DJI - NEW YORK, March 12 (Reuters) - The
S&P 500 ended lower on Tuesday, breaking a seven-session string of gains as
investors pulled back from technology and financials, but the Dow eked out the
smallest of gains to finish at another all-time closing high.
The Dow also hit another lifetime
intraday high, while the S&P 500 remains within reach of its all-time
closing high of 1,565.15, set on Oct. 9, 2007.
The market's rally in recent months
has driven the Dow up 10.3 percent for the year and lifted the S&P 500 by
8.9 percent for 2013 so far. Signs of improvement in the economy and the
Federal Reserve's quantitative easing have helped to propel the advance.
"You have a little bit of buyers'
exhaustion at this juncture. We've had this move that has been startlingly
smooth in terms of progression of advances, both since the beginning of the
year and certainly over the last six to seven trading sessions," said Mark
Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott in
Philadelphia.
"Investors are waiting for this
collective correction ... for some time, and it's teasing more and more buyers
out of the market."
The Dow Jones industrial average rose just 2.77 points, or 0.02 percent, to 14,450.06, another record close.
Earlier, the Dow climbed to a lifetime intraday high of 14,478.80.
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dipped 3.74 points, or 0.24 percent, to finish at 1,552.48 - about 13 points
below its record closing high.
The Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 10.55 points, or 0.32 percent, to close at 3,242.32.
Brent Crude Oil - NEW YORK, March 12 (Reuters) - Brent crude oil fell on Tuesday
after seesawing with the euro and the dollar, and as OPEC's trimmed forecast
for U.S. and euro zone economic growth also applied pressure.
Brent April crude fell 57 cents, or
0.52 percent, to settle at $109.65 a barrel, having traded from $109.30 to
$111.20.
CBOT Soybean - Soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade fell on technical selling and pressure from the advancing South
American harvest, traders said.
·
Concerns
eased about sales of Brazilian soybeans being switched
to U.S. origins after no new sales of old-crop U.S. soybeans
were announced by USDA.
·
The
soybean harvest in Brazil's top soy state Mato Grosso is 75
percent complete, according to AgRural consultancy.
·
Nearby
CBOT soybean contracts lost ground to back months as traders
took profits by unwinding May/July and July/November spreads.
·
Cash basis
bids for soybeans shipped by barge to the U.S. Gulf were
steady to weaker at midday on Tuesday, although nearby values
remained at a premium to deferred bids.
·
Soybean
prices could be elevated well into April by transport
problems in key exporter Brazil but could then come under
pressure from possible record U.S. soybean plantings - oilseeds
analysts Oil World.
·
Wetter
weather is expected in Argentina this week and a frost was
possible, but it should occur south of the big soybean areas, a
U.S. meteorologist said.
·
Analyst
UkrAgroConsult said Ukraine could increase its rapeseed
harvest by about two-thirds and raise its soybean output by
17 percent in 2013.
·
CBOT
reported five March soybean deliveries, one soymeal delivery
and one soyoil delivery.
BMD CPO - SINGAPORE, March 12 (Reuters) -
Malaysian palm oil futures edged lower on Tuesday, tracking weaker overseas
soybean oil markets, although a fall in palm oil stockpiles helped keep losses
in check.
U.S. soybeans dropped on Tuesday
after data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture showed slower export demand
for the oilseed, also weighing on soybean oil markets.
U.S. soyoil for May delivery edged down 0.8 percent in late Asian trade, while the most active September
soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange fell 1.1
percent, extending losses to its lowest since July 2010.
"The palm market is weaker on
the back of CBOT and Dalian soybean oil but it should be supported at 2,400
ringgit," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Malaysia.
"Production should go down
further and exports should be slightly better than last month, so we expect to
see further drawdown in stocks."
By Tuesday's close, the benchmark
May contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange
had inched down 1.6 percent to 2,412 ringgit ($775) per tonne. Prices traded in
a range between 2,406 and 2,442 ringgit.
Total traded volume stood at 39,868
lots of 25 tonnes each, higher than the usual 25,000 lots.
But despite short-term weakness,
analysts expect prices to pick up, as palm oil stocks continue to ease on lower
production and a demand recovery.
"We continue to expect crude
palm oil prices to trade higher in the coming months. After the current
low-yield season, palm oil closing stocks are expected to continue to trend
lower on demand recovery, boosted by an abnormally high discount to soybean
oil," Malaysia's Affin Investment Bank said in a research note on Tuesday.
Palm oil stocks in the world's
second-largest producer of the tropical oil fell to 2.44 million tonnes in
February from 2.58 million in January, industry regulator the Malaysian Palm
Oil Board said on Monday.
Cargo surveyors reported growth in
exports to be almost flat for the March 1-10 period from a month ago, and
traders will be looking out for export data for the first half of the month,
due on Friday, to further gauge the demand trend.
In other markets, Brent futures slipped below
$110 a barrel on Tuesday on worries of a slowdown in demand growth in China and
the United States, two of the world's biggest oil consumers, with a rise in the
dollar weighing further on the market.
Regional Equities - BANGKOK, March 12 (Reuters) -
Southeast Asian stock markets ended mostly flat to weaker on Tuesday, erasing
earlier gains in line with Asian equities, with Thai benchmark index retreating
from a 19-year peak and the Philippine main index extending losses for a second
session.
Among recent outperformers that led
the declines were Malaysia's Axiata Group Bhd ,
Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and Thailand's LPN Development Pcl
Bangkok's SET index was down 0.06 percent at 1,576.68. It rose in morning trade to 1,586.41, the
highest level since January 1994. The market saw a net foreign buying of $44.41
million, stock exchange data showed.
The Thai baht hit a 28-month high against the dollar on Tuesday, fuelled by strong demand
from some offshore hedge funds. As of 1029 GMT, the Thai currency was at 29.60,
compared with Monday's close of 29.72.
The Philippine index fell 0.4 percent to 6,786.42, after Monday's 0.29 percent loss. Malaysia's
benchmark index edged down 0.09 percent to 1,656.54 as
retail and local institutions were net sellers, according to stock exchange
data.
