FKLI Related News

NEW YORK, Sept 20 (Reuters) - The Dow industrials ended slightly higher on Thursday while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq cut most of the day's losses in a sign that investor sentiment remains generally positive despite several weak manufacturing surveys from around the world.

Pockets of strength included housing, with an index of housing stocks up 0.8 percent, following Wednesday's gains on better-than-expected housing market data. The S&P energy index rose 0.4 percent, in sync with a rally in Brent crude oil prices after a three-day slide. The S&P utilities index also gained 0.4 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 18.97 points, or 0.14 percent, to close at 13,596.93. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dipped 0.79 of a point, or 0.05 percent, to 1,460.26. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 6.66 points, or 0.21 percent, to close at 3,175.96.

Manufacturing in China contracted for an 11th straight month in September, according to a private-sector survey of factory managers; in the euro zone, a downturn in activity in the service sector steepened this month at the fastest pace since July 2009.

Benchmark index KLCI may remain under selling pressure, with psychological support currently seen at 1600. Today’s resistance is located around 1638.

FCPO Related News

Crude palm oil futures on Malaysia’s derivatives exchange gave up early gains to close barely lower Wednesday, pressured by ample supplies and an increase in U.S. soybean stockpiles as farmers harvest crops in the Midwest. The benchmark December contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives moved between positive and negative territory in the last 30 minutes of trade, ending at 2,859 ringgit a metric ton, down 0.1% from Tuesday’s close.

"Technical selling and profit-booking weighed on the market," a commodities broker in Kuala Lumpur said. "Investors should adopt a sell-into-rallies strategy amid abundant palm oil supplies in Malaysia." Analysts and planters said palm oil output in Malaysia, the world’s largest CPO producer after Indonesia, could reach its peak during the September-October period, potentially pushing end-September inventories to 2.2 million metric tons.

A Sabah-based planter tipped Malaysia’s September CPO output to rise 10% from 1.66 million tons in August. Palm oil stockpiles reached 2.12 million tons at end-August, a level not seen since last October. Separately, traders tipped Sept. 1-20 palm oil shipments at around 924,000 tons, up around 15% from the Aug. 1-20 period. Cargo surveyors Intertek Agri Services and SGS (Malaysia) Bhd. are due to issue Sept. 1-20 shipment data Thursday.  (Dow Jones Newswire)

In a bullish sign for palm oil, Brent crude oil prices rose on Wednesday after Japan's central bank became the latest country to further open the monetary taps to help stimulate its economy. In other vegetable oil markets, U.S. soyoil for December delivery rose 0.4 percent. The most active January 2013 soyoil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange closed 0.3 percent higher, recovering from previous day's near 1-month low.

     

Crude palm oil was likely to find an initial support at 2,840 ringgit a tonne, said Ker Chung Yang, an analyst with Phillip Futures, but prices were likely to fall further in tandem with soybeans.  "We may see some short-covering which may extend for another day, but we need to understand that the weakness is likely to persist for crude palm oil. The export numbers are likely to continue to be impressive, but we need to understand that the sharp gain is due to the low base from the previous month," said Ker.

Technicals showed Malaysian palm oil likely to retest a support level at 2,832 ringgit per tonne, driven by a downward wave capable of travelling to 2,719 ringgit per tonne, Reuters market analyst Wang Tao said.  

    

FKLI Related News

NEW YORK, Sept 19 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday as investors dipped back into the market after the recent pullback from a rally that lifted the S&P 500 to just shy of five-year highs.

Housing stocks were among the day's leaders following stronger-than-expected data on home sales. The pace of U.S. home resales rose 7.8 percent in August, the fastest in more than two years. Housing starts also climbed, a hopeful sign that a budding housing market recovery is gaining traction.

"The recent pullback in prices was all about healthy profit-taking after the big rally we had last week," said Neil Massa, senior U.S. trader at MFC Global Investment Management, in Boston. "Now people are buying."

