US & GLOBAL
• Aktifitas merjer dan diversifikasi beberapa perusahaan berhasil mengangkat optimisme pelaku pasar dan mendorong kenaikan indeks Dow
Jones serta S&P ke level tertinggi dalam kurun 2‐1/2 tahun terakhir. Aksi beli investor semakin meningkat setelah indeks S&P500
menembus level teknikal 1.313. Indeks Dow Jones <. DJI> naik 0,57% ke 12,161.55, indeks S&P500 <. SPX> naik 0,62% ke 1,319.05 dan
Nasdaq <. IXIC> naik 0,53% ke 2,783.99.
• Euro ditutup stagnan terhadap dollar AS setelah mencatat level terendah dalam kurun 2‐pekan terakhir, namun analis berpendapat
tekanan pada euro masih cukup kuat dimana lemahnya data industrial orders Jerman meningkatkan keraguan pada proyeksi kenaikan suku
bunga ECB. Investor melakukan aksi ambil untung pada euro yang menguat sejak awal tahun ini, aksi mana dipicu rilis data industrial
orders Jerman untuk Desember yang dirilis jauh dibawah perkiraan. Pada akhir sesi New York, euro ditutup sedikit menguat 0.01% ke
1.3586. Terhadap yen, dollar AS naik tipis 0.2% ke 82,30 yen <JPY=>.
• Pelaku pasar saat ini mulai memandang serius prospek kenaikan suku bunga AS terutama pada 2012 mendatang, terutama terdorong
optimisme rilis data sektor ketenagakerjaan AS pekan lalu yang menunjukkan penurunan unemployment menjadi 9%. Hal tersebut
mendorong kenaikan benchmark imbal hasil obligasi AS dan menaikkan rentang antara 10‐year German bunds terhadap obligasi AS, yang
kemudian berimbas pada meningkatnya minat investor pada dollar AS.
• Harga emas dunia berhasil menguat terhadap dollar AS didukung oleh fokus investor pada tekanan inflasi, namun prospek ekonomi yang
lebih optimis dan ekspektasi kenaikan suku bunga menahan laju kinerja logam mulia tersebut. Minat beli investor terhadap aset safehaven
termasuk emas mengalami tekanan seiring kenaikan bursa saham Wall Street ke level tertinggi sejak medio 2008, ditambah dengan
naiknya imbal hasil obligasi AS dan kekhawatiran pada level suku bunga rendah The Fed yang akan memicu tekanan inflasi. Harga spot
emas <XAU=> naik 0.2% ke 1,348.90 USD per troy ounce.
• Harga minyak dunia turun tajam pada Senin 07 februari karena kekhawatiran tentang gejolak politik Mesir akan mempengaruhi arus
pengiriman minyak di wilayah Timur‐Tengah. Harga minyak mentah AS untuk pengiriman Maret <CLc1> turun 1,55 USD ke 87,48 USD per
barel, setelah sempat mencatat level terendah di 87,18 USD per barel. Sementara itu harga minyak ICE London Brent untuk pengiriman
Maret <LCOc1> turun 58 sen ke 99,25 USD per barel.
NEW YORK | Mon Feb 7, 2011 5:34pm EST
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices fell sharply on Monday as concerns about Egypt's political turmoil affecting oil flows in the region eased and investor focus returned to rising U.S. inventories and a tepid employment picture.
A new cabinet met in Egypt and the government and opponents demanding change held talks, easing investor fear that the unrest started in Tunisia could affect oil producer countries.
Crude oil inventories in the United States were expected to have risen last week, with gasoline stockpiles also building, according to a Reuters survey of analysts on Monday.<EIA/s>
U.S. crude oil for March delivery fell $1.55 to settle at $87.48 a barrel, with an intraday low of $87.18 struck in post-settlement trading.
In London, ICE Brent crude for March fell 58 cents to settle at $99.25 a barrel, off its $100.90 intraday peak.
Total U.S. crude trading volume was 640,000 lots, the lowest level since January 3, according to Reuters data.
Brent trading volume was above 596,000 lots, 37 percent above the 30-day average, Reuters data showed.
The U.S. crude price weakness helped Brent crude's price premium widen to more than $11 a barrel.
U.S. gasoline futures were supported by reports of refinery problems and their failure to push under technical support around the $2.42 a gallon level.
Heating oil losses were limited by a forecast for above-normal heating oil demand.
"Oil prices fell as Egypt did not continue to descend into chaos and the employment number was a disappointing jumbled mess," Phil Flynn, an analyst at PFGBest Research in Chicago, said in a note.
Despite optimism about economic recovery that has driven equities markets above late-summer 2008 levels, Friday's U.S. jobs report showed nonfarm payrolls grew by only 36,000 in January, well below forecasts, though the overall unemployment rate fell.
EGYPT IN FOCUS BUT FEARS EASE
President Hosni Mubarak's new cabinet held its first full meeting since political protests and unrest started nearly two weeks ago. Mubarak has refused calls to end his 30-year presidency before the September election.
There have been no reports of disruptions to Suez Canal shipping or flows on the Suez-Mediterranean pipeline that brings oil from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean.
OPEC has resisted the idea that the recent oil price jump should prompt the producer group to reconsider its production targets.
A member of Kuwait's Supreme Petroleum Council said prices could exceed $110 a barrel if political unrest in Egypt continues. [ID:nLDE71505M] Iran's oil minister said OPEC did not need an emergency meeting, even if oil rose to $120 a barrel. [ID:nMOS637004]
U.S. crude stocks rose 2.59 million barrels in the week to January 28, according to the most recent report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Inventories have risen to record levels at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for West Texas Intermediate, the New York Mercantile Exchange's light sweet crude benchmark.
The high storage levels at Cushing have been encouraged by a strong contango condition, where front-month crude values are lower than prices for months farther out.
The deficit of U.S. front-month March crude to the April contract was above $3 a barrel and was as wide as $4.35 on Monday, according to Reuters data.
"We continue to view this curve weakness as symptomatic of a mounting supply at Cushing," Jim Ritterbusch, president at Ritterbusch & Associates in Galena, Illinois, said in a note.
