Gold steady on euro zone, Mideast crisis worries

SINGAPORE | Wed Mar 23, 2011 9:20pm EDT

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold prices held steady on Thursday after recent gains as worries over the euro zone debt crisis and unrest in the Middle East buoyed investors' interest in bullion.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold edged up $1.05 to $1,437.25 an ounce by 00:36 a.m. GMT (8:36 p.m. edt), after arching to $1,440.90 in the previous session, just off the record high of $1,444.40 hit on March 7.

* U.S. gold futures were little changed at $1,437.50.

* Spot silver edged down 0.3 percent to $37.24, after hitting a 31-year high at $37.40 on Wednesday.

* Sentiment in gold was buoyed by record-low U.S. home sales which could slow the economic recovery and triggered talk that the central bank might continue easier monetary policy beyond its $600 billion bond purchase program.

* Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates resigned after parliament rejected his government's latest austerity measures, heightening concerns on the euro zone's sovereign debt problems and feeding safe-haven demand in bullion.

* The crisis in the Middle East and North Africa deepened as Palestinian rockets attacked Israel, while fighting in Libya continues.

MARKET NEWS

* U.S. stocks advanced on Wednesday as materials shares rose, but rising commodities prices due to turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa could keep rallies modest. .N

* U.S. crude oil held steady on Thursday, after ending the previous session at a 2- year high on Middle East unrest.

* The euro steadied against the dollar on Thursday, holding well on prospects of an interest rate hike next month and expectations that European policymakers have the will to resolve the debt crisis.

Headline News 23.03.11

US & GLOBAL 
• Bursa saham Wall Street mengakhiri kenaikan beruntun dalam 3‐sesi terakhir, meskipun saat ini investor sudah mulai melakukan penyesuaian
dengan berbagai kondisi ketidak‐amanan berkaitan dengan kejadian di Jepang, Timur Tengah dan Afrika Utara.Volume perdagangan mencapai
level yang terendah sepanjang 2011, dimana hanya sekitar 6.33 miliar lembar saham yang berpindah tangan di antara investor baik pada bursa
New York Stock Exchange, American Stock Exchange dan Nasdaq, menjadi salah satu indikator kurangnya keyakinan investor mengambil posisi
baru. Rata‐rata volume perdagangan harian saham selama 2011 adalah 8.08 miliar lembar saham per hari.
 
• Indeks Dow Jones <. DJI> turun tipis 17,90 poin atau 0,15% ke 12,018.63, S&P500 <SPX.> 4,61 poin atau 0,36% ke 1,293.77, dan Nasdaq <. IXIC>
turun 8,22 poin atau 0,31% ke 2,683.87.
 
• Emas tidak terlalu banyak berubah pada sesi Selasa sebagai dampak dari meningkatnya ekspektasi kenaikan suku bunga beberapa negara maju,
akan tetapi serangan udara Barat terhadap Libya dan meningkatnya kerusuhan politik di negara‐negara Arab lainnya masih mendukung
permintaan akan aset safe haven. Harga spot emas terakhir ditutup menguat tipis 0.1% ke 1425.95 USD per troy ounce <XAU=>.
 
• Harga minyak dunia kembali menguat setelah kerusuhan di Yaman menambah kekhawatiran pelaku pasar akan kelancaran pasokan minyak dari
wilayah Teluk dan berpotensi meluas ke Arab Saudi sebagai pengekspor minyak no. 1 dunia. Harga minyak mentah Brent untuk pengiriman Mei
<LCOK1> naik 74 sen ke 115,70 USD per barel. Sementara itu harga minyak mentah Crude AS untuk pengiriman April <CLc1> naik 1,67 USD ke 104
USD per barel.
 
• Euro sempat mencetak level tertinggi dalam kurun 4‐1/2 bulan terakhir terhadap dollar AS pada sesi Selasa 22 Maret di 1.4249. Para ekonom
memperkirakan proyeksi kenaikan suku bunga ECB masih akan terus mendukung kinerja mata uang tunggal Uni‐Eropa tersebut. Euro juga
mendapat sokongan dari adanya berita bahwa pemimpin‐pemimpin Uni‐Eropa telah menyetujui skema permanen dana bailout untuk kawasan
tersebut.
 