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 13.32 points, or 0.10 percent, to end at 13,577.96. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 1.73 points, or 0.12 percent, to finish at 1,461.05. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 4.82 points, or 0.15 percent, to close at 3,182.62.

Last week, the S&P 500 reached its highest closing levels since December 2007 following a decision by the U.S. Federal Reserve to launch a new round of economic stimulus. The market pulled back or ended flat for two days, causing some investors to get back into stocks that had lost ground.

Malaysian shares are expected to rise slightly tracking mild gains on Wall Street Wednesday, following positive U.S. housing data. Todays Support and Resistance for FKLI is located around 1630 and 1650 respectively.

FCPO Related News

KUALA LUMPUR–Crude palm oil futures on Malaysia’s derivatives exchange ended sharply lower Tuesday, pressured by overnight weakness in Chicago soy oil futures and favorable weather in South America. The new benchmark December contract at Bursa Malaysia Derivatives ended 4.2% lower at 2,861 ringgit a metric ton after falling as much as 5.3%, to MYR2,827/ton, the benchmark’s lowest level since Aug. 15.

October soy oil on the Chicago Board of Trade was trading 0.7% lower at 54.60 cents a pound by the end of trade on BMD after shedding 3.5% overnight due to improved planting outlooks in South America and amid increased supply in the U.S. due to the ongoing soybean harvest there. "Aggressive selling from speculative funds dragged Malaysian palm oil lower," a Jakarta-based trading executive said. "Sentiment has turned bearish for palm [oil] on [the] improving oilseed supply situation and crude oil’s price weakness."

Resilient demand for the edible oil failed to turn the market around. Exports for the first half of September rose 12 percent from a month ago, cargo surveyor data showed. But the increased palm oil exports in the first 15 days of September compared with a month earlier could help limit further price falls on the BMD, a planter in Perak said, referring to export estimates by cargo surveyors Intertek Agri Services and SGS (Malaysia) Bhd.  Intertek put Sept. 1-15 shipments at 680,112 tons, an increase of 12% while SGS put the figure at 660,955 tons, also up 12%.   

Technicals were bearish as, according to Reuters market analyst Wang Tao, palm oil will fall to 2,573 ringgit per tonne over the next four weeks, based on a wave analysis.

FKLI Related News

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rebounded to eke out a narrow gain, though most stocks finished lower as investors digested a downbeat earnings forecast from economic bellwether FedEx FDX -3.06%.  The Dow rose 11.54 points, or 0.1%, to 13564.64, rising for the fifth time in six sessions and bouncing back from Monday's 40-point decline.

European markets ended broadly lower. The Stoxx Europe 600 index declined 0.4% as Spain's reluctance to ask for a full bailout and economic-growth concerns weighed on sentiment. Separately, data showed that German economic expectations rose in September but the increase fell short of forecasts.

Asian markets also fell as anti-Japan protests in China, related to a dispute over islands in the East China Sea, led more Japanese-owned companies to suspend manufacturing operations. China's Shanghai Composite slid 0.9% and Japan's Nikkei Stock Average lost 0.4%.

(The Wall Street Journal)

Kuala Lumpur Index Futures spot month contract ended lower yesterday at 1633 and opened this morning at 1633.5. Today’s Support and Resistance is located around 1630 and 1655 respectively.

FCPO Related News

CPO price is expected to drop further due to weakness in the soy oil futures market, amid the ongoing US harvest activity and favourable weather in South America. Major support level for the benchmark December for today which was around 2,875~2870 has been broken, which signals further downside is likely following any Sell-off below 2,870 level. 

Palm oil exports during the first 15 days of September rose 12% from the previous month to 680,112 metric tons, cargo surveyor Intertek Agri Services said Saturday. Intertek put Aug. 1-15 shipments at 606,449 tons. However, the encouraging  export data did not manage to limit the decline in CPO price due to the weakness in soy oil market. Another surveyor, SGS (Malaysia) Bhd., issues Sept. 1-15 export data on Tuesday.

