Asian market preview 24/10/2008

US markets ended a very volatile session last night mixed but showed some positive signs that bargain hunters are again trying to get back into the markets. The battle between bargain hunters and investors who are trying to cash out caused a very volatile environment for the markets. Analysts believed that investors are trying to find big names stocks and buy them up after being battered for the past 2 sessions. However, whenever the markets rally, nervous investors sold off their holdings as they are concerned about the state of the global economy and fear of a prolonged recession. The rally in the markets last night was led by energy companies as oil prices rose from its 16-month low as OPEC said that they would cut production amid falling demands. Tech stocks still got a beating as Amazon and Sandisk weigh on that sector. Meanwhile, labor department reported that new application for unemployment rose 15,000 last week to 478,000 slightly higher than the 470,000 predicted by analysts. Jobless claims above 400,000 signaled a recession and this is what investors are afraid of. Most of them are struggling to accept the reality that the US is indeed in recession and still believed that they can 'avoid' a recession. The Dow ended up by 172.04 pts or 2.02% to 8,691.25, S&P500 rose 11.33 pts or 1.26% to 908.11 while Nasdaq fell 11.84 pts or 0.73% to 1,603.91.

Asian markets may open slightly on the upside following a mild rally on Wall St overnight. Markets around the region may rebounded today but remain highly volatile as investors still struggling with the state of global economy. Slightly higher oil prices may give a boost to energy producers. Bargain hunters also may come in and seek cheap stocks after the markets only rose once in the past 5 sessions. Oil was recently traded around $69.17ish per barrel, gold traded around $724.90ish and JPY traded around 97.40ish. Nikkei futures was closed at 8300 in CME last night compared to the close of 8215 here yesterday.

Kospi may open slightly on the upside and may prompt some bargain hunters who may cause a rally early in the morning. However, with investors remain very nervous, any rally may be short-lived and may prompt investors to see that as an opportunity to cash out. The weakening Won again may weigh on the market and weak investors' confidence may cause Kospi to fall even further. Earnings results from Samsung Corp. may prove crucial to determine whether Kospi can have a rally today or will it fall further. Kospi may find its support at 135ish today and its resistance at 145ish. If Kospi managed to fall below 135ish, it may prompt more panic selling and may even go towards 130ish or lower.

Hangseng may open slightly higher following a positive end to Wall St's volatile session last night. Hangseng may have small rallies and market may remain highly volatile in the current situation. Bargain hunters may try to enter the market again and try their luck this time to see if they can really find bargain stocks at these prices. China mainland market may again play a part to determine if Hangseng can have a sustainable rally today. Hangseng may find its support at 13600ish and its resistance at 14300ish today.

Asian market preview 23/10/2008

US markets fell sharply again last night and continued its downturn as investors' worries shifted from credit to health of corporate earnings and the future of economic growth. Markets fell more than 4% with S&P500 closed at its lowest level since April 2003. Corporate profit forecasts, a jump in the dollar and falling oil prices showed that investors are fearful that an economic slowdown will sweep the globe even if lending begins to approach normal levels. Investors are expecting quarterly corporate results to be weak and they are in panic mode so heavy selling is inevitable as analysts believed. Credit markets continued to show signs of easing but investors are more worried now about the current economic condition and how long will this slowdown last. However, analysts are still optimistic as trading volume was light last night compared to the heavy trading volumes in the past 2 weeks when markets plunged at record levels. Analysts said it is quite normal to see this kind of volatilities when the markets are recovering from heavy selling and when markets are searching for its real bottom. The Dow plunged 514.45 or 5.69% to 8,519.21, S&P500 fell 58.27 pts or 6.10% to 896.78 while Nasdaq fell 80.93 pts or 4.77% to 1,615.75.

Asian markets may open lower again today and may extend its decline on global economic worries. However, as markets reaching towards its lowest points formed just recently, bargain hunters may come in yet again to buy stocks at fire sale prices. Many analysts believed that global stock prices have become very cheap right now if they compare it to the Price/Earnings ratio. However, analysts also believed that whenever markets rally, it would only be a reason for investors to sell their holdings. Oil prices tumbled last night as dollar gained strength and as US stockpiles rose last week. Oil was recently traded around $67.55ish per barrel, gold traded around $726.60ish and JPY traded around 98.00ish. Nikkei futures was closed at 8200 in CME compared to the close of 8500 here yesterday.

