Monday, February 21, 2011

Trader's Highlight

DJI-NEW YORK, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Late arrivals to the speediest rally in stocks since the Great Depression pushed stocks higher for a third week on Friday, despite growing signals of an overheating market.

More than $8 billion flowed into U.S. equity funds for the week ended Feb. 16, according to Thomson Reuters Lipper data. Analysts said investors appear reluctant to sell despite slack volume and a narrowing spread between winners and losers.

On Friday the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> gained 73.11 points, or 0.59 percent, to 12,391.25. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> added 2.58 points, or 0.19 percent, to 1,343.01. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> edged up 2.37 points, or 0.08 percent, to 2,833.95.

NYMEX-NEW YORK, Feb 18 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures ended lower in volatile trading on Friday in a bout of profit-taking and position-squaring ahead of a three-day holiday weekend.

Late liquidations ahead of NYMEX front-month March crude's expiration on Tuesday snuffed out gains spurred by pre-weekend short-covering.

But persistent worries that the unrest in Middle East and North Africa could disrupt oil supplies from those regions kept investors cautious and helped limit the day's losses.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude for March delivery settled at $86.20 a barrel, down 16 cents, or 0.19 percent, after trading from $85.65 to $87.8.

CBOT-CHICAGO, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade grain and soy complex futures close on Friday.

CBOT-SOYBEANS - March down 36-1/2 cents at $13.68 per bushel. Options-related selling and pressured by China's move to raise bank reserve requirements and advance of South American soy harvest leading to shifts of business from the U.S. to South America.

CBOT-SOYOIL - March down 1.76 cents at 56.49 cents per lb. Following soybeans and on talk China bought three cargoes of soyoil from Argentina.

FCPO-JAKARTA, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures fell on Friday, reversing earlier gains as they took direction largely from other oil markets and possible food import tax changes in China.

The benchmark May 2011 crude palm oil contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives fell 1 percent to 3,683 Malaysian ringgit ($1,209) a tonne after touching a low at 3,660 ringgit. Overall, traded volume stood at 17,870 lots of 25 tonnes each, compared with a total of 20,321 lots on Thursday.

On Feb. 10, palm oil prices touched 3,967 ringgit, a peak not seen since March 2008, on concerns that seasonally heavy rains had stalled harvesting in top producers Indonesia and Malaysia.

Prices this week have fallen around 7 percent in volatile trading, on worries that prices had overrun the bullish fundamentals and as some investors closed their positions. The benchmark notched its biggest weekly loss since August 2010.

REGIONAL EQUITIES-COLOMBO, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets gained on Friday led by Indonesia with net foreign inflows as investors bought beaten-down shares as they shrugged off worry about inflation.

Most of the stock markets in the region gained this week, erasing losses since the beginning of the year. Analysts said foreign inflows had improved in the region this week as investors were starting to find good value again in Southeast Asia.

Indonesia <.JKSE> rose 2 percent to a 3-week high led by banks, extending a gain for the week to 3.2 percent as investors bought battered shares amid hope of low inflation. Singapore saw a higher trading with the day's volume 1.5 percent of its 30-day daily average, while Indonesia's volume was 1.2 percent higher than its 30-day average.