Crude palm oil futures on Malaysia’s derivatives exchange settled higher Friday, boosted by policy action announced by the U.S. Federal Reserve and expected strong first-half September palm oil exports from Malaysia, the world’s second-largest palm oil producer. The benchmark November contract at Bursa Malaysia Derivatives ended 0.8% higher at 2,936 ringgit a metric ton after trading in a MYR2,905-MYR2,945/ton range.  News of fresh economic stimulus was bullish for CPO prices, a Kuala Lumpur-based trader said, referring to the U.S. central bank’s announcement late Thursday that it will purchase $40 billion worth of mortgage-backed securities every month until the labor market improves.

Some traders had estimated that palm oil inventories could rise by a further 5% by end-September, as Malaysia is in its peak palm oil production months. End-August palm oil inventories rose 5.8% on month to 2.12 million tons, according to data from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board. However, rising demand could mean lower stocks, traders said, noting this was positive for CPO prices.

(Dow Jones Newswire)

Just last week, CPO prices were expected to be supported by tight vegetable oil markets–dwindling soybean supplies from the U.S. amid robust demand, according to a second Kuala Lumpur-based trader, noting that the U.S. already has sold 70% of the projected exports for the 2012-13 marketing year that started Sept. 1. "We believe crude palm oil prices are close to bottoming out and will regain upward trajectory once we are past the peak production in September and October," Macquarie Research said in a note Friday. CPO is priced attractively relative to soyoil, trading at a $300/ton price discount compared with the historical average of $150/ton, which should shift demand, it said.

FKLI Related News

NEW YORK, Sept 17 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Monday in light trading after a rally that drove the S&P 500 last week to its highest level in nearly five years and as falling oil prices hit energy shares.

The decline broke a four-day streak of gains for the S&P 500. On Friday, both the Dow and the S&P 500 ended at highs not seen since December 2007. The rally came a day after the Federal Reserve unveiled new stimulus measures that could keep equities buoyed for months. The Fed's action followed a decision by the European Central Bank to support debt-ridden euro-zone nations by purchasing their debt. Equities' move is mainly consolidation following last week's big move higher, said Bruce Zaro, chief technical strategist at Delta Global Asset Management in Boston.

Financials, which were among the biggest gainers late last week, were among the sectors leading Monday's decline. The S&P financial index fell 1.1 percent. Bank of America Corp shares lost 2.6 percent to $9.30. The market's losses were limited by Apple Inc, which hit another all-time session high of $699.80 with demand for its new iPhone 5 exceeding initial supply. The company booked 2 million orders in one day and pushed the delivery date for some pre-orders to next month. The stock rose above $700 after the bell; it closed at $699.78, up 1.2 percent.

Volume was lower than average, with about 5.64 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and the Amex, compared with the year-to-date average daily closing volume of 6.54 billion. Many participants were out on Monday for the observance of Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 40.27 points, or 0.30 percent, to end at 13,553.10. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index shed 4.58 points, or 0.31 percent, to 1,461.19. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 5.28 points, or 0.17 percent, to close at 3,178.67.

The day's economic data offered more evidence of weakness in the economy. Factory activity in New York state contracted for a second month in a row in September, with the Empire State "business conditions" index falling to its lowest level in nearly 3-1/2 years, according to a report on Monday from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. A national manufacturing survey by an industry group earlier this month showed the sector contracted for a third month in August. Investors also focused on turmoil overseas. Protesters in Afghanistan and Indonesia burnt U.S. flags and chanted "Death to America" on Monday in renewed demonstrations over a film mocking the Prophet Mohammad.

Malaysia’s markets were closed Monday for a public holiday. At close, the FBM KLCI rose about 14.55 points to 1,642.95 while spot month contract surge about 20 points to 1,638.50. FKLI spot month contract opened slightly lower this morning at 1634 following consolidation in the US market after last week’s huge rally. Analysts view the previous corrections as a swift retracement in an up trending market. Today’s Support and Resistance is located around 1630 and 1655 respectively.