Headline News 16.02.11

US & GLOBAL 
• Bursa saham AS melemah secara luas dimana investor terkemuka disebut‐sebut mulai melakukan aksi ambil untung ditengah kekuatan rally bursa ke level tertinggi dalam kurun 2
1/2 tahun terakhir yang tidak mendapat dukungan dari volume perdagangan. Saham‐saham energi dan bahan material dasar memimpin penurunan bursa dalam indeks S&P500
yang mencatatkan diri sebagai performa terburuk harian sejak 28 Januari silam. Data penjualan ritel AS semakin menaikkan keraguan akan perbaikan tingkat belanja konsumen
Amerika yang merupakan bagian penting dari pemulihan ekonomi. Indeks Dow Jones <. DJI> turun 41,55 poin atau 0,34% ke 12,226.64, S&P500 <. SPX> turun 4,31 poin atau
0,32% ke 1,328.01 dan Nasdaq <. IXIC> turun 12,83 poin atau 0,46% ke 2,804.35.
 
• Sementara itu dollar AS naik terhadap yen ke level tertinggi dalam 8‐pekan terakhir didorong oleh meningkatnya imbal hasil obligasi AS dengan prospek kenaikan lebih lanjut
dengan pasar obligasi yang masih terus menyoroti kenaikan inflasi. Kenaikan ini tercatat sebagai performa positif dollar AS terhadap yen dalam 9 sesi dari 10 sesi terakhir dimana
tercatat menguat lebih dari 2% sepanjang Februari. Imbal hasil obligasi AS dengan tenor 2‐tahun telah meningkat lebih dari 20 basis poin sejak 1 Februari terdorong oleh
ekspektasi inflasi di tengah pemulihan perekonomian AS. Kondisi tersebut telah meningkatkan daya tarik terhadap aset berdenominasi dollar khususnya terhadap mata uang
dengan imbal hasil rendah lainnya termasuk yen. Dollar terhadap yen merupakan pasangan mata uang yang paling sensitif terhadap perubahan imbal hasil obligasi AS karena
kedua mata uang tersebut saling bersaing untuk menjadi unit pembiayaan yang paling diinginkan pasar. Setiap pergeseran dalam kurva imbal hasil obligasi atau ekspektasi suku
bunga bank sentral akan memiliki dampak signifikan pada kedua mata uang tersebut. Hingga akhir sesi New York, dollar AS tercatat menguat 0,7% terhadap yen, setelah sempat
mencapai level tertinggi sejak 8‐pekan terakhir ke 83,91 <JPY=EBS>.
 
• Pada saat yang sama, euro mengungguli dolar untuk pertama kalinya dalam 4‐sesi terakhir, namun keberlanjutan dari rally euro cukup diragukan oleh sementara analis berhubung
sinyal teknikal yang cenderung melemah. Euro tercatat menguat 0.3% terhadap dollar AS <EUR=> ke 1,3517, sedangkan sterling berhasil menguat 0.6% terhadap dollar ke 1.6128
<GBP=> terdorong meningkatnya inflasi Inggris yang melebihi target BoE.
 
• Harga emas naik ke level tertinggi dalam 4‐pekan terakhir seiring meningkatnya ekspektasi inflasi global dan menurunnya prospek kenaikan suku bunga Cina yang memicu
technical breakout pada emas. Minat investor pada emas kembali mengemuka setelah manajer hedge fund terkemuka seperti John Paulson dan George Soros tercatat
memperbesar jumlah investasi mereka pada emas sejak kuartal keempat 2010 lalu. Harga spot emas <XAU=> naik 0,9% ke 1,374.20 USD per troy ounce, setelah sebelumnya
mencapai empat minggu tinggi di 1,376.50 USD per troy ounce.
 
• Harga minyak Brent turun lebih dari 1% dalam sesi perdagangan yang volatile terdesak rilis data Retail Sales AS yang mengecewakan dan kekhawatiran akan turunnya permintaan
dari China sebagai konsumen energi terbesar kedua dunia. Harga minyak mentah AS kembali melemah menghadapi rilis laporan cadangan minyak AS yang diperkirakan masih
mengalami kenaikan. Minyak mentah Brent London untuk pengiriman April <LCOc1> turun 1,44 USD ke 101,64 USD per barel sedangkan minyak mentah crude AS untuk
pengiriman Maret <CLc1> turun 49 sen ke 84,32 USD per barel.

Wall Street falls in light volume, pullback mulled

NEW YORK | Tue Feb 15, 2011 5:05pm EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Market breadth weakened and a prominent investor retreated from bullish positions as a vulnerable U.S. stock market slipped off 2-1/2-year highs on Tuesday.

Energy and basic materials stocks led the slide in the S&P 500's worst day since January 28, and billionaire investor Ken Fisher told Reuters he is "more neutral on stocks than I've been in years."

Volume remained light with 7.1 billion shares changing hands on the combined New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Amex and Nasdaq, below last year's estimated daily average of 8.47 billion.
U.S. retail sales data cast doubts on a rebound in consumer spending, a vital part of the economic recovery, and import prices jumped, while a gauge of manufacturing in New York State climbed to its highest in eight months.

The S&P retail index .RLX closed flat after being down earlier in the day.
"More and more companies are worried about the price of input," said Kim Caughey Forrest, senior equity research analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh.
"There's a lot of conflicting data. Low volume means there's no conviction either way: whenever you really don't have an idea, you're not trading," she said.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI lost 41.55 points, or 0.34 percent, at 12,226.64. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX fell 4.31 points, or 0.32 percent, at 1,328.01. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC slipped 12.83 points, or 0.46 percent, at 2,804.35.
Shares of JDS Uniphase Corp (JDSU.O) dropped 10.2 percent to $25.05 after brokerage Bernstein cut its rating on the stock to "market-perform" from "outperform." An index of chipmakers' shares .SOX was down 1.1 percent.

The S&P energy sector .GSPE carried most of the day's losses, falling 1.1 percent. Brent crude oil fell more than 1 percent on the U.S. retail sales data and as China continued to struggle to keep inflation at bay.
Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) was down 2.3 percent to $82.97, following a 2.5 percent gain on Monday.
The S&P 500 has nearly doubled from lows hit in March 2009, but waning volume suggests investors are having a harder time finding value.

"I'd not be overly optimistic right now," said Fisher, chief investment officer and founder of Fisher Investments, a money management firm in Woodside, California that oversees about $43 billion in assets.
The spread between daily winners and losers has been narrowing for months, suggesting more of the market's gains are coming from fewer stocks -- generally a sign of a weakening market.
On Tuesday, declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE and the Nasdaq by a ratio of about 8 to 5.

Short- and medium-term the S&P 500 was nearing overbought levels, with more than 79 percent of its components trading above their 20- and 50-day moving averages. But Craig Peskin, co-head of technical analysis research at MF Global in New York, said no major downside move concerns him short term.
"Volume has not been that spectacular for a long part of this bull market. We may be ready for a pullback, but this is not a sign of a market top."

Shares of NYSE Euronext (NYX.N) fell 3.4 percent at $38.12 after it agreed to be acquired by Deutsche Boerse (DB1Gn.DE) to create the world's largest exchange operator. The deal dodges key questions that could threaten its completion.

Shares of U.S. exchanges also fell, with Nasdaq OMX Group Inc (NDAQ.O) off 4.6 percent at $28.28, CME Group Inc (CME.O) down 3.7 percent to $291.33 and CBOE Holdings (CBOE.O) down 5.9 percent to $26.21.