• Hingga akhir sesi New York, euro <EUR=> terakhir diperdagangkan melemah 0,2% ke pada 1,4199. Analis mengingatkan bahwa euro berpotensi tes
level 1.48 ‐ 1.51 dalam jangka waktu dekat, terutama didukung disparitas suku bunga antara ECB dan bank sentral lainnya (jika ECB menaikkan
suku bunga pada April mendatang). Dollar AS melemah 0,2% ke 80,90 yen <JPY=> dalam perdagangan dengan kisaran yang sempit antara 80,85‐
81,29 yen, beberapa ekonom menganggap intervensi gabungan untuk melemahkan yen cukup berhasil terutama dalam fokus untuk menurunkan
volatilitas pada perdagangan yen. Sterling naik 0,5% ke 1,6379 <GBP=> setelah rilis data inflasi Inggris Februari lalu melonjak ke level tertinggi
dalam 28‐bulan terakhir, menguatkan ekspektasi kenaikan suku bunga BoE. (

Stock index futures point to lower open on Wall Street

LONDON | Wed Mar 23, 2011 5:39am EDT

LONDON (Reuters) - Stock index futures pointed to a lower open for Wall Street on Wednesday, with futures for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq down 0.2-0.4 percent by 0923 GMT (5:23 a.m. ET).

Geopolitical worries were expected to continue driving near-term direction, including concern over the impact of the earthquake and nuclear crisis in Japan, and unrest in the Middle East and North Africa.

Further disruptions to supply chains were seen hitting individual companies in the wake of Japan's massive earthquake, with Sony (SNE.N) cutting output at five more plants and Toyota Motor (TM.N) saying it would keep assembly lines shut until at least Saturday.
Ford Motor (F.N), however, said on Wednesday it had felt no immediate impact or disruption from the earthquake.

Japan estimated direct damage from the earthquake and tsunami to be 16-25 trillion yen ($185-$308 billion), making it the world's costliest natural disaster.

Concerns over the euro zone debt crisis will again be in focus as Portugal's parliament was expected to reject government austerity measures in a vote scheduled for 1500 GMT, with Prime Minister Jose Socrates threatening to resign if the opposition rejected the proposals.

Violence in parts of the oil-rich Middle East and North Africa region, including Libya, Syria and Yemen lifted Brent crude futures to around $116 a barrel, reigniting concerns of inflationary pressure on fragile economic recovery.

Shares on Wall Street closed lower on Tuesday, snapping a three-day winning streak.
In company news, General Motors (GM.N) sold its preferred shares in auto lender Ally Financial Inc for $1 billion to strengthen its balance sheet.
In Europe, the FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top shares fell 0.2 percent in early trade.

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.

Headline News 18.03.11

US & GLOBAL

• Bursa saham Wall Street berhasil rebound setelah penurunan dalam 3‐sesi sebelumnya, namun kenaikan ini diperkirakan hanya berlangsung sementara karena
kekhawatiran mengenai krisis nuklir Jepang masih berlanjut. Aktifitas investor akhir‐akhir ini menunjukkan adanya peningkatan lindung nilai terhadap saham‐saham
yang turun dengan perdagangan opsi. Volume perdagangan cukup tipis dengan hanya 7,95 miliar lembar saham yang diperdagangkan pada bursa New York Stock
Exchange, American Stock Exchange dan Nasdaq, di bawah rata‐rata harian tahun lalu 8,47 miliar. Indeks Dow Jones <. DJI> naik 161,21 poin atau 1,39% ke 11,774.51,
S&P500 <. SPX> naik 16,81 poin atau 1,34% ke 1,273.69 dan Nasdaq <. IXIC> naik 19,23 poin atau 0,73% ke 2,636.05.


• Harga emas berhasil menguat terdorong oleh kombinasi dari penguatan harga minyak dunia dan penurunan dollar AS, meskipun volume perdagangan masih tipis
seiring kekhawatiran akan krisis nuklir Jepang. Harga spot emas <XAU=> naik 0,3% ke 1.403 USD per troy ounce.


• Harga minyak dunia menguat hampir 4% pada sesi Kamis seiring meningkatnya kekhawatiran eskalasi ketegangan geopolitik di Timur Tengah dan Afrika Utara.
Mentah Brent untuk pengiriman Mei <LCOc1> naik 4,3 USD ke 114,90 USD per barel atau naik 3,89%. Ini merupakan prosentase kenaikan harian terbesar sejak 23
Februari. Sedangkan harga minyak mentah Crude AS untuk pengiriman April <CLJ1> naik 3,5% ke 101,42 USD per barel.


