Monday, March 29, 2010

Breaking News-RTRS-Malaysian palm oil firm denies clearing rainforests

KUALA LUMPUR, March 26 (Reuters) - Malaysia's second-largest planter IOI Corp dismissed claims by a green group that it cleared rainforests on Borneo island to expand oil palm estates, saying the report was inaccurate.
IOI Corp said on Friday it conducted its own investigations and held a dialogue with Friends of the Earth group, which published a report last week looking at how the planter was expanding estates on the Indonesian side of the island.

Breaking News - RTRS-PREVIEW-Corn, wheat stockpiles to rise; soy seen shrinking

CHICAGO, March 25 (Reuters) - U.S. corn supplies were
expected to reach their highest level in more than 20 years as
a bumper harvest last autumn led to growing stockpiles despite
rising demand for the crop.
Soybean supplies were expected to fall in the U.S.
Agriculture Department's quarterly stocks report, which will be
issued on March 31, due to aggressive buying by China on the
export market but wheat stocks were seen at a 10-year high as
overseas buyers were looking to other countries to satisfy
demand.

Breaking News-RTRS-Argentine police close access to key grains port

BUENOS AIRES, March 26 (Reuters) - Argentine police have closed a road leading to one of Argentina's main grains ports after protests by dockworkers, sources said on Friday.
Police closed off access to the San Martin port, one of the country's leading grains ports, following days of protests by workers who have halted the loading and unloading of ships to demand higher wages.
Several terminals at San Martin were not receiving grains because a road leading to the port was closed, sources said.

Trader's Highlight

DJI-NEW YORK, March 26 (Reuters) - The Dow and S&P ended flat on Friday, giving back earlier gains after the sinking of a South Korean naval ship, while tech shares' weakness kept the Nasdaq in slightly negative territory.

Stocks initially rose after European Union leaders said they had agreed on a standby aid package for Greece, and after better-than-expected March consumer sentiment data.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> rose 9.15 points, or 0.08 percent, to end at 10,850.36. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> inched up just 0.86 point, or 0.07 percent, to 1,166.59. But the Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> slipped2.28 points, or 0.10 percent, to close at 2,395.13.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, March 26 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures ended lower for a third day in row on Friday as downbeat economic data overshadowed a steady tone in consumer sentiment and news of an agreement to help debt-strapped Greece.

Wall Street fell back, on geopolitical worries after the sinking of a South Korean naval ship and a drop in tech bellwether Oracle [.N].

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, May crude settled down 53 cents, or 0.66 percent, at $80 a barrel, trading from $79.54 to $81.46.

CBOT-CHICAGO, March 26 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade grains and soy complex close on Friday.

CBOT-SOYBEANS - May up 9-1/2 cents at $9.52 per bushel. Support from short-covering, bull-spreading, tightening U.S. soy supplies and news Argentine police closed roads to San Martin grains port after worker protests.

CBOT-SOYOIL - May up 0.25 cent at 38.95 cents per lb. Higher soy and weak dollar combine to lift soyoil futures. Weakness in crude oil weighs.

FCPO-JAKARTA, March 26 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures fell 1.59 percent to a one-week low on Friday on the strength in the ringgit and as concerns over a dry weather spell leading to tight supplies eased.

The benchmark June crude palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed down 41 ringgit, or 1.59 percent, at 2,534 ringgit ($767) per tonne. Overall trade volume was 14,711 lots of 25 tonnes each.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-BANGKOK, March 26 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets ended slightly higher on Friday after investors bought big-cap stocks as hopes grew of a debt bail-out for Greece.

Investors took their lead from U.S. stock futures, which pointed to a higher start on Friday, dealers said. At 0948 GMT, the futures <.DJM0> were up 0.24 percent.

In Singapore, the Straits Times Index <.FTSTI> finished 0.6 percent higher although the city state's stronger-than-expected factory output in February fuelled expectations of policy tightening next month. [ID:nSGE62P052]

Among actively traded stocks, Straits Asia Resources was up 3.8 percent and developer CapitaLand gained 2.3 percent.

Malaysia's index <.KLSE> was up 0.2 percent, with gaming group Genting rising 1.7 percent and palm plantation firm Sime Darby up 0.8 percent.

One weak spot was Telekom Malaysia , which fell 1.4 percent after Hwang DBS Vickers downgraded the stock to "hold" after a recent run-up in the share price.

NYMEX Crude Weekly: Searching for direction


Market looks still searching for a clearer direction as market remains in consolidation phase. Thus, upside resistance is pegged at USD83.95. Immediate downside support is looking at USD75.00 followed by the USD68.59.

FKLI Weekly: Defended well


Bulls defended well following prices managed to rebound and recover to close near to the weekly high. Market still remains its upward posture and looks likely to challenge its recent high 1337-1348 (gap left since 9/3/2008). To the downside, support is pegged at 1275-1270 followed by 1250.

FCPO Weekly: Limited upside


Market momentum weakened further following a double top formation. Thus, we continue to look for the upside resistance at 2722-2726. While, downside support is lies at 2528-2538 (left over gap since 14/2/2010) followed by 2450-2400.