US & GLOBAL
• Bursa saham Wall Street mengalami kinerja terburuk sejak Agustus 2010 menyusul aksi ambil untung pelaku pasar terdorong gejolak politik di negara
eksportir minyak Libya. Indeks S&P500 turun 2,05%, tercatat sebagai performa harian terburuk sejak 11 Agustus 2010 silam. Mayoritas analis telah
mengantisipasi koreksi di pasar setelah bursa saham mencatat kenaikan melebihi level tertinggi sejak 2‐1/2 tahun silam. Namun demikian, optimisme
mengenai pemulihan ekonomi AS kembali diperkuat oleh rilis laporan yang menunjukkan kepercayaan konsumen naik pada bulan Februari ke level tertinggi
dalam 3‐tahun terakhir. Indeks Dow Jones <.DJI> turun 178,46 poin atau 1,44% ke 12,212.79, indeks S&P500 <.SPX> turun 27,57 poin atau 2,05% ke
1,315.44 dan Nasdaq <. IXIC> turun 77,53 poin atau 2,74% ke 2,756.42.
• Swiss franc dan yen berhasil menguat terhadap mata uang utama dunia lainnya terdorong naiknya permintaan investor pada aset safe‐haven menyusul
kerusuhan di Libya. Kedua mata uang tersebut potensial masih akan menguat seiring kekhawatiran meningkatnya kerusuhan di Timur Tengah dan Afrika
akan memicu permintaan lebih lanjut pada dua mata uang tersebut. Swiss franc menguat sekitar 1% terhadap baik euro maupun dolar AS. Namun
demikian, euro yang cenderung melemah ketika risk aversion ditengah investor meningkat, hanya mengalami penurunan tipis terhadap dollar AS menyusul
adanya komentar dari pejabat ECB yang menaikkan ekspektasi untuk kenaikan suku bunga zona euro. Euro turun 1% ke 1,2813 franc <EURCHF=>, setelah
sempat anjlok hingga 1,2792 franc yang merupakan level terendah sejak akhir Januari.
• Dollar AS turun 0,9% ke 0,9384 Swiss franc <CHF=> setelah sebelumnya turun ke 0,9367 yang merupakan level terendah sejak 2 Februari silam. Sementara
itu euro tercatat melemah 0.2% ke 1,3655 <EUR=>, setelah sempat naik diatas 1,3704. New Zealand dollar <NZD=> anjlok ke 0,7451, yang merupakan posisi
terendah sejak akhir Desember 2010 silam, setelah gempa kuat mengguncang Christchurch, kota terbesar kedua di negara tersebut. Kekhawatiran akan
kerusakan ekonomi New Zealand mendorong spekulasi bahwa pemerintah negara tersebut akan memangkas suku bunga. Aussie dollar turun 1.1% ke
0.9983 <AUD=>, dan terhadap yen, dollar AS turun 0,4% ke 82,74 <JPY=> menyusul naiknya minat pada aset safe haven yang mendorong penurunan imbal
hasil obligasi AS. Turunnya imbal hasil obligasi AS menurunkan minat terhadap aset berdenominasi dollar AS. Sementara itu euro turun 0,6% ke 112,99 yen
<EURJPY=>. Nilai tukar yen terhadap mata uang utama dunia lainnya cenderung masih cukup kuat, meskipun sempat ada peringatan dari Moody's Investors
Service bahwa lembaga pemeringkat itu mungkin akan memangkas peringkat kredit Jepang seiring menggelembungnya hutang negara tersebut.
• Harga emas ditutup sedikit melemah dibawah level krusial 1.400 USD per troy ounce seiring aksi ambil untung para pelaku pasar menyusul kenaikan tajam
sejak 6‐sesi berturut‐turut. Harga spot emas <XAU=> turun 0,4% ke 1,399.85 USD per troy ounce, setelah sebelumnya sempat turun ke level terendahnya di
1,392.54 USD per troy ounce.
