Headline News 22.03.11

US & GLOBAL 
• Para buyer di bursa saham AS mulai bermunculan pada sesi Senin awal pekan ini, tertarik oleh aksi merger terbesar tahun ini, meskipun krisis di
Jepang, Timur Tengah dan Afrika Utara akan berdampak pada tingginya volatilitas di bursa. Sentimen bullish semakin kuat setelah penguatan stabil
dalam 3‐sesi terakhir, dimana S&P500 membukukan performa 3‐harian terbarik sejak awal Desember 2010. Saham AT&T naik 1,1% setelah
perusahaan tersebut mengumumkan rencana untuk membeli T‐Mobile USA milik Deutsche Telekom's dan perhatian investor kembali fokus pada
valuasi perusahaan yang menarik.
 
• Sedikit harapan yang muncul pada berakhirnya krisis nuklir Jepang dan komentar investor terkemuka ‐ Warren Buffett tentang saham Jepang
(rekomendasi beli) juga turut membantu sentimen investor. Indeks Dow Jones <. DJI> naik 178,01 poin atau 1,5% ke 12,036.53, S&P500 <SPX.>
naik 19,18 poin atau 1,5% ke 1,298.38 dan Nasdaq <. IXIC> menguat 48,42 poin atau 1,83% ke 2,692.09.
 
• Harga minyak dan emas dunia menguat pada sesi Senin setelah serangan udara kedua militer Barat di Libya, meskipun volume perdagangan di
sebagian besar komoditas masih tipis, sebuah indikasi bahwa investor semakin waspada dengan kondisi terakhir. Minyak ditutup naik lebih dari 1%
setelah serangan udara di Libya ‐ yang telah disetujui oleh PBB untuk melindungi warga sipil ‐ memperburuk kekhawatiran tentang pasokan
minyak. Harga minyak Crude AS <CLc1> ditutup naik 1.2% ke 102,33 USD per barel, sedangkan minyak mentah Brent <LCOc1> naik 0.9% ke 114,96
USD per barel.
 
• Harga emas AS kembali ditutup menguat dalam 4‐sesi berturut‐turut, didukung oleh nilai tukar dollar AS yang melemah dan naiknya harga minyak
akibat kegelisahan investor atas serangan udara Barat terhadap Libya serta krisis nuklir Jepang. Ketegangan di Libya adalah mendorong investor
untuk keluar dari aset berbasis dollar dan membeli emas serta perak. Harga spot emas <XAU=> naik 0,6% ke 1,427.95 USD per troy ounce.
 
• Yen berlanjut melemah terhadap dollar AS dalam 2‐sesi terakhir, dimana investor mewaspadai aksi intervensi lanjutan dari bank sentral G7,
meskipun terdapat proyeksi bahwa spekulan akan berusaha menekan dollar dibawah level 80 yen. Nampaknya aksi intervensi gabungan dari bank
sentral anggota G7 sejak Jumat akhir pekan lalu cukup berhasil untuk menahan volatilitas di pasar, terbukti saat ini dollar AS stabil di kisaran 81
yen.
 
• Dalam jangka dekat, analis memperkirakan level 80 ‐ 80,85 berfungsi sebagai landasan kuat untuk dolar terhadap yen, dan apabila kembali
melemah dibawah level tersebut akan kembali memarakkan aksi intervensi dari bank sentral G7. Sementara itu disisi lain, level resistance saat ini
ada dikisaran 82 yen. Dollar AS terakhir diperdagangkan naik 0,6% ke 81,049 yen <JPY=>, menguat tajam dari rekor terendah sepanjang sejarah di
76,25 yen.
 
• Diperkirakan aksi intervensi gabungan dari Bank of Japan, ECB dan Bank of Canada melibatkan dana sebesar 32,3 miliar USD pada sesi Jumat saja.
Sedangkan Nomura memperkirakan The Fed menghabiskan sekitar 1 miliar USD untuk membantu melemahkan yen. Yen juga jatuh terhadap mata
uang utama dunia lainnya, dimana euro tercatat naik 0,6% terhadap yen <EURJPY=R> sementara Aussie dollar naik 1,3% <AUDJPY=R> dan
Canadian dollar menguat 0,9% versus yen <CADJPY=R>. Euro sendiri tercatat menguat 0,2% terhadap dollar AS ke 1,4220 <EUR=> setelah sempat
naik ke 1,4240 yang merupakan level tertinggi sejak 4‐1/2‐bulan terakhir. Ekspektasi bahwa ECB akan segera menaikkan suku bunga pada
sidangnya April mendatang telah menyokong kinerja euro akhir‐akhir ini.

AT&T's big deal lifts Wall Street

NEW YORK | Mon Mar 21, 2011 4:37pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Buyers emerged on Monday in U.S. stocks, enticed by the biggest proposed merger of the year, though crises in Japan, the Middle East and North Africa meant market volatility would continue.

The bulls have held the upper hand for three days, as the S&P 500 has put together its best three-day run since early December. Dow component AT&T rose 1.1 percent after the company announced plans to buy Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile USA and refocused investor attention on attractive company valuations.

"The AT&T deal is just a piece of it. The other piece of it is there is a sense of some better news out of Japan and things haven't gotten any worse in Africa," said Gail Dudack, chief investment strategist at Dudack Research Group in New York.

The $39 billion AT&T deal would create the largest wireless phone operator in the United States.
While the outlook for Japan remains a worry, glimmers of hope about the nuclear crisis and investor Warren Buffett's comments about Japanese stocks also helped investor sentiment on Monday.

The iShares MSCI Japan Index Fund was up 2.7 percent.
The market volatility index fell 16.2 percent, its biggest daily percentage drop since May, and was trading below its 14- and 200-day moving averages for the first time since the earthquake in Japan.

Dudack said of Japan and the turmoil in the oil-producing region that "neither situation is resolved, so it's hard to know what the effects are. The market has been really volatile and it will continue to be really volatile.".
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 178.01 points, or 1.50 percent, to 12,036.53. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index climbed 19.18 points, or 1.50 percent, to 1,298.38. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 48.42 points, or 1.83 percent, to 2,692.09.
AT&T shares were upgraded by at least four brokerages, rising 1.1 percent to $28.26. In the European market, Deutsche Telecom rose 11.3 percent.

Shares of Verizon, which has a joint venture with Vodafone, gained 1.7 percent to $36.46, while Sprint Nextel Corp shares plummeted 13.5 percent to $4.37. Leap Wireless International Inc shot up 15.7 percent to $14.05 and MetroPCS Communications gained 4.8 percent to $15.64.
Stocks posted losses last week as nuclear worries escalated in the aftermath of Japan's earthquake and tsunami.

Investors also grappled with turmoil in Libya, as forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi surrounded Misrata, the only big rebel stronghold in western Libya.

With Monday's move stocks recovered half of the losses from the recent drop, but met resistance at the 14-day moving average near 1,300. A climb through that level would set the next resistance point at 1,307.77, the 61.8 percent retracement of the 2011 high-to-low decline.

The Nasdaq briefly rose more than 2 percent, helped by gains in semiconductor shares. The PHLX semiconductor index was up 1.8 percent. The index fell about 9 percent over the last two weeks.

AT&T Inc's offer for Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile USA, sparked a rally in European telecom shares.
In Japan, power cables were connected to nuclear reactors at a power plant damaged by an earthquake and tsunami. The World Health Organization said radiation found in food from the area was a "serious situation.

Volume was modest with about 7.66 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, slightly below the daily average of 8.12 billion.
Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by 2,458 to 546, while on the Nasdaq, advancers beat decliners 2,048 to 574.