Dow Jones Index - NEW YORK, Feb 22 (Reuters) - U.S.
stocks rose on Friday as Dow component Hewlett-Packard surged on strong results
and comments from Fed officials allayed fears that the central bank would
curtail its stimulus measures.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben
Bernanke downplayed worries that the Fed has fueled asset bubbles that could
hurt the economy in a private meeting with bond dealers and investors earlier
this month, Bloomberg reported on Friday.
Bernanke's view helped ease fears
that the central bank may end its easy money policies. Minutes from the Federal
Reserve's January meeting hit markets on Wednesday as investors interpreted
divergent opinions on the benefit of stimulus as a sign the measures may be
halted sooner than thought.
"They are in uncharted
territory with divergent views," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer
at BMO Private Bank in Chicago. "I could see some pretty heated opinions
on what the ultimate outcome is, so I do believe there is dissension."
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 119.95 points, or 0.86 percent, to 14,000.57 at the close. The Standard
& Poor's 500 Index rose 13.18 points, or 0.88 percent, to
1,515.60. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 30.33 points, or 0.97 percent, to end at 3,161.82.
With Bernanke's reported comments
much on their minds in Friday's session, investors will want the Fed chairman
to reiterate his remarks publicly when he speaks before the Senate Banking
Committee on Tuesday. That would echo comments made by two top Fed officials on
Friday.
The S&P 500 shed 1.9 percent
over the previous two sessions, its worst two-day drop since early November,
following the release of the Fed's minutes on Wednesday. The selloff marked the
end of seven back-to-back weeks of gains for stocks.
Brent Crude Oil - NEW YORK, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Brent crude futures rose on
Friday, but posted a 3 percent loss for the week, as signs of improving German
business morale provided a lift following sharp losses for oil prices in the
previous two sessions.
Brent April crude rose 57 cents, or
0.50 percent, to settle at $114.10 a barrel, having traded from $113.60 to
$114.79.
CBOT Soybean - Soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade ended down
nearly 2 percent in a reversal tied to profit taking, after the
market rose to a 3-1/2 month high.
* Traders said funds appeared to be liquidating long soybean/short wheat spreads and soybean calendar spreads.
·
USDA at
its outlook forum projected that a rebound i yields
would cause 2013/14 U.S. soybean ending stocks to double to 250
million bushels, from 125 million in 2012/13. USDA also projected
the average U.S. soybean cash price would fall to $10.50 a
bushel in 2013/14, from $14.30 in 2012/13.
·
Weather
forecasts called for beneficial rains in dry areas of
Argentina this weekend and later next week, which could bring relief to
stressed crops. Rainfall this week in Argentina's top soy
province revived wilting crops, but others were still in need of
rain, the agriculture ministry said.
·
USDA's
weekly export sales report showed net cancellations of U.S.
soybeans totaling 119,500 tonnes for 2012/13 and net sales of
62,000 for 2013/14. The total for the combined marketing
years was the worst since March 2002.
·
USDA
reported export sales of soymeal for the week at 236,100
tonnes, topping trade expectations, and soyoil sales at 28,900
tonnes.
·
USDA also
said private exporters reported sales of 410,000 tonnes of
U.S. soybeans to China, but most of the total, 350,000 tonnes,
was for delivery in 2013/14.
·
Dock
workers returned to work at Brazil's ports after a six-hour
strike in protest of the government's plan to privatize hundreds
of terminals. Workers decided to call off a second six-hour
stoppage planned for Tuesday.
·
Soyoil
pressured by unconfirmed talk that China might release
rape oil from reserves.
·
Despite
the sell-off, CBOT March soybeans ended the week up
36-3/4 cents, or 2.6 percent, halting a two-week decline.
March soymeal rose 4.3 percent for the week while
March soyoil fell 2.56 percent.
·
CBOT March
options expired at the close. Traders said heavy open
interest in calls at the $15.00 strike may have helped
lift futures prices above that level in the early trade.
BMD CPO - KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 22 (Reuters) -
Malaysian palm oil futures inched down in light trade on Friday, as lingering
investor concern on the tropical oil's sluggish demand weighed on prices.
Seasonally slowing output in
Malaysia, the No. 2 producer of the world's most consumed vegetable oil, is
expected to help ease stockpiles in February but exports need to pick up
faster.
Inventory levels, which have hovered
above the 2.5 million tonne mark since October last year, finally edged down in
January, but only by 1.9 percent to 2.58 million tonnes, compared with a bigger
fall of 2.9 percent expected by traders.
"There is concern soft demand
may persist in March, and traders ponder how much upside is left," said a
trader with a local commodities brokerage in Malaysia.
"Some consumers remain cautious
about buying into the market until they see signs that palm oil demand is
improving."
At the close, the benchmark May
contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange
eased 0.2 percent to 2,532 ringgit ($817) per tonne, but still posted a weekly
gain of 2 percent. Prices traded in a tight range between 2,527 and 2,555
ringgit on Friday.
Total traded volume stood at 18,939
lots of 25 tonnes each, below the typical 25,000 tonnes.
Strong output amid a tepid global
economy and dry demand last year weighed on palm oil markets in Malaysia,
causing prices to tumble 23 percent and record their biggest loss since the 2008
financial crisis.
But the lower prices have shifted
demand towards palm oil that trades at a steep discount of almost $300 per
tonne to competing soyoil. Malaysian palm oil is also currently the cheapest
vegetable oil in the market after its government revamped export tax structures
in the hope of spurring demand.
Brent crude oil rose more than $1
per barrel on Friday, recovering some ground after three days of heavy falls on
worries over the state of the world economy.
In other vegetable oil markets, the
U.S. soyoil for May delivery crept up 0.5 percent in late Asian trade. The most-active September soybean oil
contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange closed
0.6 percent higher.
Regional Equities - Feb 22 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian
stocks gained on Friday, recovering from sharp falls a day earlier, with
foreign investors buying into equities in Indonesia and Malaysia amid hopes the
U.S. Federal Reserve would not end its ultra-soft monetary policy prematurely.
Indonesia gained 0.4 percent to close at a record high of 4,651.12, with a net foreign
inflow of $108.85 million.
Malaysia ,
the region's worst performer this year, closed up 0.5 percent at a one-week
high of 1622.08, with foreign investors buying a net $59.41 million in shares.
Thailand ended 0.8 percent firmer, recovering sharp losses in the previous day as
property and construction shares helped the overall index to gain.
Vietnam ,
the region's best performer so far which saw its highest daily fall in six
months in the previous day, edged up 0.2 percent helped by late buying and a
government assurance that it was ready for an intervention to keep domestic
markets stable.
Singapore ended steady, while the Philippines ,
which outperformed the regional markets in the week, edged down 0.04 percent on
profit taking.
FOREX - NEW YORK, Feb 22 (Reuters) - The
euro hit a six-week low against the dollar on Friday after the European Central
Bank said banks will repay less than half the expected amount of loans, while a
downgrade of Britain's government bond rating pressured sterling.
The yen dropped against the dollar
and euro, with many investors forecasting further weakness as the Bank of Japan
looked set to ease monetary policy further to fight deflation.
Banks will repay 61.1 billion euros
($80.8 billion) of the second round of the ECB's three-year loans next week,
far below the 130 billion euros in repayments expected by the market. The
smaller amount suggested many banks are still dependent on the ECB.
"The smaller than expected payback
of loans means the ECB’s balance sheet will shrink at a slower than expected
pace," said Omer Esiner, chief market analyst at Commonwealth Foreign
Exchange in Washington. It "further undermined confidence in the state of
recovery in the 17-member bloc."