• Sementara itu harga minyak ditutup mendekati level tertinggi dalam kurun 2‐1/2 tahun setelah adanya ekspektasi bahwa OPEC dan IEA akan dapat
memenuhi kekurangan pasokan minyak seiring kekhawatiran tentang gejolak politik di Libya yang mendorong lonjakan harga sebelumnya. Harga minyak
mentah Brent untuk pengiriman April <LCOc1> naik 4 sen ke 105,78 USD per barel, penutupan tertinggi sejak September 2008. Sementara harga minyak
mentah AS untuk pengiriman Maret <CLc1>, naik menjadi 93,57 USD per barel, setelah menyentuh level tertinggi sejak Oktober 2008 di 94,49 USD.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold fell $3.50 an ounce to $1,395.70 an ounce by 0052 GMT. It had risen to a 7-week high around $1,410 on Tuesday before slipping, partly due to declines in equities that prompted investors to sell gold to cover losses.
* A defiant Muammar Gaddafi said he was ready to die "a martyr" in Libya, vowing to crush a growing revolt which has seen eastern regions break free of his 41-year rule and brought deadly unrest to the capital.
* The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the SPDR Gold Trust, said holdings dropped to 1,218.243 tonnes by February 22, their lowest in nine months, from 1,223.098 tonnes by February 20.
* U.S. gold futures for April fell $4.3 to $1,396.8 an ounce.
MARKET NEWS
* Japan's Nikkei average slipped further on Wednesday after tumbling nearly 2 percent the day before as investors pull out of riskier assets, with turmoil in Libya driving crude oil prices to 30-month highs and sparking worry of slower global growth. .T
* The Swiss franc and yen held onto gains early in Asia on Wednesday after the revolt in Libya drove crude oil prices to 30-month highs, sparking worries about slower global growth.
* U.S. crude futures eased slightly on Wednesday after hitting their highest in almost 2-1/2 years as the crisis in Libya reduced production there and exacerbated worries about supply.
CAIRO | Tue Feb 22, 2011 1:41pm EST
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's key portfolios of defense interior, foreign, finance and justice were unchanged in a cabinet reshuffle, state television confirmed on Tuesday when it broadcast the swearing in ceremony for the new ministers.
The list of new ministers included changing the veteran oil minister, as well as introducing politicians who had been opposed to the rule of Hosni Mubarak, who stepped down from office on February 11 after widespread protests.
Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, who leads the ruling military council and has been defense minister for about 20 years, took the new ministers' oaths of office.
But the Muslim Brotherhood, the country's biggest opposition group, said the new cabinet showed that Mubarak's "cronies" still controlled the country's politics.
"This new cabinet is an illusion," Brotherhood senior member Essam el-Erian said. "It pretends it includes real opposition but in reality this new government puts Egypt under the tutelage of the West," he added.
"The main defense, justice, interior and foreign ministries remain unchanged, signaling Egypt's politics remain in the hands of Mubarak and his cronies," Erian said.
Mubarak reshuffled his cabinet shortly after protests erupted on January 25 in a bid to assuage anger against his 30-year rule, but rage continued to build until his ouster on February 11.
The Brotherhood and youth protesters had demanded that all Mubarak's ministers must be changed in the new government sworn in ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections.
The latest reshuffle brought into the cabinet a few opposition figures including Yehia el-Gamal, deputy prime minister, the Wafd party's Mounir Abdel Nour as tourism minister and Tagammu party's Gowdat Abdel-Khaleq as minister of social solidarity and social justice.
Both Wafd and Tagammu had often been close to Mubarak's government.
The Center for Trade Unions and Workers Services (CTUWS) said the government's appointment of Ismail Ibrahim Fahmy as new labor minister showed it continued to "co-opt formal labor unions and the labor ministry," it said in a statement.
Fahmy was the treasurer of the general union for workers syndicates in Egypt. "We warn of the dire consequences of defying the will of the workers and their legitimate right to enjoy union rights," CTUWS said.
Egyptian online democracy activists called for a demonstration on Tuesday to demand the removal of the country's interim government, saying it contains too many old faces.
"The call for the million-man march on Friday would show people's anger and frustration," Erian said.
