DJI- NEW YORK, Oct 12 (Reuters) - U.S.
stocks slipped on Friday as investors fretted over what is expected to be a
weak corporate earnings season, while gains in the euro were checked by
uncertainty over whether and when Spain would request help with its finances.
Investors failed to be cheered even
by data showing Americans were the most upbeat they have been in five years, as
well as record quarterly profits at JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo. As a result, U.S. stocks posted their worst weekly
decline since June.
"There's a lot of trepidation
about earnings season," said Randy Warren, chief investment officer of
Warren Financial Service in Exton, Pennsylvania.
"The predictions have been for
weaker earnings, and we've heard a few companies saying things are slowing down
a little bit in various places, especially overseas."
Weak global demand has heightened
concerns over the prospects for corporate earnings growth. As a group, S&P
500 companies' quarterly earnings are expected to fall 3 percent from a year
ago, according to Thomson Reuters data, marking the first decline in three
years.
"Investors have been focusing
on supportive central bank polices to the exclusion of other things," said
Kate Warne, investment strategist at Edward Jones in St Louis. "Now with
earnings season, we're seeing some of those other things come back into better
balance and that's not as good news for the market."
The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 2.46 points, or 0.02 percent, at 13,328.85. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index dipped 4.25 points, or 0.30 percent, to
1,428.59. The Nasdaq Composite Index eased 5.30 points, or 0.17 percent, to 3,044.11.
All three indexes were down more
than 2 percent for the week.
Shares of JPMorgan, which had surged
before the market's open, and those of Wells Fargo were lower in afternoon
trading. Bank shares were down 2.5 percent on the KBW Bank Index.
While JPMorgan's results met
analysts' expectations, Wells Fargo came up weaker than expected on a key
performance measure. Its shares were down 2.6 percent, while JPMorgan fell 1.1
percent.
"Bank shares as a group have
had a nice move (up) this year so far," said Ken Polcari, managing
director at ICAP Equities in New York. "Guidance is cautious so people are
taking money off the table."
In Europe, the FTSEurofirst 300 ended down 0.5 percent. The MSCI world stock index eased 0.2 percent.
The euro rose against the dollar and
yen but the currency looked likely to struggle for traction. A bailout request
from indebted Spain is seen as positive for the euro as it would remove another
layer of uncertainty in financial markets and activate the European Central
Bank's bond-buying program, aimed at lowering borrowing costs for troubled euro
zone economies.
"The latest developments do
suggest that the Spanish authorities continue contemplating the
possibility" (of a bailout request), said Vassili Serebriakov, currency
strategist at Wells Fargo in New York.
"While the timing remains
highly uncertain, we still believe an aid request is more likely than
not," he said.
The dollar was off 0.1 percent
against a basket of other major currencies.
The euro was at $1.2952, up 0.2 percent on the day. It has traded in a tight range
roughly between $1.28 and $1.3170 since mid-September.
Many markets have been stuck in
narrow ranges since the start of the month as investors wait to see whether
Spain requests a bailout, a prerequisite for the ECB to buy its bonds.
The bloc has another opportunity to
make progress with its crisis strategy when EU leaders meet in Brussels on
Thursday.
Brent oil fell below $115 a barrel
after a prediction of a further decline in oil consumption and higher supplies
offset concerns about potential output disruptions in the Middle East.
Brent crude was down $1.09 at $114.62 a barrel, while U.S. crude settled down 21 cents at $91.86.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury
note was up 03/32 in price, yielding 1.660
percent.
The Thomson Reuters/University of
Michigan's index on U.S. consumer sentiment rose to 83.1 in early October from
78.3 a month earlier, its highest since September 2007.
Meanwhile, U.S. producer prices rose more than
expected in September, although underlying inflation pressures were muted.
NYMEX- NEW YORK, Oct 12 (Reuters) - U.S.
crude futures fell on Friday in heavy spread trading that saw the West Texas
Intermediate crude's discount to international Brent narrow after it hit a one
year high earlier this week.
CBOT SOYBEAN- Soybean
futures on the Chicago Board of Trade fell 1.7 percent Friday
as supply fears eased due to improving South American planting
weather and ideas the U.S. government might further raise
its U.S. soy crop estimate, traders said.
* Soyoil and soymeal futures
followed soybeans lower. The October contracts for both commodities expired
quietly.
- Additional pressure stemmed from talk of a London hedge
fund that was said to be reducing its exposure in grain markets in favor
of other assets.
