian market preview 02/10/2008

US markets ended a relatively quiet day moderately lower last night as investors are waiting nervously for the senate vote on the new revised $700 billion bailout plan. The Dow initially lost more than 200 points in early morning trade but managed to recoup most of its losses as the bailout plan seems likely to pass the senate and house votes. Meanwhile on economic data, the Institute for Supply Management revealed a troubling drop in new orders. The Index of manufacturing activity fell to 43.5 in September from 49.9 in August and analysts have expected a reading of 49.5. Auto sales in the US also fell 27% as consumers curb spending on luxury items. The bailout plan which includes lots of 'sweeteners' such as tax breaks for businesses and the middle class, a provision to raise the cap on federal deposit insurance from $100,000 to $250,000 and other bits of new stuffs to win over the senate and house votes, is actually heading for a senate win on Wednesday night US time. Most people believe that with the win for the bill, it will unfreeze the credit market and banks would want to lend to each other again and businesses will also get the funds they needed for daily operations. The Dow ended down by 19.59 pts or 0.18% to 10,831.07, S&P500 lost 5.30 pts or 0.45% to 1,161.06 while Nasdaq fell 22.48 pts or 1.07% to 2,069.40.

Asian markets may open flat with tendencies to go higher today as the revised plan seem to be able to win senate votes and most likely to win over the house on Friday. The US government really think that they need to do something and the addition of 'sweeteners' on the bailout plan showed how serious they are to get the bill passed. Crude oil meanwhile fell last night as US inventories showed a surprise increase in supplies. Oil was recently traded around $98.84ish per barrel, gold traded around $876.80ish and JPY traded around 106.05ish. Nikkei futures was closed at 11580 in CME compared to the close of 11500 here yesterday.

Kospi may open rather flat with higher bias today following the optimism that the new, revised bailout plan will go through senate and get the required house votes. Kospi will be closed on Friday and if optimism flow enough among investors today, it may perform like Hangseng did on Tuesday as stocks rose in anticipation that the bailout plan will be successful. Kospi ended down yesterday as investors did not show the enthusiasm as they're still waiting for the revised bailout plan. Kospi may find its resistance at 193ish and its support at 185ish today.

Hangseng may open slightly lower but it depends on how the bailout plan perform in the senate floor today. By the time Hangseng open, the votes in the US senate will be over and that may determine the market's direction for today. Hangseng was closed yesterday for holiday and may continue its rally today if the senate are fully in favor of the plan and if it showed that the house will vote YES on the plan. Hangseng may find its resistance at 20000ish and its support at 18700ish today. China mainland markets are still closed today for a week long holiday.

Asian market preview 01/10/2008

US markets soared higher last night after the biggest ever point drop for the Dow the day before. Investors came back into the markets as President Bush and top congress members and lawmakers vowed that they will revive the $700 billion bailout plan and will get an approval from the House Congress on Thursday. The bailout plan was surprisingly rejected yesterday as Congresmen think that the plan would not be able to jump start the economy. House members were flooded with phone calls after the rejection of the bailout plan, this time calling them to support for it or at least passes something in order to help with the economy. The cost of borrowing Dollar overnight increase the most after the defeat of the bailout plan. LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate) for 3-month dollar loans rose to 4.05% from 3.88% on Monday while LIBOR for 3-month euro loans rose to 5.27% from 5.22% on Monday. Banks are making it harder for people to borrow money and even qualified potential home owners are finding it hard to get home loans. On other news, Wall St was cheered by several economic readings where Consumer Confidence Index rose to 59.8 from 58.5 in August and better from a predicted reading of 55.5. Chicago Purchasing Managers' Index came in at 56.7 compared to 57.9 in August. The soaring markets last night wasn't unexpected as yesterday was the last trading day of the quarter and portfolio managers are trying to make their portfolios look better. However, investors are still very nervous about the frozen credit market. The Dow soared 485.21 pts or 4.68% to 10,850.66, S&P500 rose 58.35 pts or 5.27% to 1,164.74 while Nasdaq rose 98.60 pts or 4.97% to 2,082.33.

Asian markets may open higher today following the partial recovery on Wall St last night on speculation that the lawmakers are trying to do something to salvage the $700 billion bailout plan. Most Asian markets were trimming their losses yesterday after opening losing more than 5% for most markets. Markets may find some relief and bargain hunting may kick in today for Asian markets as they may find new optimism that lawmakers in US are working extra hard to get the bailout plan approved. Crude oil prices also bounced back last night and was recently traded around $100.60ish per barrel, gold traded around $880.80ish and JPY traded around 106ish. Nikkei futures was closed at 11680 in CME compared to the close of 11425 here yesterday.

Kospi may open higher today following yesterday's decline after the failure of the $700 billion bailout plan in the US. Kospi have recovered much of its losses yesterday where the market was closed losing only around 0.7% after opening down more than 5%. The temporary ban on short selling may give market more reason to buy today on top of new speculation that US lawmakers will eventually pass something. Kospi may find its resistance at around 195ish today and its support at around 188ish.

Hangseng is closed today for public holiday. The market recovered all of its early morning loss yesterday to close up 0.76%.