DJI - NEW YORK, March 4 (Reuters) - U.S.
stocks closed higher on Monday as investors staged a late-day rebound,
extending a recent trend of buying on dips and pushing major indexes near
all-time highs despite concerns about growth and China's housing market.
The Dow closed within 40 points of
its all-time closing high, recovering from early losses on plans to tighten
curbs on China's housing market, as well as a slowdown in the growth of that
country's services sector.
Any slowdown in the world's
second-largest economy could affect U.S. growth, especially commodities and
materials, which have a lot of exposure to China. Industrial and material
shares were among the weakest of the day, with Caterpillar Inc off 1.8 percent at $89.75 and Alcoa Inc down 1.1 percent at $8.35.
The S&P 500 has jumped about 7
percent so far in 2013 as investors continue to view equities as more
attractively valued than other asset classes, allowing stocks to resist calls for
a pullback even with few obvious catalysts to drive shares definitively higher.
"There are a lot of worries out
there, but also a lot of positive momentum. Stocks remain the only game in town
if you want yield," said Randy Bateman, chief investment officer of
Huntington Asset Management in Columbus, Ohio, who helps oversee $14.5 billion.
"So many people think we're
overextended that a pullback could happen at any time, but there are also so
many people reentering the market on dips that I wouldn't be surprised to see a
new high on the Dow sometime this month."
Concerns about "automatic"
budget cuts in the United States and the euro-zone debt crisis also have served
as reasons for investors to take a breather in the face of technical
resistance. Any sign that the $85 billion in cuts are beginning to take a toll
on the economy could jostle markets.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 38.16 points, or 0.27 percent, to 14,127.82 at the close. The Standard
& Poor's 500 Index gained 7.00 points, or 0.46 percent, to
1,525.20. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 12.29 points, or 0.39 percent, to end at 3,182.03.
Brent Crude Oil - NEW YORK, March 4 (Reuters) - Brent crude oil futures edged
down 31 cents, or 0.3 percent, to settle at $110.09 a barrel on Monday due to
demand concerns over a factory growth slowdown in China and worsening business
sentiment in Europe.
The contract traded between $110.89 and $109.58 during the
session.
CBOT Soybean - March 4 (Reuters) - Soybean futures on the Chicago Board of
Trade rose on Monday, led by nearby contracts on technical buying and worries
about tightening supplies of old-crop U.S. soybeans, traders said.
- Soybeans, meal and oil traded lower at times on technical selling and spillover weakness from corn and wheat, but the complex rallied by the close.
- The most-active May soybeans contract broke through its 20-day moving average and posted its highest settlement since Feb. 21.
- USDA reported export inspections of U.S. soybeans in the latest week at 40.427 million bushels, above a range of trade estimates for 30 million to 35 million bushels.
- Firm cash soy market underscored by minimal number of March soybean and soymeal deliveries. CBOT reported one soybean delivery and no deliveries of soymeal.
- CBOT reported 504 March soyoil deliveries, but signs of commercial demand persisted with the ADM house account stopping 252 contracts and the Bunge house account stopping 50.
- Forecaster Agroconsult raised its forecast for Brazil's soybean harvest to 84.2 million tonnes, from 84 million previously, and put Brazil's corn crop at 75 million tonnes, from 74.7 million previously.
- Weekend rains across Argentina significantly reduced drought conditions and improved conditions for late soybean growth, MDA Weather Services said. The rains reduced the dryness to about 15 percent of Argentina's soybean belt.
- China's palm oil stocks most probably rose to a record 1.4 million tonnes in February as imports surged late last year ahead of stricter quality regulations, a Reuters survey of five Chinese traders and analysts showed.
- South Korea is seeking 10,000 tonnes of non-genetically modified soybeans for arrival by July 30 via a tender, the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp said on its website.
BMD CPO - KUALA LUMPUR, March 4 (Reuters) -
Malaysian palm oil futures inched up on Monday, pulling out of an oversold
situation to snap eight straight sessions of losses while investors keep an eye
on an industry conference for more clues on the vegetable oil's outlook.
Palm prices fell more than six
percent last week, notching the biggest weekly loss since mid-November as soy
markets in China and the United States suffered from predictions of potential
bumper South American soybean crops.
Traders are also watching Bursa
Malaysia's annual palm oil conference which kicks off on Monday, and will focus
on price outlooks and industry clues from leading analysts including Dorab
Mistry and James Fry.
"The market edged higher today
on a technical bounce as it was oversold," said a dealer with a foreign
commodities brokerage in Malaysia.
"A lot of people will be
watching the market during the palm oil conference. They are more
cautious," said another trader with a foreign commodities brokerage.
The benchmark May contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange had gained 1.8 percent to 2,411
ringgit ($776) per tonne by Monday's close. Prices traded in a tight range of
2,375 - 2,415 ringgit.
Total traded volume stood at 36,692
lots of 25 tonnes each, slightly higher than the usual 25,000 lots.
China's palm oil stocks most
probably rose to a record 1.4 million tonnes in February as imports surged late
last year ahead of stricter quality regulations from Jan. 1, a Reuters survey
of five Chinese traders and analysts showed.
Dismal palm oil export data also
triggered investor worries that a 4.5 percent export tax hike on crude palm oil
beginning March could stifle demand for Malaysian palm oil products and keep
stockpiles high.
Investors are pinning hopes that
seasonally slowing output and a wide $300 discount to competing soyoil would
shift demand to Malaysian palm, the cheapest vegetable oil in the market, but
say exports need to pick up faster to run down the current 2.58 million tonne
stockpile.
Brent crude futures slipped towards
$110 per barrel on Monday, extending their more than 7 percent drop of the past
three weeks, hurt by concerns a fiscal crisis in the United States and worrying
data from China would sap demand in the top two consumers.
In competing vegetable oil markets,
U.S. soyoil for May delivery edged down 0.1 percent in late Asian trade. The most-active September soybean
oil contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange rose 0.9
percent.
Regional Equities - BANGKOK, March 4 (Reuters) - Most Southeast Asian stock markets fell on Monday, with stocks in Indonesia and Singapore each sliding around 1 percent led down by banking and commodities shares and large caps as the broader Asian markets weakened amid a patchy global growth outlook.
Jakarta's Composite Index .JKSE was down 1.04 percent at 4,761.46. Shares in Pt Bank Rakyat Indonesia Persero Tbk and Pt Bank Mandiri Persero Tbk dropped 4.9 percent and 2 percent, respectively.
Singapore's Straits Time Index .FTSTI ended down 0.9 percent at 3,239.95, with commodities names such as Golden Agri-Resources Ltd and Olam International Ltd OLAM.SI leading among laggards.
The MSCI's index of Southeast Asia . was down 1 percent versus a 1.7 percent fall of the MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .
A sell-off in Chinese equities dragged Asian shares down sharply on Monday, as worries about Beijing tightening its grip on the property sector compounded weak sentiment already dampened by a patchy global growth outlook.
