DJI - NEW YORK, Feb 1 (Reuters) - U.S.
stocks rose to five-year highs on Friday, with the Dow closing above 14,000 for
the first time since October 2007, after jobs and manufacturing data showed the
economy's recovery remains on track.
The S&P touched its highest
since December 2007 after a 5 percent gain in January, which was its best start
to a year since 1997. The index is now just about 60 points away from its
all-time intraday high of 1,576.09.
Employment grew modestly in January,
with 157,000 jobs added. That was slightly below expectations, but Labor
Department revisions showed 127,000 more jobs were created in November and
December than previously reported.
Analysts attributed the market's
robust showing so far this year partly to a deluge of cash flowing into
equities.
Investors poured $12.7 billion into
U.S.-based stock mutual funds and exchange-traded funds in the latest week,
concluding the strongest four-week flows into stock funds since 1996, data
showed on Thursday.
"There is a lot of money
looking for a home, and people are finally deciding the bond market is done and
moving money into equities," said Edward Simmons, managing director and
partner at HighTower in Portland, Maine.
"I see the rotation (of assets)
pushing the market up in the face of not-massive amounts of good news," he
said. "People are overlooking the higher risk in equities."
Other reports released Friday showed
the pace of growth in the U.S. manufacturing sector picked up in January to its
highest level in nine months, U.S. consumer sentiment rose more than expected
last month, while December construction spending also beat forecasts.
"All the data seems to keep
pointing to a slowly, steadily improving economy," said Eric Kuby, chief
investment officer at North Star Investment Management Corp in Chicago.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 149.21 points, or 1.08 percent, at 14,009.79. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index was up 15.06 points, or 1.01 percent, at
1,513.17. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 36.97 points, or 1.18 percent, at 3,179.10.
Of the 252 companies in the S&P
500 that have reported earnings so far, 69 percent have exceeded expectations,
according to Thomson Reuters data. That is a higher proportion than over the
past four quarters and above average since 1994.
Overall, S&P 500 fourth-quarter
earnings are estimated to have grown 4.4 percent, according to the data, up
from a 1.9 percent forecast at the start of the earnings season but well below
a 9.9 percent profit growth forecast on Oct. 1.
NYMEX - SEOUL, Feb 1 (Reuters) - U.S. crude
oil futures steadied on Friday, giving up early gains, after China's official
factory activity gauge missed market expectations.
West Texas Intermediate crude is
still on track to rise for an eighth week in a row, matching a similar winning
streak in July-August 2004, after hitting four-month highs on upbeat global
economic data earlier this week.
CBOT Soybean - Soybean futures on
the Chicago Board of Trade rose to a 6-1/2 week high on technical buying and uncertainty about
prospects for needed rains in Argentina, traders said.
* The market pared early gains after updated forecasts showed dry crop areas of major soy exporter Argentina in
line to receive favorable rains. However,concerns remain about a
threat to crops.
· Informa Economics cut its estimate of Argentina's soybean crop to 54.5 million tonnes, from 58.4 million previously, citing dry conditions.
· But Informa also raised its estimate of Brazil's soybean crop to 84.0 million tonnes, which the firm said was up 1.1 million from its previous forecast.
· CBOT March soybeans ended the week up 2.3 percent, the market's fourth straight weekly rise. March soymeal rose 2.8 percent, extending its rally to four weeks, while March soyoil rose 1.7 percent for its third straight increase.
· Strength in outside markets lent support. Major worl stock markets climbed to their highest levels in nearly two years, helped by manufacturing and employment data indicating the global economic recovery is on track.
· Soy stocks at major ports in China, the world's largest buyer of the grain, may fall about a fifth by the end of March on expectations of lower imports and high production by crushers, an official think-tank said.
FCPO - SINGAPORE, Jan 31 (Reuters) -
Malaysian palm oil futures jumped on Thursday to their highest in more than
three months, supported by better-than-expected exports and concerns over dry
weather in key soy-producing areas in Argentina.
Dry weather is starting to threaten
soybean yields in parts of Argentina's main crop belt, possibly hurting soybean
oil output and turning buyers to cheaper palm oil, which is priced at a
discount of more than $300.
Traders were also cheered by
Malaysia's January palm oil exports that fell marginally from a month ago and
showed a significant improvement from a double-digit decline earlier in the
month.
"For the first half of the
month exports were very bad, but in the last six days exports made a strong
comeback," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Kuala
Lumpur.
"If this continues into
February, we will see high exports that could help ease stocks. On top of that,
external markets are also very strong."
The benchmark April contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange rose 1.8 percent to close at 2,555
ringgit ($823) per tonne. Prices earlier went as high as 2,593 ringgit, a level
unseen since Oct. 25.
Total traded volumes stood at 45,100
lots of 25 tonnes each, higher than the usual 25,000 lots, as investors squared
their positions ahead of a Malaysian holiday on Friday.
Malaysian palm exports in January
fell 7 percent from a month ago, said cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services,
while another surveyor, Societe Generale de Surveillance, put the figure at 6.4
percent.
For the month, palm prices posted a
gain of 4.8 percent, mostly driven by dry weather concerns in South America
that could lower global vegetable oil output. It was their second successive
rise, following last month's gain of 2.9 percent.
But palm oil prices may still post a
second straight year of declines in 2013 as strong output from top producers
Indonesia and Malaysia overwhelm global food and fuel demand in a scenario that
has already led to record stocks, a Reuters poll of 28 analysts showed on
Thursday.
Brent crude hovered near $115 per
barrel, not far from a more than three-month high, as the U.S. Federal
Reserve's pledge to stick to its bond-buying stimulus plan and upbeat euro zone
data fuelled optimism about oil demand.
In competing vegetable oil markets,
U.S. soyoil for March delivery edged down 0.2 percent in late Asian trade, as some traders booked profits from
a 1.5 percent gain the previous session. The most active September soybean oil
contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange ended 1.2
percent higher, slightly lower than its a one-week high.
Regional Equities - Feb 1 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian
stock markets gained on Friday, helped by banking stocks, with the Philippines
and Indonesia rising to a record high while Thailand hitting a more than
18-year high ahead of a raft of major U.S. and European economic data.
The Philippine Composite Index closed 1.2 percent to its record closing high of 6,318.61 after hitting an
intraday high of 6,342.72.
Indonesia ,
which enjoyed a foreign inflow of $75.84 million on the day, rose 0.6 percent
to a new record closing peak of 4,481.63 after hitting a fresh intraday high of
4,519.46.
Investors will be looking at the
economic outlook with the release of January data on factory activity across
the euro area to be followed by the latest U.S. jobs report at 1330 GMT and a
national report on the state of American manufacturers.
Thailand index closed 1.7 percent firmer at 1,499.22, its highest since November, 1994, led by
energy and banking shares.
Vietnam ,
the region's best performer so far this year, gained 0.8 percent with a 7.3
million foreign inflow, while Singapore rose 0.3 percent to its highest since November 2010.
Malaysia ,
the worst performer of the region for the year, was closed for a holiday.