• Yen mereda dari kenaikan ke rekor tertingginya terhadap dollar AS menjelang konferensi pers pertemuan antara menteri‐menteri keuangan negara‐negara G7 yang
diperkirakan akan melandasi aksi intervensi otoritas keuangan Jepang guna menahan laju kenaikan yen. Berdasarkan data Reuters, dollar AS sempat mencapai rekor
terendahnya terhadap yen ke 76.25 yen <JPY=>. Para pejabat di G7 dijadwalkan akan menggelar konferensi pers pada 05.00 WIB Jumat ini.


• Kantor berita Dow Jones mengutip sumber anonim yang menyatakan bahwa otoritas Jepang telah "siap tempur" untuk menahan laju yen. Sementara itu sumber di
G7 mengatakan bahwa G7 memang tidak akan menghasilkan kebijakan tertentu dalam pertemuan ini, namun merupakan aksi solidaritas untuk kondisi Jepang. Yen
telah menjadi sasaran pembelian baik investor institusi maupun individual sejak gempa pekan lalu, karena investor Jepang dan internasional memangkas posisi beli
terhadap instrumen investasi yang ber imbal hasil tinggi lainnya yang didanai dengan meminjam murah dengan yen. Ekspektasi bahwa perusahaan asuransi Jepang
dan perusahaan lainnya akan melakukan repatriasi untuk membayar klaim dan rekonstruksi juga membantu meningkatkan kinerja yen akhir‐akhir ini. Menteri
Keuangan Jepang, Yoshihiko Noda, menyalahkan aksi spekulan atas kenaikan tajam yen akhir‐akhir ini sembari menyatakan pihaknya mengamati kondisi pasar secara
seksama, sebuah tanda bahwa otoritas Jepang mungkin akan segera melakukan intervensi.


• Terdapat keraguan di sebagian analis mengenai efektifitas dari intervensi, mengingat pengalaman intervensi 2010 yang kurang efektif baik oleh BOJ maupun SNB.
Sementara pandangan lain megatakan bahwa kondisi sekarang akan berbeda dan intervensi akan lebih efektif jika dilakukan dengan dana yang besar. Euro mencapai
level tertinggi 2011 terhadap dollar AS ke 1,4053 <EUR=> terdorong membaiknya lelang obligasi Spanyol dan ekspektasi kenaikan suku bunga ECB. Euro tercatat
menguat 0,9% ke 1,4025. Dollar AS jatuh ke rekor terendahnya terhadap Swiss franc ke 0.8852 franc <CHF=>.


JAPAN
• Yen diperdagangkan kelevel tertingginya terhadap dollar AS Kamis lalu, berada dekat level yang trader khawatirkan dapat memicu aksi oleh Jepang untuk
melemahkan mata uang melalui intervensi pasar secara langsung.


• Dollar AS mencatatkan level terendahnya ke level 76.25 yen <JPY=EBS> hingga perdagangan Asia dibuka setelah break dari level terendahnya sebelumnya 79.75 yang
dipicu gejolak dari automatic sell orders. Kemudian rebound menuju 78.77 pada awal perdagangan New York, meskipun trader mengatakan tidak terdapat banyak
momentum dibalik pergerakannya.


• "We're in unchartered territory at these levels. We lack technical indicators, which makes it hard to establish levels (at which to go long dollars)," ungkap C.J. Gavsie,
director pada FX sales dari BMO Capital Markets di Toronto.


• Pasar Jepang tidak menjadi cukup stabil untuk menjamin intervensi mata uang bersama G7 atau pemerintah membeli saham‐saham, Menteri Ekonomi Kaoru Yosano
mengatakannya, menekankan bahwa kerusakan dari gempa bumi minggu lalu terhadap ekonomi negara akan terbatas.


• Yosano juga mengatakan pada Reuters dalam suatu wawancara bujet ekstra untuk mendanai bencana dan rekonstruksi ditetapkan melebihi apa yang telah Jepang
belanjakan setelah gempa bumi 1995 di Kobe, tetapi Tokyo seharusnya tidak memiliki permasalahan pembiayaan pembelanjaan tambahan.

G7 agrees joint intervention to restrain yen

SYDNEY | Thu Mar 17, 2011 9:35pm EDT

SYDNEY (Reuters) - The Group of Seven rich nations on Friday agreed to join in rare concerted intervention to restrain a run-away yen, hoping to calm global markets after a wild week of often panic selling.