Kospi may open lower again today and may continue its downward path as investors are desperate to sell their stocks and as foreigners also continued to do heavy sellings on Korean stocks. Gloomy economic outlook for South Korea and the weakening Won may contribute further selling in the Kospi. Kospi may find its support at 136ish and its resistance at 143ish today.

Hangseng may open lower today following the US' further downfall last night on global economic worries. Hangseng may be supported by better-than-expected earnings by Baidu and maybe some other companies. Low oil prices may also finally contribute to the local economic outlook and inflationary pressure to ease further which will leave room for government to take further measure to boost economy. Hangseng may find its support at 13200ish and its resistance at 14000ish today.

Asian market preview 22/10/2008

US markets ended down last night on mixed earnings concern and investors took the opportunity to have some profit taking after a huge 400 pts rally the day before. Weak earnings report from Texas Instrument, Sun Microsystems, Freeport McMoran again caused investors to see gloomy outlook beyond Q4 and that sparked another sell-off in the US markets. However, analysts said that investors anxiety have lessened considerably compared with the past 2 weeks when fears took over the markets and battered stocks across the globe. Credit markets eased further in response to a sweeping series of bailout measures by world government, including a joint US and European plan to buy stakes in private banks to boost their lending. Right now, investors are watching the earnings front to gauge how bad the economy outlook is going to be while they're waiting for the bailout measures to work its way through the system. Until the credit market health turn to normal, markets will have these back and forth swings as analysts predicted. Among blue chips, DuPont Co. and Caterpillar both fell more than 5% on weaker earnings report and gloomy 2009 outlook. The Dow ended down by 231.77 pts or 2.50% to 9,033.66, S&P500 fell 30.35 pts or 3.08% to 955.05 while Nasdaq fell 73.35 pts or 4.14% to 1,696.68.

Asian markets may open lower today following another loss on Wall St last night. However, this time the losses on Wall St is not that significant compared to the past few weeks. Investors are more concerned about the earnings report and investors around Asia may also turn to its own local earnings report to find momentum for their markets. Governments worldwide have done whatever they can to help the credit system and investors have realized that it would take time for those measures to work. Crude oil prices fell overnight and was recently traded around $71.75ish per barrel, gold traded around $775.80ish and Nikkei futures was closed at 8980 in CME compared to the close of 9115 here yesterday.

Kospi may open lower today and may continue its downward path from yesterday if more gloomy earnings are to come out in South Korea. The weakening of Korean Won may again weigh on the stock market today. Investors may turn to local news and local earnings report to determine how far the market will continue its way downward or will it make another round of comeback today. Kospi may find its support at 150ish and its resistance at 155ish today.

Hangseng may open lower today following another round of selling in the US last night. Hangseng market may turn to China mainland markets for more news to determine market direction today. Government's plan to inject China's Agriculturual bank, more tax rebates for toymakers and textile exporters and also PetroChina's plan to expand may limit Hangseng's losses and may turn it to the upside. Hangseng may find its support at 14700ish and its resistance at 15300ish today.

Asian market preview 21/10/2008

US markets soared last night and ended more than 3% higher for all major markets on more signs of a reviving credit market and comments from Fed chairman Ben Bernanke. Investors saw that the Libor rate (bank-to-bank lending rate) has eased further and this brought some calm to the markets which have been heavily sold the past few weeks. Meanwhile Ben Bernanke also hinted that the government will take more steps to help the economy. The market liked what Bernanke had to say and with credit easing slowly, market realized that it is going to be a process. Analysts believed that the steps taken by government finally have some impact on investors' sentiment and that the not-so-dismal start to the earnings season contributed to the rally in the markets. Last night, oilfield services provider, Halliburton Co. topped estimates and said that any macroeconomic problems will ultimately correct themselves. Still, there are still much fears in the market as demand for treasury bills is still quite high. Analysts also believed that according to past history, recovering markets will face further turmoil in price swings and may even test their lows yet again. The Dow ended up by 413.21 pts or 4.67% to 9,265.43, S&P500 rose 44.85 pts or 4.77% to 985.40 while Nasdaq rose 58.74 pts or 3.43% to 1,770.03.

