NEW YORK, April 12 (Reuters) - U.S.
stocks closed slightly lower on Friday, retreating from the previous session's
record highs on a drop in financial shares, but major indexes had the biggest
weekly gains since the first week of the year.
Shares pared losses in the final
hour of trading, with the Dow helped by a rally in Home Depot. For the week,
the S&P 500 rose 2.3 percent while the Nasdaq rose 2.8 percent. It was the
best weekly gain for both since the first week of the year. The Dow rose 2.1
percent.
Financial stocks were pressured on
Friday by a pair of disappointing bank results and a delay in closing a large
bank deal.
Weak retail sales and consumer
sentiment data, suggesting the economy lost momenturm, also weighed on stocks.
The string of discouraging data
indicates that equities could be vulnerable to a pullback, especially following
a rally that has taken the S&P 500 up 11.4 percent so far this year.
Telecom and healthcare, two defensive groups, were among the few S&P
sectors in positive territory.
"We're due for choppiness,
given the run we've had, especially since the strong data we've seen recently
looks increasingly misleading," said Hank Herrmann, chief executive of
Waddell & Reed Financial Inc in Overland Park, Kansas.
"We're moving at a slower pace,
and those who got overly excited about GDP growth are probably pulling in their
horns a bit."
"The numbers weren’t terrible,
but also not terribly inspiring," said Herrmann, who helps oversee $105
billion in assets. "I wanted to see more credit growth as confirmation
that the economy is doing better and that didn’t show up."
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 0.08 points, or 0.00 percent, at 14,865.06. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index was down 4.51 points, or 0.28 percent, at
1,588.86. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 5.21 points, or 0.16 percent, at 3,294.95.
Oils - NEW YORK, April 12 (Reuters) - Brent
crude oil fell to a nine-month low near $101 a barrel on Friday as a broad
investor sell-off in commodities triggered a fall as much as $3 a barrel, but
the global oil benchmark pared losses in afternoon New York trade as bargain
hunters emerged.
The cross-commodity rout started in
gold on Friday after the precious metal fell below $1,500 an ounce for the
first time since July 2011. An unexpected contraction in U.S. retail sales
added to pressure on oil, grains and metals as investors moved into cash.
Brent found some support in the
afternoon as traders started buying the global benchmark while selling U.S.
crude oil, traders said, on news of a large increase
of Canadian crude oil flows into Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery point.
In early trade, Brent crude for May
delivery fell more than $3 a barrel to hit a
$101.09, the lowest prices since July. It recovered by more than $2 by the
close, settling at $103.11 a barrel, down $1.16 on the day. Brent has fallen by
around 13 percent since February as uncertainty about the strength of global
demand has mounted.
U.S. crude for May delivery lost
$2.22 a barrel to settle at $91.29 a barrel, up from an earlier low of $90.27 a
barrel. The May contract closed below its 200-day moving average of $91.51 a
barrel, a key technical indicator watched by traders.
"There's an underlying anxiety
in the crude market about demand growth going forward into the second half of
the year," said Andy Lebow, vice president at Jefferies Bache in New York.
"Gold came off and industrials
are really getting hit today. That's part and parcel of the anxiety over global
demand growth."
The spread between Brent crude and
U.S. crude widened to around $12 a barrel Friday afternoon as U.S. crude prices
were pressured by reports of increased flows into the U.S. oil contract
delivery hub at Cushing, Oklahoma.
CBOT Soybean - April 12 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures
rose for a second straight session on Friday on tight supplies of old-crop U.S.
soybeans, traders said.
- The inverted July/November spread widened to a two-week high at $1.53-1/4, premium July. Concerns about dwindling old-crop supplies lifted July, while ideas that planting delays could shift more 2013 U.S. acres into soybeans pressured new-crop November.
- Soymeal followed soybeans higher, with talk of European demand for U.S. soymeal adding support.
- Soyoil pressured by spillover weakness from crude oil and meal/oil spreading.
- Gains in soybeans limited by overall weakness in the commodities sector, with crude oil and gold pressured by a weak global economic outlook and a plan for Cyprus to sell gold reserves.
