DJI - NEW YORK, Dec 7 (Reuters) - The Dow
and the S&P 500 advanced modestly on Friday, though another sell-off in
Apple depressed technology shares and kept the Nasdaq negative, overshadowing a
sharply better-than-expected jobs report.
Trading was light, continuing the
week's trend of slight moves and anemic volume. The S&P 500 ended up a mere
0.1 percent for the week, following several volatile sessions that repeatedly
pushed it in and out of positive territory. The benchmark index is just 3.8
percent below the 2012 intraday high of 1,474.51 reached in mid-September.
Equities opened higher after the
non-farm payrolls report, which showed 146,000 jobs added in November, far more
than had been expected, while the U.S. unemployment rate dropped to 7.7
percent. A sour reading on consumer sentiment caused an erosion of those gains,
though markets rebounded going into the close.
The Thomson Reuters/University of
Michigan's consumer sentiment index for early December fell to its lowest level
since August. Sentiment fell on growing concerns over the "fiscal
cliff" debates in Washington, which have been a major factor preventing
broader moves as well.
"We're not as concerned as we
were a few months ago because of improvement like you can see in the employment
number, but there's such a wild card over the cliff," said Bruce McCain,
chief investment strategist at Key Private Bank in Cleveland, Ohio. "There
are such concerns about what could happen that markets will be overhung until a
resolution is more certain."
One of the biggest drags on the
Nasdaq was Apple which fell 2.6 percent to $533.25, extending its losses for the week to 8.9
percent. This was the worst week for the stock since May 2010, and with the
losses, the stock of the largest U.S. company by market value is now down 24.4
percent from an all-time intraday high reached in late September.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 81.09 points,
or 0.62 percent, to 13,155.13 at the close. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index
rose 4.13 points,
or 0.29 percent, to 1,418.07. The Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 11.23
points, or 0.38 percent, to close at 2,978.04.
U.S. House Speaker John Boehner said
that talks this week with President Barack Obama produced no progress, and he
renewed his demand that the president provide a new offer to avert the series
of tax increases and spending cuts that are likely to hurt economic demand in
2013.
NYMEX - NEW YORK, Dec 7 (Reuters) - U.S.
crude futures slipped on Friday in choppy trading as Europe's economic problems
and uncertainty about budget wrangling in the United States put pressure on
crude futures after a brief rally on a supportive U.S. jobs report.
CBOT Soybean oil- Dec
7 (Reuters) - Soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade fell
1.3 percent on Friday as traders booked profits after a four-day rally and
ahead of a monthly U.S. government cropb report next week, traders said.
· January soybeans rose to a one-month
top, and then retreated and settled below the previous day's low. Such a reversal
can signal the end of an upward price trend.
· Losses accelerated late in the
session after January soybeans fell below the previous day's low of $14.73-1/4,
with about 15 minutes left to trade.
· Despite the day's setback, soybeans ended
the week up 2.2 percent, their third straight weekly advance.
· Soymeal ended the week up 1.8
percent and soyoil rose 2.9 percent. It was the third straight weekly rise for
each product.
· Improving crop weather for South
American adds pressure. The Commodity Weather Group said rains expected in
southern Brazil
· Additional pressure stemmed from a
surprisingly strong American jobs report for November that pointed to gatheringn
momentum in the economy - a factor that lifted the U.S. dollar and dulled
demand for risky assets including commodities.
· Market shrugged at USDA's
confirmation that exporters soldn 115,000 tonnes of U.S.
soybeans to China
· Trade expects USDA to lower its
forecasts of U.S.
FCPO - KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 7 (Reuters) -
Malaysian palm oil futures closed flat on Friday, but notched their biggest
weekly loss in almost a month amid an uncertain outlook where record high
stocks are weighing on prices at the same time as expectations are rising for a
pick up in demand.
Palm oil futures have fallen almost
28 percent so far this year on record stocks and concerns that the euro zone
debt crisis would reining in global growth.
"Palm oil is stuck," said
a trader with a commodities brokerage in Kuala Lumpur. "It is undervalued
as biodiesel demand has kicked in because of the high margins, but it also
cannot go higher because of high stocks."
The benchmark February contract on the Bursa
Malaysia Derivatives Exchange settled up 0.04 percent to 2,296 ringgit ($750)
per tonne in see-saw trade. The contract recorded a decline of about 3 percent
for the week, its third straight weekly loss and the steepest fall since Nov.
11.
Total traded volumes stood at 34,886
lots of 25 tonnes each, compared to the usual 25,000 lots.
Malaysian palm oil stocks probably
hit a record 2.58 million tonnes in November, a Reuters survey showed ahead of
official data on Monday, helping the tropical oil widen its discount to
competing Argentine soyoil to $360 per tonne.
The discount remains unsustainable
and will narrow as more demand shifts to palm oil in the next few months,
especially with wet weather delaying soy plantings and curbing yields in the
world's biggest soyoil exporter Argentina.
Traders are watching for cargo
surveyor data on Malaysia's Dec. 1-10 palm oil exports on Monday to confirm
strong demand as No.2 edible oil buyer China stocks up before stricter quality
controls on the refined grades come into effect on Jan. 1.
In addition, export data may be even
stronger as Malaysian planters scramble to exhaust an annual tax-free export
quota totalling 3.5 million tonnes that is set to expire at the end of
December.
Malaysia's Commodities Ministry will
hold a briefing for refiners on Monday to get feedback on the government's plan
to cut crude palm oil export taxes and completely dismantle the tax free export
quota for the grade, traders said.
Some planters are asking for the
quota to continue until stocks fall below 2 million tonnes.
Brent crude steadied above $107 per
barrel on Friday, but prices were headed for their biggest weekly loss in more
than a month on worries about the euro zone economy and a looming fiscal crisis
in the U.S., the world's top oil consumer.
In palm oil's competing markets,
U.S. soyoil for December delivery dged up 0.2 percent
in Asian trade. The most active May 2013 soybean oil contract on the Dalian
Commodity Exchange ended almost flat.
Regional equities - Dec 7 (Reuters) - The Philippines
stock market hit an all-time high on Friday, while others ended mixed as
investors waited for directions from U.S. non-farm payrolls data due later in
the day.
The Philippines the region's best
performer this year, gained 0.5 percent to close at a record peak of 5,794.20,
after it hit a fresh intraday all-time high of 5,797.93, led by 2.4 percent
gain in conglomerate SM Investments Corp.
Singapore gained 0.9
percent to a two-month high, led by banks with a 2.2 percent rise in United
Overseas Bank Ltd ,
while Malaysia edged up 0.1 percent to a two-week closing high, led by consumer stocks.
Bucking the trend, Thailand
Vietnam ended 0.5 percent
lower, while Indonesia ended a tad weaker with a 0.04 percent fall with a $48 million net foreign
outflow.
