Wednesday, April 3, 2013

The star - GE13: It's on


PUTRAJAYA: The 13th General Election is on. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak confirmed that the King had consented to dissolution of Parliament on Wednesday.
"I met the Agong this morning and he consented to the dissolution of Parliament," Najib said during a live televised speech after teh Cabinet meeting here Wednesday.
The Electoral Commission will now meet to set dates for nomination and polling day, which will be separated by at least 11 days.
However, elections must be held within 60 days of today, that is June 2nd.
The EC has also said that it will hold all state elections simultaneously with parliamentary elections, except for Sarawak which still has three years of its mandate left after holding polls in 2011.


RTRS - Global palm oil demand to rise on attractive price - Oil World


HAMBURG, April 2 (Reuters) - Global palm oil demand is set to rise in coming months because of attractive prices and plentiful supplies compared to rival edible oils such as soyoil, Hamburg-based oilseeds analysts Oil World said on Tuesday.

Global Oct. 2012/Sept. 2013 palm oil imports are likely to rise to 43.19 million tonnes from 40.31 million tonnes in the same year ago period, Oil World estimated in a report.

Global Oct. 2012/Sept. 2013 imports of palmkernel oil will rise to 3.39 million tonnes from 3.05 million tonnes a year earlier, it forecast.

“Consumption fundamentals for palm and palmkernel oil will be very favourable in the second half of 2012/13 owning to the insufficient supplies of other oils and fats as well as the still unusually wide price discounts of palm oil,” Oil World said.

Crude palm oil for May/June delivery was on Tuesday quoted at $855 a tonne cif Rotterdam against about $1,100 a tonne for soyoil for delivery from crushing mills in north Europe.

Large palm stocks believed to available at the end of March means Oil World estimates global supplies of palm oil and palmkernel oil will total 42.8 million tonnes in April/September 2013, up 3.5 million tonnes on the same period last year.

China and India are likely to be among the major importers in coming months, it said.

Indonesia and Malaysia are the world’s largest palm oil exporters.

Trader's highlight

DJI - NEW YORK, April 2 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday, led by the healthcare sector after a government decision on payment rates, while factory orders data confirmed the economy is steadily improving.

The S&P 500 closed at another record high, though it fell short of breaking above its all-time intraday high of 1,576.09. The Dow also ended at another record high.

The U.S. government dropped plans to cut payments for private Medicare Advantage insurers and instead said it would allow a 3.3 percent raise. The news boosted shares of some health insurers, including Humana, which derives about two-thirds of its revenue from Medicare Advantage business.

"They didn't expect the result that they got. That will help with their bottom line," said Quincy Krosby, market strategist at Prudential Financial in Newark, New Jersey.

Strengthening U.S. data has helped stocks rally since the start of the year. On Tuesday, U.S. data showed February factory orders rose 3 percent, slightly above expectations. That follows a weak reading on U.S. manufacturing on Monday that sparked a pullback in stocks.

The S&P 500 is now up 10.1 percent since the start of the year.

For the day, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 89.16 points, or 0.61 percent, at 14,662.01. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 8.08 points, or 0.52 percent, at 1,570.25. The Nasdaq Composite Index  was up 15.69 points, or 0.48 percent, at 3,254.86.


Oils - NEW YORK, April 2 (Reuters) - Brent crude oil settled lower and U.S. crude settled slightly higher on Tuesday as traders weighed concerns about demand and the possibility of a prolonged pipeline outage in the U.S. Midwest.

Brent crude oil  rose early, then reversed to fall as much as $1 a barrel, before settling down 39 cents a barrel at $110.69. The session low of $110 a barrel was below the 200-day moving average of $110.17.

U.S. crude fell in the morning, then rebounded to settle up 12 cents at $97.19.

The Brent-U.S. crude spread narrowed in choppy trading to settle at $13.50 a barrel, after widening to as much as $14.66 during the session.

Traders said the pipeline problem is likely to keep crude oil bottled up in the Midwest, depressing prices, as stockpiles of oil should build up near the delivery point of the U.S. crude oil benchmark contract in Cushing, Oklahoma.

Late on Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute released data showing U.S. crude oil stocks rose 4.7 million barrels for the week ended March 29, higher than the 2.2 million predicted by a Reuters analyst poll.

At Cushing, stocks were down 287,000 barrels. But traders said they may well rise in next week's data after the Pegasus pipeline spill. Gasoline stocks decreased 5 million barrels while distillate stocks fell 1.85 million barrels, both larger declines than anticipated.