- The National Oilseed Processors Association's monthly soybean crush data scheduled for release on Monday should show the U.S. crush for March at 136.8 million bushels, a Reuters survey showed. NOPA reported the year-ago crush for March 2012 at 140.534 million bushels and the February 2013 crush at 136.322 million bushels.
- USDA said private exporters reported sales of 110,000 tonnes of U.S. soybeans to unknown destinations for delivery in 2013/14.
- Wet and cold weather in the U.S. crop belt next week will continue to stall spring corn plantings but also will add valuable soil moisture - meteorologist.
- Argentina's agriculture ministry said the country's soybean harvest was 25 percent complete but behind the year-ago pace of 30 percent.
- For the week, spot CBOT soybeans rose 51-1/4
cents, or 3.8 percent, their biggest weekly rise since August. Soymeal rose 2.1
percent, halting a two-week slide. Spot soyoil rose 0.8
percent.
BMD CPO - KUALA LUMPUR, April 12 (Reuters) -
Malaysian palm oil futures dropped to a near two-week low in choppy trade on
Friday, with no clear guidance from overseas markets and investors worried a
bird flu outbreak in China could crimp demand from the world's second largest
edible oil buyer.
Investors and analysts said an
escalation of the H7N9 bird flu outbreak in eastern China, where the death toll
has hit 10 victims, could spark a potential slowdown in feed demand and
negatively affect commodities, including palm oil.
"Soybean is one of the key
ingredients in chicken feed and China is among the world's biggest grains
buyer," Phillip Futures said in a note on Friday. "If H7N9 gets much
(more) serious, commodities market might be affected."
The benchmark June contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange fell 0.3 percent to 2,345 ringgit ($770)
per tonne by Friday's close, posting its third straight weekly loss with a
decline of 0.6 percent this week. Prices were rangebound between 2,336 and
2,367 ringgit, touching a low unseen since April 1.
Total traded volumes were thin at
23,752 lots of 25 tonnes each, compared to the average 35,000 lots.
Traders were also slightly anxious
that bullish inventory and export data in March could mean palm oil stocks are
bottoming out in Malaysia, the No.2 producer of the tropical oil, and higher
stockpiles could return in the coming months.
Official data on Wednesday showed
that stocks in the southeast Asian country declined a steeper than expected
10.9 percent in March to 2.17 million tonnes, from 2.43 tonnes in February.
"The market is stuck in a tight
range. There is minimum movement in overseas markets, and at the same time the
Dalian is down slightly -- there's (also) a bit of worry about the bird flu in
China," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Kuala
Lumpur.
In other markets, Brent crude oil
sank to an eight-month low under $103 a barrel on Friday as the outlook for
global oil demand growth dimmed, although an improvement in U.S. jobs data put
a floor under prices.
In vegetable oil markets, U.S.
soyoil for May delivery was almost flat in late Asian trade. The
most active September soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange fell 0.7 percent.
Regional Equities - BANGKOK, April 12 (Reuters) - Thai
benchmark stock index hit a one-week high on Friday after the Bank of Thailand
raised its 2013 economic growth forecast, while Malaysia's main index slipped
into negative territory after institutional-led selling.
Most other Southeast Asian stock
markets finished off their day's highs, tracking Asian shares which retreated
after recent gains.
Bangkok's SET index rose 0.7 percent to 1,527.32, the highest close since April 4. Demand for
dividend-yielding stocks sent top mobile phone operator Advanced Info Service
Pcl to a record close of 257 baht, up 5.8
percent.
Thailand's central bank raised its
2013 economic growth forecast to 5.1 percent from 4.9 percent on Friday.
The SET index outperformed the
region on the week, up 2.5 percent, slightly ahead of the Philippines' 2.4 percent. Philippine index ended the week at a record closing high of
6,891.43, led by big caps such as SM Investments Corp
Trading volume of Thai stock market
halved the full day average over the past 30 sessions ahead of a four-day
weekend. The exchange will be closed on April 15-16 for holidays, reopening on
April 17.
Malaysia's main index fell 0.5 percent to 1,698.53, with local institutions selling a net 253 million
ringgit ($83.36 million) while foreign investors buying a net 223 million
ringgit ($73.48 million), stock exchange data showed.
Foreign investors are increasingly upbeat on
Malaysian equities in the run-up to the country's election on May 5.