Asian markets may open higher today following Wall St big rally last night on optimism that the credit market is finally easing and that more steps will be taken by the US to support the weakening economy. Markets may not be fully confident and reverse course but short-term rally may take place and may get supported if earnings reports from local companies also give reason for investors to buy. Oil prices rose last night and was recently traded around $75.69ish per barrel, gold traded around $798.50ish and JPY traded around 101.90ish. Nikkei futures was closed at 9360 in CME compared to the close of 9025 here yesterday.

Kospi may open higher today following more optimism from the US. However, with much uncertainties still linger around the air, the Kospi may not have a full rally and may have wild price swings like it did yesterday. Kospi touched its lowest price this year yesterday at 150.85 and although it may not go to that point again today, volatility will remain quite high. Investors' confidence may not be fully restored as the process in recovering the global economic condition is quite slow. Some melamine problems found in biscuits may give some pressure on the market as well. Kospi may find its resistance at 167ish and its support at 160ish today.

Hangseng may open higher today and may continue its rally from yesterday following more optimism from the US regarding the credit crisis. However, the rally may not be fully supported as lower-than-expected earnings from China Mobile may weigh on the market after it helped the market in previous session. The losses in Citic Pacific may also weigh on the market and the overall performance of Chinese mainland markets may determine Hangseng's movement today. Hangseng may find its resistance at 16200ish and its support at 15300ish today.

Asian market preview 20/10/2008

US markets were closed just moderately lower on Friday as investors were cheered by signs of easing in the credit market and managed to absorb weak economic news. Volatility was still quite high and the expiration of Options contracts add to the swings in the markets. Analysts have believed that markets were way oversold in such a short time and now they feel that markets finally realized that governments all over the world are trying to do everything they can to stop this from happening, and now many investors are bargain hunting. Warren Buffet's encouragement to buy US equities also helped to boost stocks in early trade but gains were given back at the end of the session. In economic news, the government said that new home construction dropped by more than expected last month to the lowest pace since 1991. However, bad economic news have already been expected by investors and now they focussed on the credit market. Libor rate seemed to ease up a little bit and that cheered investors' mood on Friday. The Dow ended the session down by 127.04 pts or 1.41% to 8,852.22 but ended higher by 4.75% for the week. S&P500 lost 5.88 pts or 0.62% to 940.55 but ended higher by 4.6% for the week. Nasdaq fell 6.42 pts or 0.37% to 1,711.29 but ended the week higher by 3.75%.

Asian markets may open higher today and may continue its rebound after steep selloff on Thursday. The mild loss in the US on Friday may bring little impact compared to the heavy losses in the previous sessions this month. Some easing in the credit market may cheer investors' sentiment worldwide and may help global stock markets. The slight rebound in oil may also help energy companies around the region. Oil was recently traded around $71.85ish per barrel, gold traded around $787.70ish and JPY traded around 101.55ish. Nikkei futures was closed at 8730 in CME compared to the close of 8455 here on Friday.

Kospi may open higher today after the government announced that they will provide $100 billion guarantee for banks' foreign debts to ease dollar shortage. In addition, they will also supply $30 billion to local banks and exporters. Bargain hunting may also emerge after the market was hammered quite bad for the past 2 sessions, losing more than 12%. However, investors' confidence may not have been fully restored as there are still more uncertainties from the US and that investors are still nervous about the whole global economic outlook. Kospi may find its resistance at 165ish and its support at 158ish today.

Hangseng may open higher as losses in the US is quite mild on Friday compared to the previous sessions and investors may think that it is a positive sign with the credit market showed some signs of easing. Bargain hunting may emerge and may boost stock market today as Hangseng have been hammered pretty bad for the past 3 sessions, losing almost 15%. Analysts' view that the global markets were way oversold may also give some hope for investors to buy stocks and may boost market further. Hangseng may find its resistance 15300ish and may find its support at 14600ish today.

