Headline News 03.03.11

US & GLOBAL 
• Bursa saham Wall Street berhasil membukukan kenaikan tipis ditengah berlanjutnya kenaikan harga minyak dunia. Penguatan saham‐saham AS tersebut
ditopang membaiknya rilis data ekonomi yang diperkirakan akan dapat mengatasi lonjakan harga minyak dunia saat ini. Sektor‐sektor yang sensitif terhadap
energi berhasil menguat, termasuk diantaranya sektor industrial <GSPI.> yang menguat 0,4% dan material <. GSPS> yang naik 0,2 persen, sedangkan sektor
infotechnology <. GSPT> naik 0,7 persen.
 
• Sementara itu rilis data ekonomi AS cukup positif, dimana Fed Beige Book menunjukkan aktivitas ekonomi akan menguat pada 2011 dan survei
menunjukkan perekrutan tenaga kerja swasta meningkat lebih dari yang diperkirakan, berdasarkan laporan dari ADP Employment Reports yang
menunjukkan kenaikan sebesar 217K. Indeks Dow Jones <. DJI> naik 8,78 poin atau 0,07% ke 12,066.80, S&P500 <. SPX> naik 2,11 poin atau 0,16% ke
1,308.44 dan Nasdaq <. IXIC> menguat 10,66 poin atau 0,39% ke 2,748.07.
 
• Harga emas ditutup stagnan setelah berhasil mencatat rekor kenaikan ke harga tertinggi di 1.440.10 USD per troy ounce menyusul naiknya minat investor
pada aset safe haven didorong oleh beberapa faktor, diantaranya kerusuhan politik di Libya, lonjakan harga minyak dan testimoni Bernanke yang membuat
investor memperkirakan kebijakan moneter AS akan tetap longgar. Harga spot emas <XAU=> naik 10 sen ke 1,433.81 USD per troy ounce.
 
• Harga minyak dunia meroket ke level tertinggi sejak Agustus 2008 akibat berita bahwa terjadi serangan udara di dekat infrastruktur minyak Libya yang
menimbulkan kekhawatiran bahwa sektor produksi minyak akan menjadi target dari upaya Khadafi mempertahankan kekuasaannya. Investor di pasar
minyak dunia tetap berfokus pada kekacauan di Timur Tengah, menyusul adanya sinyal ancaman terhadap pasokan minyak global setelah pemberontak di
Libya memotong jalur ekspor Libya. Harga minyak mentah Brent <LCOc1> naik 93 sen ke 116,35 USD per barel, penutupan tertinggi sejak 21 Agustus 2008.
Sementara itu harga minyak Crude AS <CLc1> ditutup naik 2.6 USd ke 102,23 USD per barel, penutupan tertinggi sejak September 2008. Naiknya harga
Crude AS juga mendapat sokongan dari data EIA yang menunjukkan adanya penurunan pada persediaan minyak AS.
 
• Euro naik ke level tertinggi dalam 4‐bulan terakhir seiring meningkatnya ekspektasi kenaikan suku bunga ECB yang luas diperkirakan akan mendahului The
Fed. Swiss franc melambung ke rekor tertinggi terhadap dollar AS seiring meningkatnya ketegangan di Libya yang menaikkan ketakutan akan menyebarnya
kerusuhan tersebut ke negara‐negara eskportir minyak lainnya, terutama Arab Saudi. Sebuah kondisi yang memaksa investor mengarahkan asetnya pada
Swsiss franc sebagai aset yang berstatus safe haven. Euro <EUR=> naik 0.7% ke 1.3869, setelah sempat menguat hingga 1.3890 yang merupakan level
tertinggi sejak 9 November.
 
