NEW YORK, April 26 (Reuters) - U.S.
stocks dipped in thin volume on Friday, though the market had a strong week
overall despite a mixed bag of earnings and weak economic figures.
The market fell early after a
negative surprise from the gross domestic product report, but the decline attracted
bargain-hunting investors late in the session. Major indexes posted solid gains
for the week.
"We traded off a decent amount
after the GDP number but we didn't break any technical levels or really didn't
get much momentum in the selloff past late morning," said Paul Zemsky,
head of asset allocation at ING Investment Management in New York.
"I guess there was some bottom
fishing. There was so much fear of poor earnings going into earnings season
that this is still somewhat of a positive surprise."
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 11.75 points or 0.08 percent, to 14,712.55, the S&P 500 lost 2.92 points or 0.18 percent, to 1,582.24 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 10.72 points or 0.33 percent, to 3,279.26.
For the week, the Dow gained 1.1
percent, the S&P added 1.7 percent and the Nasdaq rose 2.3 percent.
Of the 271 companies in the S&P
500 that have reported earnings to date for the first quarter, 69 percent have
beaten analyst expectations - above the 63 percent average since 1994 and
slightly over the 67 percent beat rate over the past four quarters.
Gross domestic product expanded at a
2.5 percent rate in the first quarter, below estimates of 3 percent,
heightening fears the U.S. economy could struggle to cope with deep government
spending cuts and higher taxes that kicked in earlier this year.
Oils - NEW YORK, April 26 (Reuters) - Brent
crude oil fell on Friday, following a two-day, $3 rally, as weak economic data
from the United States sounded a note of caution on growth prospects in the
world's largest oil consumer.
Oil and other commodities such as
metals slid in a midday selloff that traders said may have been prompted by
fund liquidations as European markets closed for the weekend. Later, Brent pared losses in the afternoon.
"The markets tend to overreact.
The oil market got knocked off its knees and grabbed some legs," said Dan
Flynn, an analyst and trader at Price Futures Group in Chicago, Illinois.
Even after Brent's biggest one-week
gain since November 2012, it remains more than 6 percent below where it started
April. A string of disappointing reports in recent weeks from the United
States, China and Germany have stoked fears of global economic slowdown.
Traders said low trading volumes
indicated a lack of conviction in this week's rally. Volumes for U.S. crude
were 22 percent lower than the 30-day moving average and 11 percent lower for
Brent.
On Friday, the Commerce Department
reported U.S. gross domestic product expanded at a 2.5 percent annual rate in
the first quarter, slower than the 3.0 percent rate expected. The data fed
worries about a deceleration in the second quarter and U.S. equity markets fell
for most of the session.
Brent slipped 25 cents a barrel to settle at $103.16 a barrel after touching a low of
$102.25. U.S. crude settled down 64 cents at $93.00 after going
to $92.06 at midday.
CBOT Soybean - Soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade rose on Friday for a second straight session and set a one-week high,
supported by strong cash markets and tights supplies of old-crop U.S. soybeans and soymeal, traders said.
· Front-month May soybeans broke through and settled above its 50- and 100-day moving averages. Most-active July settled at $13.81, its highest close since April 19.
· July soyoil hit resistance above its 50-day moving average near 50.17 cents per lb, paring gains to settle at 49.66 cents, up 0.06 cent.
· First notice day for deliveries against May contracts is Tuesday, April 30. As of late Thursday, CBOT reported no registrations of soybeans or soymeal.
· CBOT soyoil registrations fell by 303 contracts late Thursday after falling by 507 contracts a day earlier. As of Thursday, soyoil registrations stood at 11,356 contracts. Cash markets for soyoil have firmed due to a slowing U.S. soy crush and to demand for soy-based biodiesel fuel.
· China recently bought a small volume of rapeseed oil from Europe for the first time in two years as it was cheaper than domestic prices, the China National Grain and Oils Information Centre said.
· Dalian September soymeal rose 1.5 percent, its biggest daily rise in two months.
· For the week, most-active CBOT July soybeans fell 1-1/2 cents, or 0.1 percent. July soymeal rose 0.5 percent, its third straight weekly rise, and July soyoil rose 0.7 percent.
BMD CPO - KUALA LUMPUR, April 26 (Reuters) -
Malaysian palm oil futures climbed to a two-week high on Friday, posting its
first weekly gain out of five, as encouraging export data buoyed investor hopes
for resilient global demand.
Cargo surveyor data showed palm oil
shipments in the first 25 days of April rose between 2.7 percent and 5.2
percent, fuelled by stronger demand from India, Europe and the United States.
Traders also noted a sudden spike in
buying from India, the world's biggest edible oil consumer, as Indian traders
took advantage of low physical prices to buy.
"The market today is very
strong. Exports are friendly to the market -- it shows that demand is still
there," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Kuala
Lumpur.
"There is prompt demand coming
in from India. For the past few months India has kept a low profile, but now
they are coming back into the market because prices are quite cheap, compared
to two months ago when it was at 2,400 to 2,500 ringgit," he added.
The benchmark July contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange edged up 0.3 percent to close at
2,315 ringgit ($763) per tonne. Prices touched 2,334 ringgit earlier, the
highest since April 12 and posted a 0.8 percent weekly gain after four straight
weeks of losses.
Total traded volumes stood at 23,311
lots of 25 tonnes each, lower than the average 35,000 lots.
Investors hope that healthy exports
and near-stagnant production will help cut stockpiles in Malaysia, the world's
No.2 palm producer, and stem the loss in prices of about 5 percent so far this
year.
Palm oil stocks stand at 2.17
million tonnes, after easing more than 10 percent from February.
In other markets, Brent crude slid
below $103 a barrel on Friday after rising $3 in the past two sessions, with
investors cautious over the tepid outlook for growth in the world's two largest
oil consumers, the United States and China.
U.S. soyoil for July delivery dipped 0.4 percent. The most-active September soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange fell 0.6 percent.
