The power sector weighed down Japanese stocks while Chinese stocks and other stocks in Asia also closed lower on Friday except for Indian stocks as investors were cautious about overnight falls in commodities and ahead of the weekend. Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.1% to 9,607.08. Shanghai Composite Index ended at 2,858.46. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.5% and Taiwan's Taiex gave up 0.6%. Elsewhere in the region, New Zealand's NZX 50 gained 0.2% and Philippine shares finished 0.3% lower. Singapore's Straits Times index fell 0.02%, Indonesia's share market added 0.34% and Thailand's SET dropped 0.57%.
European stocks fell on Friday and posted a loss for the week after Fitch Ratings downgraded Greece's credit rating that rekindled euro-zone debt worries. The Stoxx Europe 600 index slipped 0.1% to end at 279.65. For the week, it dropped 0.3%. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 index slipped 0.1% to 5,948.49. The French CAC 40 index sank 0.9% to end at 3,990.85. In Germany, the DAX 30 index dropped 1.2% to end at 7,266.82.
Concern about the Greek debt crisis still weighed on Wall Street and pulled down major stock indexes on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 93.28 points, or 0.74%, to 12,512.04. The financial and industrial sectors dragged down the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index 10.33 points, or 0.77%, to 1,333.27. The technology-oriented Nasdaq Composite declined 19.99 points, or 0.71%, to 2,803.32, snapping a three-day winning streak.
European debt fears, particularly a lingering Greek debt crisis, still weighed down the euro on Friday. Late Friday, the euro was at US$1.4162 from US$1.4312 late Thursday, according to EBS via CQG. The dollar was at Y81.69 from Y81.59, while the euro was at Y115.65 from Y116.83. The U.K. pound was at US$1.6242 from US$1.6235. The dollar was at CHF0.8775 from CHF0.8807, while the euro fell to 1.2424, not far from a record low at 1.2398.
Oil futures ended higher in volatile trading on Friday, as buyers re-entered the market ahead of contract expiration because traders were convinced by anticipation of a rise in long-term crude demand. Light, sweet crude for June delivery settled up US$1.05, or 1.1%, to US$99.49 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. With the contract expiring Friday, the more actively traded--and more expensive--July contract settled up US$1.17, or 1.2%, to US$100.10 a barrel. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange settled up 97 cents, or 0.9%, to US$112.39 a barrel, according to Dow Jones Newswires.
Rubber Market
The table below shows that rubber futures in the region finished the week higher on Friday than an earlier Friday even though market players were mostly on the sidelines due to concern about tighter Chinese monetary policy to curb inflation in the country, but persistent tightness of NR supplies in producing countries still held cash prices to stay firmly and influenced rubber futures to some degree. Meanwhile, the Japanese yen against the greenback and crude oil futures on New York Mercantile Exchange stood more or less unchanged throughout the week.
IRCo’s MACD and its Signal Line improved slightly in negative territory while IRCo’s RSI also rose to 35.12% on Friday. The RSI has headed north for almost two weeks. It means that investors are turning to long positions.
On the physical front, persistent adverse weather still disrupts rubber tapping in major producing countries. Bullish sentiment on corn and wheat prices caused by persistent rains in the U.S. is fueling worry about grain shortage this year that is attracting speculative investors, including hedge funds, to unwind their short positions on commodity exchanges after the recent selloff in global commodities. If so, we will see some support from soft commodities to rubber futures in the near future.
Source: http://www.irco.biz/BlogMoreDetial.php?id=228&ShowContent=market_watch
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