• Sementara itu indeks dollar, yang menjadi acuan kinerja dollar AS terhadap the basket of currencies, <DXY.> turun ke level 76,529, yang merupakan titik
terendah sejak awal November 2010. Mata uang AS tersebut tidak berhasil memperoleh keuntungan dari mengerucutnya risk aversion dikalangan investor
akhir‐akhir ini, kondisi mana memunculkan pertanyaan dikalangan investor apakah dollar AS mulai kehilangan status safe haven‐nya. Dollar justru tertekan
seiring pandangan bahwa lonjakan harga minyak akhir‐akhir ini akan mendorong bank sentral lain seperti ECB dan BoE untuk menaikkan suku bunga guna
memerangi tekanan inflasi. Investor juga khawatir bahwa meningkatnya biaya energi dapat menghambat belanja konsumen, yang menyumbang sekitar dua
pertiga dari ekonomi AS. Dollar AS ditutup stagnan di 81.88 yen <JPY=>, setelah sempat mencapai level 81,57. Sedangkan terhadap Swiss franc, dollar AS
turun 0.5% ke 0.9237 setelah sempat membukukan rekor harga terendah sepanjang masa di 0.9202 franc <CHF=>.

Oil settles at 2-1/2 year high on Libya violence

NEW YORK | Wed Mar 2, 2011 7:33pm EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil rose to settle at its highest level since August 2008 on Wednesday after an airstrike near Libya's oil infrastructure raised more fears the OPEC nation's oil sector could become a target in embattled leader Muammar Gaddafi's efforts to hold power.

News of the strike in Brega, about kilometers (1.2 miles) from a Libyan oil terminal, added to two weeks of fears the unrest could spill over into other large oil producers in the region.

Oil markets remained focused on the turmoil in the Middle East, which could signal another threat to global oil supplies after the Libyan revolt cut exports.
"It looks like an attack fairly close to what is one of Libya's largest storage and export terminals," said Andy Lebow, trader at MF Global in New York.

"It's hard to say if the Libyan government is trying to target oil infrastructure in the east or whether they're just targeting rebel-held areas, but the market's reacting to this threat either way."
Brent crude settled 93 cents higher at $116.35 a barrel, the highest settlement since August 21, 2008, off the session high of $117.81. The Libyan crisis spurred Brent to a 2-1/2 year high near $120 a barrel on February 24.

U.S. crude futures settled at $102.23 a barrel, up $2.60, ending above $100 for the first time since September 2008. U.S. oil also found some support from U.S. Energy Information Administration data showing a drawdown in U.S. oil inventories.
Crude had pared gains in the morning after EIA data showed inventories at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery point for the New York Mercantile Exchange's oil futures contract hit a record high.

SPREAD NARROWS

Brent's premium against U.S. crude narrowed to above $14, after touching a record $17.12 on Tuesday. High inventories at the Cushing, Oklahoma delivery point for U.S. crude has kept a lid on U.S. oil price gains this year, sending the spread to a series of all-time highs.

"It seems like the spread gets out there to $16 and then you see some sellers trying to take some profit and the EIA news was a little bit bullish for U.S. crude as well," said Mike Zarembski, senior commodities analyst for optionsXpress in Chicago.

Oil prices hit their highest levels since August 2008 last week on Libya's outages and worries regional production could be hit should similar uprisings develop in other producers in the Middle East and North Africa.
This week, the rebound in oil prices in the wake of violence in Libya has sent other commodity prices rising. Gold reached a record high as buyers looked for safe havens amid political instability.

LIBYAN DISRUPTIONS

In Libya, disruptions at some ports continued, but trade sources said four tankers with at least 2.4 million barrels of crude oil have sailed in the past 24 hours despite mounting violence.
 So far, normal output of 1.6 million barrels per day had been cut to 700,000-750,000 bpd as most of the industry's foreign workers had taken flight after the crisis began, according to Shokri Ghanem, head of Libya's National Oil Company.

But prolonged conflict could push crude oil prices above $130 a barrel, Ghanem told Reuters.
Governments in Yemen, Oman, Iran and Iraq have clashed with protesters seeking reforms as popular unrest has spread in the region holding more than 60 percent of the world's oil reserve.