FKLI Related News

Stocks tumbled after a disheartening economic-growth forecast from the International Monetary Fund put investors on the defensive before the start of the corporate-earnings season. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 110.12 points, or 0.8%, to 13473.53. Tuesday's drop for the blue chips, the steepest in more than six weeks, coincided with the five-year anniversary of Dow's all-time high. The benchmark notched its record close, 14164.53, on Oct. 9, 2007, 4.9% above Tuesday's close. The Standard Poor's 500-stock index fell 14.40 points, or 1%, to 1441.48, as consumer discretionary and tech stocks pinned down the index most.

The technology-oriented Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 47.33, or 1.5%, to 3065.02, its sharpest single-session slide since June 25. Intel and Microsoft were the worst-performing stocks on the Dow industrials, each falling about 1.7%. Analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein cut Intel's stock-recommendation rating, noting soft demand for personal computers. Apple closed down 0.4%.   Alcoa kicked off the reporting season when the aluminum producer released its quarterly earnings in the minutes after markets closed. The company posted adjusted earnings that beat estimates, though it recorded a quarterly loss.

Aggregate profits for S&P 500 companies are expected to register declines for the first time in nearly three years and concerns about waning global growth were echoed overnight by the IMF, which cut its forecast for economic expansion to 3.3% from 3.5% in 2012. "What everyone is pondering is the significance of the global slowdown," said John De Clue, global investment strategist at U.S. Bank. "You're seeing it a bit in tech today because they have so much international exposure." In U.S. economic news, the National Federation of Independent Business small-business optimism index slipped in September from August, missing the median among estimates by economists.

European markets also fell. The Stoxx Europe 600 dropped 0.5% as German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrived in Athens to meet Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras. Ms. Merkel reiterated a desire for Greece to remain part of the euro zone as thousands of protesters demonstrated Ms. Merkel's first visit to Greece since that country's debt-crisis began. China's Shanghai Composite surged 2% after the People's Bank of China injected a large amount of liquidity into the banking system. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropped 1.1% when investors returned from a three-day weekend.

Front-month crude-oil futures climbed 3.4% to $92.39 a barrel, while October gold futures fell 0.6% to $1,763.00 a troy ounce. The dollar rose against the euro but fell against the yen. Yields on benchmark 10-year Treasury bonds fell to 1.720% as demand rose.

 [ The Wall Street Journal ]

The benchmark KLCI opened lower today at 1660.77, tracking declines on Wall Street, following the IMF's downgrade of growth forecasts. ; The FBM KLCI surged last week  to a new high at 1,668 level, marking the new historical high since the establishing of Bursa securities exchange. The impulsive rally came mostly from local fund Buying activities on various blue chips stocks last week. Today’s Support and Resistance for FKLI spot month contract is located around 1655 and 1661 respectively.