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U.S. stocks ended February with a whimper and a roar. The main indexes finished the week roughly where they started it, but still booked hefty monthly gains.
The S&P 500 SPX, -0.30% ended 6.25 points, or 0.3%, lower at 2,104.73, and booked a 0.3% loss over the week. The benchmark index advanced 5.5% over the past month, however, for the best monthly gain since October 2011.
The U.S. dollar index posted a monthly gain after spending much of February in consolidation mode as investors await further signals on the timing of the Federal Reserve’s next interest-rate increase move.
The euro EURUSD, -0.02% traded at $1.1197, little changed from its level in late North American trade on Thursday.
The dollar was at ¥119.63 compared with USDJPY, +0.18% ¥119.49 late Thursday in New York.
The lira USDTRY, +0.12% traded at a rate of 2.5087 per dollar in recent action and traded at 2.5248 per dollar in earlier action, breaching the previous all-time low set on Feb. 11, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The WSJ Dollar Index BUXX, +0.04% a measure of the dollar against a basket of major currencies, was down 0.03 point at 85.89.
April natural gas NGJ15, +0.48% added 3.7 cents, or 1.4%, to $2.734 per million British thermal units, up 1.6% for the month.
March heating oil HOH5, +2.68% rallied, settling up 16.3 cents, or 7.6%, at $2.299 a gallon—up roughly 36% for the month, driven by weather-related demand.
March futures contracts for gasoline and heating oil expired at the close Friday. March gasoline RBH5, +3.85% rose 6 cents, or 3.5%, to $1.768 a gallon. Prices were up a whopping 25% for the month.
After posting declines over the past seven months, crude-oil futures rebounded, with Brent crude scoring its biggest monthly percentage climb in nearly six years.
Crude for April delivery CLJ5, +2.80% rose $1.59, or 3.3%, to settle at $49.76 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices for the month, based on the front-month contracts, climbed 3.2%. For the week, they were down 2.1%.
April Brent crude LCOJ5, +4.05% on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose $2.53, or 4.2%, to end Friday’s session at $62.58 a barrel.
Don’t expect to see much of a climb in gold prices this year, but a spike to $1,700 an ounce or more could come as early as the summer of 2016.
Gold futures prices on Comex closed at $1,210.10 an ounce on Thursday, with the metal stuck in a range of just over $114 an ounce year to date, based on the most-active contracts.
TRADING TIPS :
GBP/USD hit 1.5552 during European morning trade, the pair’s highest since January 2; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5531.In a report, the Office for National Statistics said the U.K. gross domestic product expanded by 0.5% in the final three months of 2014, unchanged from an initial estimate and in line with expectations. The U.K.’s economy grew by 0.7% in the previous quarter.Year-over-year, U.K. economic growth grew 2.7% in the three months to December, unchanged from a preliminary reading. The U.K. economy expanded at an annualized rate of 2.6% in the third quarter of 2014.The report also showed that total U.K. business investment fell 1.4% in the last quarter, disappointing forecasts for a 1.9% gain and following a 1.2% decline in the third quarter of 2014.
INTRADAY OUTLOOK
Support: 1.5492
Resistance: 1.5573
RECOMMENDATION:
1. Buy GBP/USD Above 1.5575-TG: 1.5595/1.5625 SL 1.5545
2. Sell GBP/USD Below 1.5490-TG: 1.5470/1.5440 SL 1.5520
INTRADAY OUTLOOK
Support: 1.1317
Resistance: 1.1396
RECOMMENDATION:
1. Buy EUR/USD Above 1.1398-TG: 1.1418/1.1448 SL 1.1368
2. Sell EUR/USD Below 1.1315-TG: 1.1295/1.1265 SL 1.1345
MARKET UPDATES :
The FBM KLCI index gained 5.01 points or 0.28% on Thursday. The Finance Index increased 0.39% to 15911.36 points, the Properties Index up 0.59% to 1338.91 points and the Plantation Index rose 0.48% to 8085.08 points. The market traded within a range of 8.77 points between an intra-day high of 1821.67 and a low of 1812.90 during the ses-sion.
STOCK RECOMMENDATION :
BUY ONLY WORLD AT 1.725 – 1.730 TARGET 1.775 1.825 SL 1.675
INTERNATIONAL COMMODITY NEWS :
Gold and copper prices were mostly steady on Friday in Asia after Japan reported solid industrial output, but downbeat data on jobs, inflation and retail sales National core CPI in Japan rose 2.2%, below the 2.3% year-on-year for January expected. The unemployment rate in January ticked up to 3.6%, compared to an expected steady rate of 3.4%. Household spending fell 5.1% in January year-on-year. Industrial production month-on-month jumped 4.0%, well above an expected gain of 2.7% and retail sales fell 2.0%, compared to a forecast of down 1.3% year-on-year.