CBOT Soybean - Nearby soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade ended higher Tuesday on bargain buying after sliding to a near three-month low on fund selling and larger-than-expected U.S. stockpiles, traders said.

·         Trade was choppy. Front-month soybeans fell to  $13.86 a bushel, the lowest spot price since Jan. 7, before rallying.
 
·         Soymeal posted the biggest gains in the complex, gaining  against soyoil on meal/oil spreading. Strength in soymeal helped lift nearby soybean contracts.
 
·         Deferred soybean contracts were pressured by ideas of  increased U.S. plantings this spring as soybean prices gain  relative to corn, and as cool weather and forecasts for rain  threaten to delay fieldwork in the Midwest.

·         The worst of the delays in Brazilian soybean exports due  to transport bottlenecks are probably over and the country's shipments are likely to increase in coming weeks, Hamburg-based  oilseeds analysts Oil World said. 
 
·         Global palm oil demand is set to rise in coming months  because of attractive prices and plentiful supplies compared to  rival oils such as soyoil - Oil World.
 
·         South Korea's Major Feedmill Group and Feed Leaders'  Committee bought 110,000 tonnes of soymeal, all likely to be sourced from South America in separate deals, European traders said.


BMD CPO Futures - SINGAPORE, April 2 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures rebounded on Tuesday on bargain hunting after the edible oil fell to nearly a three-month low the previous day, while expectations that firm exports could help ease stocks further also provided support.

Palm oil fell to its lowest since Jan. 11 on Monday after the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported a larger-than-expected soybean stockpile, burnishing prospects that soybean oil supply could erode demand for palm oil.

But traders took comfort from rising palm oil exports that could help trim inventories in Malaysia, the world's second largest palm producer, where stocks stood at 2.44 million tonnes at the end of February.

"Today we see a technical bounce from an oversold market," said a dealer with a foreign commodities brokerage in Malaysia. "Slightly better export figures may improve expectation of lower stocks, but we need to watch out because the export rise could be due to more working days in March, compared to February."

By the market close, the benchmark June contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange had gained 1.9 percent to 2,382 ringgit ($772) per tonne. Prices fee as low as 2,335 ringgit on Monday, the lowest in almost three months.

Total traded volume stood at 34,406 lots of 25 tonnes each, a tad lower than the average 35,000 lots seen so far this year.

Malaysia's exports of palm oil products inched up 2.8 percent in March to 1.36 million tonnes from a month ago, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said on Monday, marking the first monthly rise in four months.

Another cargo surveyor, Societe Generale de Surveillance, reported a steeper 5.5 percent increase to 1.37 million tonnes. Firm exports raised hopes that palm oil stocks may have eased at a faster pace in March.

Official data on palm oil stocks, output and exports from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board, the industry regulator, will be released on April 10.

In other markets, Brent crude edged above $111 a barrel on Tuesday as prospects of stronger appetite in Asia countered concerns over the pace of economic recovery in top consumer the United States.

In vegetable oil markets, U.S. soyoil for May delivery  gained 0.4 percent in late Asian trade. The most active September soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange also inched up 0.2 percent.


Regional Equities - BANGKOK, April 2 (Reuters) - Malaysian stocks climbed 1.04 percent on Tuesday, outperforming other Southeast Asian stocks, amid expectations of a likely removal of political overhang, while Philippine shares fell for a second day as investors booked profits after the recent rally in large caps.

Kuala Lumpur's Composite Index  closed at 1,685, the highest since January 15, with trading volumes more than double the 30-day average. It was among Asia's worst performers this year as election-related risks worried domestic investors.

Banks were among actively traded stocks, with Malayan Banking Bhd up 1.2 percent and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd  up 0.9 percent.

Nomura Equity Research upgraded Malaysia banks to 'overweight', citing their underperformance compared with other banks in the Southeast Asian region and a likely removal of political overhang post the upcoming elections.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced bonuses for the 40,000 employees of national oil firm Petronas, signalling a long wait for a general election is nearly over as he seeks last-minute support from the middle class.

Foreign investors bought a net 428.15 million ringgit ($138.39 million) in Malaysian stocks, the bourse data showed, extending buying in April to a second straight session and after buying shares worth $2.9 billion in the first quarter.

Philippine index  fell 1.3 percent to 6,748.43.

After a rangebound session, Singapore's Straits Times Index edged up 0.3 percent while Thai SET index ended nearly unchanged. Jakarta's Composite Index rose 0.4 percent to a new record close of 4,957.25.

Vietnam's benchmark Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange VN Index rose for the third consecutive day, up 0.7 percent as domestic and foreign funds bought blue chips on solid earnings and in hopes of lower lending rates.