Asian market preview 17/10/2008

US markets continued on its high volatility ways last night and this time markets were closed to the upside by more than 4%. Markets were trading much lower early in the session as more bad economic data pushed markets downward. Investors were initially cheered by a better-than-expected reading on consumer prices. CPI for September came in flat compared to the 0.1% decline in August and the core index rose by 0.1%. Meanwhile, first time claims for unemployment declined last week. The Labor Department said new claims fell 16,000 to 461,000, below the 475,000 anticipated by economists. Still, total unemployment still points to recession. From the Philadelphia Fed, it said that regional manufacturing conditions weakened in October. The bank's regional index came in at negative 37.5 compared with a positive 3.8 for September. The news followed word from The Fed that production at the nation's factories, mines and utilities plunged 2.8% last month. Analysts believe that the current high volatilities in the markets will continue for some time as investors are really anxious about the economy. The Dow ended up by 401.35 pts or 4.68% to 8,979.26, S&P500 rose 38.59 pts or 4.25% to 946.43 while Nasdaq rose 89.38 pts or 5.49% to 1,717.71.

Asian markets may open higher today following the jump for the US markets last night and may continue to follow the high volatility path like the US markets. Better-than-expected earnings from Google and IBM may help push tech stocks in the Asian region as well. Bad economic outlook may still weigh on the markets but bargain hunting may come in and buy the already heavily discounted stocks. Crude oil prices also fell to below $70 in US trading last night and was recently traded around $69.85ish per barrel, gold traded around $804.50ish and JPY traded around 101.32ish. Nikkei futures was closed at 8800 in CME compared to the close of 8575 here yesterday.

Kospi may open higher today and may get a nice rebound after steep losses yesterday to close at its lowest point of the year. Tech and chipmakers may get a boost today following better-than-expected earnings from Google and IBM in the US. The weakened Won may weigh the market though but bargain hunters may help lift the stock market today. Kospi may find its resistance at 165ish and its support at 160ish today.

Hangseng may open higher today after 2 days of heavy losses mounting to more than 12%. Bargain hunters may dominate the market as the bad economic news and figures seemed to have already been priced in. China mainland markets may also play a part to determine how the Hangseng market will perform. Low oil prices may finally play a part to boost stocks as oil went below $70, its lowest price for the past year. Hangseng may find its resistance at 16000ish and its support at 15200ish today.

Asian market preview 16/10/2008

US markets plunged again last night amid new recession concerns and that the measures taken by governments will not heal the wounded economy straight away. All markets were down more than 7% as new data points to recession if not already here, is inevitable. The sell-off began after the governments reported that retail sales plunged by 1.2%, almost double the 0.7% predicted by analysts which made it clear that consumers are reluctant to spend amid a shaky economy. Then in the afternoon came the beige book which also offered similar views regarding the economy. The report found that the economy continued to slow as financial and credit market problems became worse. Analysts predicted that volatility will remain high in these uncertain times and as the governments have used almost all measures to help the economy, investors now have to wait to see how the actions will steady the economy. The Dow plunged 733.08 pts or 7.87% to 8,577.91, S&P500 fell 90.17 pts or 9.03% to 907.84 while Nasdaq fell 150.68 pts or 8.47% to 1,628.33.

Asian markets will open lower again today following the plunge in US markets last night as investors fear of recession. Markets around the region may be hit hard again and may visit this year's low, which was formed on 10th October again today as the fear of a prolonged global recession may make investors to hold cash instead of stocks right now. Crude oil prices also plunged overnight as fears of reduced demands make investors flee. Oil was recently traded around $73.50ish per barrel, gold traded around $845ish and JPY traded around 99.60ish. Nikkei futures was closed at 8500 in CME compared to the close of 9320 here yesterday.

Kospi may open lower again today as US markets plunged overnight and may continue its losses and may even visit this year's low again. Investors' confidence have been hit pretty hard the past month and with this growing fear of global recession, investors may run away to safety instead of holding stocks. Local corporate earnings may help or may even make things worse if earnings are bad. Kospi may find its support at 160ish and if it breached that level, it may find resistance at 155ish. It may find its resistance at 165ish today.

Hangseng may open lower today amid growing concerns of a global recession. Hangseng have plunged 5% yesterday and may extend its decline today as regional markets may put pressure on its movement. The Hong Kong government will take every measures to prevent Hong Kong to become affected by the crisis, but it cannot avoid global recession. Hangseng may find its support at 14500ish and its resistance at 15200ish today.