TRADING STRATEGY :
BUY GOLD ABOVE 1211.75 TARGET 1216.75 1222.75 SL 1205.75
SELL GOLD BELOW 1205.5 TARGET 1200.5 1194.5 SL 1211.5
Small-cap companies outperformed large firms Thursday, as downbeat economic reports and selling pressure from the energy sector weighed on the benchmark S&P 500.
The S&P 500 SPX, -0.15% closed down 3.12 points, or 0.2% lower, at 2,110.74, while six of its 10 main sectors finished with losses. A 5.5% drop in oil prices prompted investors to dump energy companies.
The ICE U.S. Dollar Index rose to its highest level since 2003 Thursday, as currency traders bet that a stronger-than-expected core consumer-price index number will prompt the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates sooner than expected.
The index DXY, -0.13% a measure of the greenback’s strength against a basket of six rival currencies, rose 1.15% to 95.1500, according to FactSet data.
The euro EURUSD, +0.13% traded at $1.1998, its lowest level since Jan. 26, compared with $1.1361 Wednesday.
The euro EURUSD, +0.13% traded at $1.1998, its lowest level since Jan. 26, compared with $1.1361 Wednesday.
April platinum PLJ5, -0.03% rose $4.80, or 0.4%, to $1,173.60 an ounce.
June palladium PAM5, -0.18% the most-active contract, gained $1.75, or 0.4, to $811.05 an ounce.
May copper HGK5, -0.56% added 5.1 cents, or 1.9%, to $2.695 a pound.
May silver SIK5, -0.45% also tacked on 15 cents, or 0.9%, to end at $16.624 an ounce — the best settlement for a most-active contract since Feb. 13.
The front-month March gasoline contract down 1.1 cents, or 0.7%, at $1.708 a gallon, pulling back after Wednesday’s 6.1% rally.
March heating oil HOH5, +3.14% ended at $2.136 a gallon, up 3.2 cents, or 1.5%. The March contracts for the products expire at the close of trading on Friday.
April natural gas NGJ15, +0.26% fell 16.5 cents, or 5.8%, to end at $2.697 per million British thermal units on its first full trading day as a front-month contract.
Natural-gas prices, meanwhile, dropped by almost 6% after U.S. government data showed that supplies fell less than expected last week despite the bitter cold in the eastern U.S.
Oil futures on Thursday settled at their lowest level in nearly a month, with strength in the U.S. dollar adding insult to injury to a market that is already suffering from record-high crude supplies in the U.S.
April crude CLJ5, +1.91% dropped $2.82, or 5.5%, to settle at $48.17 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That was the lowest close for a most-active contract since late January.
Futures prices for gold rallied for a second straight session on Thursday to mark their highest settlement in more than a week.
Gold for April delivery GCJ5, -0.10% rose $8.60,or 0.7%, to settle at $1,210.10 an ounce on Comex. That was the highest settlement for a most-active contract since Feb. 18.
Here are the latest trading levels for Asia's major stock markets:
Tokyo (Nikkei Average NIK, -0.08% ) up 0.2%
Hong Kong (Hang Seng Index HSI, +0.56% ) up 0.5%
Shanghai (Shanghai Composite Index SHCOMP, +0.58% ) up 0.6% at break
Sydney (S&P/ASX 200 XJO, +0.34% ) up 0.2%
Seoul (Kospi SEU, -0.13% ) down 0.1%
Mumbai (Sensex 1, +0.40% ) up 0.5%
Taipei (Taiex Y9999, -0.80% ) closed for holiday
Asian markets were largely flat in morning trade Friday after the dollar firmed on US inflation data, while disappointing Japanese figures challenged Tokyo's war on falling prices.
Japanese inflation slowed for a sixth straight month in January - dampened by weak consumer spending and falling energy prices - its lowest level since Tokyo launched an offensive on falling prices and tepid growth nearly two years ago.
Tokyo ticked up 0.07 per cent, Hong Kong added 0.54 per cent and Shanghai edged down 0.08 percent. Seoul slipped 0.12 per cent while Sydney was up 0.37 per cent and Wellington added 0.08 per cent. Markets in Taiwan were closed for a public holiday.