The U.S. dollar immediately surged over a full yen to 80.73 yen, leaving behind a record low of 76.25 hit on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei share index climbed 2.5 percent, recouping some of the week's stinging losses.

The G7 agreement to jointly intervene to sell yen came as a surprise to many as sources had suggested they would only give Japan a green light to go it alone.
Japan's Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said the Bank of Japan had begun to sell yen at 12:00 a.m. GMT (8:00 p.m. EDT) and other central banks from the G7 would intervene as their markets opened.

"This is the first coordinated intervention that we have seen since 2000 so it's going to have a very huge resonating effect on the market," said Kathy Lien, director of currency research at GFT in New York.
"Because the only type of intervention that actually works is coordinated intervention and it shows the solidarity of all central banks in terms of the severity of the situation in Japan."
On Thursday, the yen soared to a record high of 76.25 per dollar, eclipsing its historical peak of 79.75 hit in the aftermath of the Kobe earthquake.

A strong yen could make it more difficult for the heavily export-dependent Japanese economy to recover from the triple blow of last week's earthquake, tsunami and nuclear threat. The damage toll is already estimated at up to $200 billion with Japan almost certain to slip back into recession.

G7 financial leaders may also be worried that a surge in yen repatriation could unsettle global markets, creating a crisis of confidence that spreads from Asia to Europe and the United States.

Investors were also keeping a wary eye on events in Libya as the United Nations voted to impose a no-fly zone over the country and use all necessary measures to protect civilians. French diplomatic sources said military action could begin within hours of the Security Council vote.
Oil prices were up over $2 a barrel on the decision, which was seen as risking prolonging the conflict in the North African nation.

HISTORY NOT IN G7's Favor

Still, if past is prologue, even massive official selling might not restrain the yen for long.
When Japan last intervened in September 2010 it sold a huge 2.1 trillion yen, or around $25 billion back then, but only managed to push the dollar up from 82.85 to 85.77 yen.
The shock value quickly faded and by late October the dollar was down around 80.00.

"History isn't on the G7's side," said John Normand, a forex analyst at JPMorgan, noting past acts of concerted intervention only worked when backed by central bank tightening.
In this case, there is almost no chance of the Federal Reserve tightening for months to come. The European Central Bank has signaled an intent to hike rates in April, but that might not help the dollar against the yen.
"The G7 can be a market mover initially, but it shouldn't be a trend-changer any more than the September 2010 yen intervention was," argued Normand.
The G7 comprises Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and United States.

HEIGHTENED ANXIETY

Late Thursday, President Barack Obama said the United States will do all it can to help Japan recover while playing down fears a drifting cloud of radiation could reach the U.S. West Coast.
Rising alarm over the unfolding disaster in the world's third-largest economy has sent shudders through markets, hitting shares and commodities, as investors sought the safe haven of government debt.

Japanese military helicopters and fire trucks doused an overheating nuclear plant in the northeast of the country with water on Thursday to try to limit the damage from the world's worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986.

The G7 call and Obama's statement suggest a heightened degree of concern among top policymakers at the threat posed by the disaster at a time when the global economy is still recovering from its worst downturn in nearly 80 years.
Europe continues to wrestle with a crippling debt crisis, and the Fed is buying up domestic government debt to safeguard a stop-start economic bounce back in the United States.

"I think the world economy is going to go right down, and it has happened at a time when financial markets are still fragile," said a G7 central banker who declined to be named.
Japan's triple disaster, unprecedented in a major developed economy, is already disrupting global manufacturing.

Makers of equipment for mobile telephones to car makers and chipmakers have warned of a squeeze on their businesses given Japan's crucial role in many supply chains that keep global commerce ticking over.
The technology sector felt an immediate impact after Friday's quake and tsunami since Japan makes around a fifth of the world's semiconductors.

Economists fear an extended slump for the world's third-biggest economy.
The sheer complexity of the damages makes it difficult to grasp the impact of the earthquake," says Kyohei Morita, an economist at Barclays Capital.

"Indeed, an analysis of the domestic real economy alone requires an assessment not only of building damages but also lifeline disruptions, planned blackouts/voluntary energy conservation and the state of nuclear power generation."

The Nikkei newspaper on Friday reported the government was considering mandatory power usage cuts for businesses and households to avert a major blackout in greater Tokyo.
The government also announced plans to issue 10 trillion yen in emergency bonds to fund reconstruction, adding to an already massive mountain of public debt.
Still, the effect on global growth may be more limited. BNP Paribas estimates the disaster will shave 3 percent from Japan's projected GDP this year. That would account for just 0.2 percent of world output.