- Technical selling noted after November soybeans fell below the 100-day moving average near $15.45; traders eyeing key
support at the Oct. 3 low of $15.04.
- Soybeans posted a fourth straight weekly decline, falling 1.9 percent. Soymeal ended the week nearly unchanged while soyoil fell 1.7 percent, its fourth straight weekly drop.
- Ahead of the National Oilseed Processors Association's
September U.S. soy crush data on Monday, the average analyst crush
estimate was 118.361 million bushels, below NOPA's August figure of
124.773 million.
- USDA reported export sales of U.S. soybeans in the
latest week at 500,700 tonnes for 2012/13 and 23,000 tonnes for 2013/14,
below a range of trade estimates for 750,000 to 850,000 tonnes.
- USDA reported weekly export sales of U.S. soymeal at
221,400 tonnes (old and new crop years combined), below trade estimates
for 250,000 to 350,000 tonnes. USDA rolled over 456,900 tonnes of sales
outstanding from the 2011/12 marketing year, which ended Sept. 30, into
2012/13.
- Weekly soyoil sales totaled 10,400 tonnes, below estimates
for 20,000 to 45,000 tonnes. USDA rolled over 47,400 tonnes of sales
outstanding from 2011/12 into 2012/13.
- Malaysian palm oil futures fell after the country's
government announced export tax cuts that will only take effect from Jan.
1, as traders had expected a more immediate policy.
FCPO- SINGAPORE, Oct 12 (Reuters) -
Malaysian palm oil futures ended lower on Friday after the government announced
tax cuts that will only take effect from Jan. 1, as traders had expected a more
immediate policy.
Malaysia will cut crude palm oil
(CPO) export taxes and discontinue a tax free shipment quota for the grade from
Jan 1 2013, a government minister said on Friday, as the world's No.2 producer
seeks to snatch back market share from top producer Indonesia.
Malaysia is also looking at setting
export taxes for the crude grade on a monthly basis to better reflect movements
in international prices, a government source told Reuters on Friday.
A larger tax cut could boost
Malaysia's crude exports and claw back market share from top producer
Indonesia, as well as help ease stockpiles which climbed to a record high of
2.48 million tonnes in September, but traders did not immediately see the news
as a positive development.
"Buy on rumours, sell on
facts," said a dealer with a foreign commodities brokerage in Malaysia.
"There was too much hype and expectations before the announcement, so now
people are selling."
The benchmark December contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange lost 0.9 percent to close at 2,500
ringgit ($818) per tonne, after losing as much as 5.7 percent to 2,379 ringgit.
For the week, prices posted a modest 3.5 percent gain, snapping three straight
weeks of losses.
Total traded volumes surged above
44,590 lots of 25 tonnes each, compared to the usual 25,000 lots, as traders
rushed to liquidate their positions.
Technicals showed that palm oil
faces a resistance at 2,528 ringgit per tonne and may retrace to 2,399 ringgit,
and a break above 2,528 ringgit will lead to a moderate gain to 2,579 ringgit,
said Reuters analyst Wang Tao.
Some traders said the new plan could
benefit millers and planters in Malaysia but may not help refiners much. The
new plan could also trigger a price war between top producers Malaysia and
Indonesia, said a trader with a local commodities brokerage in Malaysia.
Oil fell below $115 a barrel on
Friday, as a prediction of a further decline in oil consumption and higher
supplies offset concerns about potential output disruptions in the Middle East.
In other vegetable oil markets, U.S.
soyoil for December delivery edged down 0.7 percent in late Asian trade. The most active January 2013 soyoil
contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange closed 1.3
percent lower on weak demand for edible oils in China, the world's No.2 buyer.
REGIONAL EQUITY- BANGKOK, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Most
Southeast Asian stocks posted small gains on Friday as large caps and stocks
such as Wilmar International and Aboitiz Power Corp regained some lost ground, but the region
remained wary of a slowing global economy.
Singapore's Straits Times Index edged up 0.3 percent after four sessions of losses as commodities rebounded
after a drop earlier in the week. The index was down 2.13 percent on the week,
its worst weekly loss since May and Southeast Asia's worst performing market.
The Philippine index closed up 0.3 percent at 5,369.72, after having fallen at one point to its
lowest in more than one week. It ended the week down 1.3 percent, after two
successive weeks of gains.
Among weak spots, Malaysia eased
0.13 percent on Friday, down 0.4 percent on the week. Foreign investors sold
shares worth 88.5 million ringgit ($28.86 million) during the session while
local institutions were net buyers, stock exchange data showed.
