Headline News 24.02.11

US & GLOBAL 
• Bursa saham AS berlanjut melemah dalam dua sesi berturut‐turut terdesak kekerasan di Libya yang melambungkan harga minyak dunia mendekati level 100 USD per
barel dan menekan saham‐saham teknologi, menambahkan prospek koreksi bursa setelah penguatan tajamnya akhir‐akhir ini. Indeks Dow Jones <.DJI> turun 107,01
poin atau 0,88% ke 12,105.78, S&P500 <.SPX> melemah 8,04 poin atau 0,61% ke 1,307.40 dan Nasdaq <. IXIC> anjlok 33,43 poin atau 1,21% ke 2,722.99.
 
• Swiss franc melejit ke level tertinggi terhadap dollar AS menyusul mengerucutnya eskalasi kerusuhan di Libya yang menaikkan minat investor pada aset berstatus safehaven.
Sementara itu dollar AS turun secara luas terhadap mata uang utama dunia lainnya, seiring goyahnya status safe‐haven currency yang selama ini disandangnya.
Euro, yang seringkali diperlakukan sebagai acuan dari mata uang beresiko, berhasil menguat akibat aksi jual dollar investor yang mengalihkannya pada mata uang
utama lain. Ekspektasi kenaikan suku bunga ECB yang lebih cepat daripada The Fed juga turut meningkatkan kinerja mata uang tunggal Uni‐Eropa tersebut.
 
• Terhadap the basket of currencies, dollar AS tercatat melemah 0.5% ke 77.383 <DXY.>, setelah anjlok kelevel terendah dalam kurun 3‐pekan terakhir di 77,255. Euro
tercatat menguat 0.7% ke 1.3748 terhadap dollar AS 1,3787 <EUR=>, terdongkrak komentar hawkish terbaru dari pejabat ECB mengenai tekanan inflasi yang
meningkatkan harapan akan kenaikan suku bunga ECB.
 
• Turut membebani sentimen terhadap dollar AS adalah tumbuhnya kekhawatiran tentang membengkaknya defisit anggaran negara adikuasa tersebut. Pemerintah
federal diperkirakan akan kehabisan dana untuk alokasi operasi non‐esensial jika saja Demokrat dan Republik gagal menyepakati rancangan anggaran pada akhir
minggu depan. Hal tersebut berpotensi mengganggu ketenangan pasar keuangan dan beresiko menimbulkan PHK massal pegawai pemerintah. Terhadap Swiss franc,
dollar AS turun 0,5% ke 0,9335 <CHF=>, setelah sebelumnya menyentuh level 0,9307, yang merupakan level terendah tahun ini dan mendekati level terendah
sepanjang masa di 0,9301. Beringsutnya minat investor terhadap aset beresiko juga turut mengangkat kinerja yen, meskipun kenaikan harga minyak tinggi meredam
berlanjutnya rally karena ekonomi Jepang bergantung pada impor minyak. Dollar AS terakhir diperdagangkan turun 0,3% ke 82,47 yen <JPY=>.
 
• Harga emas naik ke level tertinggi dalam 7‐pekan terakhir, mendekati rekor harga tertingginya menyusul eskalasi kerusuhan di Libya dan melambungnya harga minyak
yang memicu kekhawatiran inflasi dan prospek perlambatan pertumbuhan ekonomi. Harga spot emas <XAU=> naik 0,7% ke 1,408.80 USD per troy ounce, setelah
sebelumnya melonjak hingga 1,416.30 USD per troy ounce.
 
• Harga minyak mentah AS melonjak ke level tertinggi 28‐bulan menuju 100 USD per barel, investor khawatir akan merebaknya kerusuhan Libya tersebut ke negara
eskportir minyak lain termasuk Arab Saudi. Harga minyak mentah AS untuk pengiriman April <CLc1> naik 2,8% ke 98,10 USD per barel setelah naik hingga 100 USD per
barel. Sementara itu harga minyak Brent London <LCOJ1>, naik 5,3% ke 111,25 USD per barel, merupakan penutupan tertinggi sejak 2008.

Brent oil hits $113 on Libya unrest

SYDNEY | Wed Feb 23, 2011 10:46pm EST

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Unrest in Libya and the threat of contagion to other oil producing countries in the region drove Brent crude to $113 a barrel Thursday, but the selloff in Asian stocks eased as investors started to nibble at beaten-down shares.

Copper also bounced off one-month lows, although the dollar stayed on the back foot as some investors worry that the U.S. economy would be vulnerable to high oil prices, given its reliance on consumer spending to drive growth.

London Brent crude rose as high as $113 a barrel for the first time since September 2008, having gained nearly 10 percent in the past four sessions. U.S. crude last traded at around $99.38 a barrel, a whisker away from Wednesday's high of $100.

Worries that higher energy prices will crimp corporate profits had sparked a steep selloff in Asian stocks in the past two sessions, but that looked to be losing its punch.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index .N225, while still 0.4 percent lower on the day, was off its lows and stocks elsewhere in Asia .MIAPJ0000PUS erased early losses to be up 0.4 percent.

"As Japanese stocks have tumbled for the past two sessions (losing 2.6 percent), today's losses may not be sharp," said Masumi Yamamoto, a market analyst at Daiwa Securities Capital Markets.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng .HSI put on 0.2 percent and China's Shanghai Composite Index .SSEC edged up 0.2 percent. Gains in U.S. stock futures suggest a steadier start on Wall Street after two sessions of declines.
Gold, a traditional safe haven in times of trouble, traded at around $1,412 an ounce, not far from a record high around $1,430 set in December.

Copper gained 1.1 percent to $9,526 a metric ton, climbing off a one-month low of $9,365.
The dollar index .DXY, which tracks its performance against a basket of major currencies, shed 0.3 percent to 77.173.

Against the Swiss franc, the dollar fell to a record low at around 0.9277 franc, surpassing the previous trough of 0.9301 set at the end of the year.

The euro held firm at $1.3776, coming within easy reach of its February 2 peak of $1.3862, helped also by recent hawkish comments on inflation by European Central Bank officials, which raised expectations the ECB will hike interest rates before the Federal Reserve.

"There may be a realization that if oil prices rise sharply, that would hit all the developed countries and in that sense it effects every major currency the same," said Tsutomu Soma, manager of foreign bonds at Okasan Securities.

"And if the impact from the Middle East crisis is roughly equal on each currency, you could argue that currencies with a yield advantage will benefit at the end of the day," Soma said.
The New Zealand dollar continued to struggle at two-month lows below $0.7500, with markets now pricing in an 88 percent chance that the next rate move will be a 25 basis point cut.
The move followed the deadly earthquake that hit the country's second biggest city of Christchurch Tuesday.