Headline News 17.03.11

US & GLOBAL 
• Bursa saham AS jatuh ke teritori negatif dan mencatat penurunan terendah untuk 2011 ini menyusul dampak dari kekhawatiran bahwa krisis nuklir di Jepang akan terus menekan
sentimen bursa saham global. Ketidakpastian tentang kondisi Jepang membuat investor mengalihkan investasinya ke aset yang lebih aman seperti obligasi. Indeks Dow Jones
<DJI.> turun 242,12 poin atau 2,04% ke 11,613.30, S&P500 <. SPX> turun 24,99 poin atau 1,95% ke 1,256.88 dan Nasdaq <. IXIC> turun 50,51 poin atau 1,89% ke 2,616.82.
 
• Harga emas naik tipis dan gagal rebound dari penurunan tajam pada awal pekan ini. Investor bursa ekuitas yang panik terhadap kondisi global saat ini memutuskan menjual
kepemilikannya pada emas untuk menutupi kerugian pada perdagangan di bursa ekuitas. Harga spot <XAU=> emas naik 0,2% ke 1,399.30 USD per troy ounce.
 
• Harga minyak dunia naik 2% sebagai dampak dari respon keras pemerintah Bahrain terhadap para demonstran dalam kerusuhan yang kembali menyulut kekhawatiran akan
kondisi keamanan di Timur Tengah yang potensial menghambat pasokan minyak. Harga minyak Brent untuk April <LCOc1> naik 2.1 USD ke 110,62 USD per barel, berhasil
rebound dari penurunan harian terbesar dalam 13‐bulan pada sesi Selasa 15 Maret ke 107.35 USD per barel. Sementara itu harga minyak Crude AS <CLc1> naik 80 sen ke 97,98
USD per barel.
 
• Yen berhasil membukukan rekor tertinggi sepanjang masa terhadap dollar AS, karena meningkatnya kekhawatiran atas krisis nuklir di Jepang, dimana investor terus mengamati
apakah pemerintah Jepang akan segera mengambil langkah taktis guna membendung kenaikan mata uang tersebut. Dolar AS turun lebih dari 3.8% ke persen menjadi 77,60 yen
<JPY=>, menembus rekor terendah sebelumnya di 79.75 yang tercatat pada 19 April 1995. Pada perpindahan dari pasar New York ke pasar New Zealand ‐ Australia & pasar
Asia, USD/yen bahkan sempat tercatat melemah mendekati level 76.
 
• Para pejabat berwenang Jepang tengah berusaha keras untuk menangani krisis nuklir di Jepang dengan menempuh berbagai macam cara. Kepala pengawas nuklir dunia
mengatakan bahwa meskipun masih belum akurat untuk menyatakan kondisi yang saat ini terjadi di Jepang telah "berada di luar kendali" namun pihaknya menyatakan situasi
nuklir Jepang saat ini "sangat serius." Investor global telah melakukan pembelian besar‐besaran terhadap yen sejak gempa akhir pekan lalu, karena investor Jepang dan
internasional memangkas posisi beli terhadap mata uang dengan imbal hasil yang lebih tinggi dan aset beresiko lainnya seperti Aussie dollar, yang kebanyakan didanai dengan
pinjaman murah dengan yen Jepang.
 
• Pelaku pasar saat ini berharap otoritas Jepang akan melakukan intervensi guna menahan laju penguatan yen, karena dengan nilai tukar yen yang kuat akan membuat ekspor
Jepang kurang kompetitif dan memberikan tekanan lebih lanjut pada perekonomian. Terakhir kali otoritas Jepang melakukan intervensi di bursa mata uang dunia adalah pada 15
September 2010 dimana menghabiskan sekitar 22 milyar USD menjadi melemahkan yen, yang saat itu diperdagangkan mendekati level 83 per dolar. Dengan rally tajam yen
dalam beberapa hari terakhir ini, para analis memperkirakan gempa kemungkinan akan memaksa Bank of Japan untuk mempertahankan kebijakan moneter stimulatifnya lebih
lama, bahkan meskipun berbagai bank sentral utama dunia lainnya telah mengisyaratkan kesiapan untuk menaikkan suku bunga. Euro turun 1,8% ke 110,87 yen <EURJPY=> dan
turun 0,8% terhadap dollar AS ke 1,3887 <EUR=>. Dollar AS, mencapai rekor terendah terhadap Swiss franc ke 0.9072 franc <CHF=>.


JAPAN

• Yen mendekati level puncaknya terhadap dollar AS Rabu lalu, tetapi analis mengatakan ekspektasi Jepang akan mengintervensi untuk melemahkan mata uang jika akan menguat
kemungkinan memberikan kesempatan yang baik untuk buy the greenback.
 
• Dollar AS merosot ke level terendahnya dalam empat bulan pada level 80.45 yen <JPY=>, dan BNP Paribas technical strategist Andrew Chaveriat mengatakan dengan menembus
level terendahnya bulan November level 80.25 dan kemudian 80 dapat membawa ke level terendah berikutnya level 79.75 yang berada dalam jangkauan, untuk mengikuti level
berikutnya 77.05.
 
• Gempa dahsyat Jepang dan krisis nuklir yang mendalam dapat menghasilkan kerugian hingga $200 milyar pada negara ketiga ekonomi terbesar didunia ini tetapi pengaruh global
masih kuat dalam lima hari ini setelah tsunami besar menyapu pantai timur laut (Jepang).
 
• Perancis Rabu lalu mengatakan bahwa Menteri keuangan G7 dan bank sentral akan mendiskusikan pengaruh ekonomi dari gempa bumi Jepang, termasuk kemungkinan langkahlangkah
untuk menenangkan pasar finansial.

Yen powers to all-time high, Japan may intervene

TOKYO/SINGAPORE | Thu Mar 17, 2011 12:33am EDT

TOKYO/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The yen soared to a record high of 76.25 against the dollar on Thursday, reaching levels that may force more market players to unwind positions and test the resolve of Japanese authorities threatening intervention to stem currency strength.

A break through the previous record of 79.75 triggered a cascade of stop-loss and algorithmic selling of the dollar, sending the yen surging in illiquid trade in the hours between the U.S. and Asian trading days.
Dollar/yen clawed back to near 77.50 on buying by Japanese importers and some retail margin traders, but the huge earlier drop to the record was seen prompting other investors to shed long positions in higher-yielding currencies, traders said.

The Japanese margin traders were cited as one of the main factors behind the plunge in the dollar as stop-loss orders were triggered in their leveraged bets in currencies like the Australian dollar.
Just the day before, Japanese margin traders had built up long positions in dollar/yen totaling $2.8 billion, according to data from the Tokyo Financial Exchange. Total long positions in major currencies including dollar/yen were a record $8.25 billion.

Traders also said that foreign investors were scrambling to get hold of yen to settle margin calls on bets on Japanese shares deeply in the red, forcing them to turn to spot currency at times as well as forwards and cross-currency swaps.

With a high risk of Japanese authorities intervening if the yen rises further from current levels, some market players were waiting for an intervention-sparked spike in dollar/yen before unloading positions, traders said.
A stronger currency risks compounding Japan's economic troubles at a time when it is struggling to contain a worsening nuclear crisis, convincing many market players it was only a matter of time before Japanese authorities intervened against further yen strength.

Junya Tanase, foreign exchange strategist at JPMorgan Chase in Tokyo, said there was a feeling in the market that the moves had gone too far in a short period of time and intervention was likely.
"There is a real possibility that authorities would intervene to calm the markets, though I don't think it will be heavy," Tanase said.

Japan's finance minister blamed speculation for the yen spike and said he was closely watching markets, a warning that the Bank of Japan may soon be given the signal to buy dollars.
Group of Seven nations will discuss possible steps to calm markets roiled by Japan's crisis at 7 a.m. Tokyo time on Friday.
FX analysts at Citigroup said there was an "extremely high" risk of intervention in the next 24 hours.

While the escalating nuclear crisis and subsequent rush for safety was the initial spur for the yen surge, the move higher was almost all about positioning.
All sorts of exotic option and structured products were stopped out, on top of the unwind of the leveraged long trades held by the margin traders.
During the surge, traders said the market was disorderly. Liquidity evaporated and bids were pulled, leaving huge gaps in the charts.

"It's mayhem out there," said one trader at an Australian bank in Sydney. "The yen's been moving a big figure a second on occasions. A lot of people are crying out for the central banks to step in."
The dollar's collapse cracked the previous record of 79.75 struck in 1995 in the months following the Kobe earthquake.

The yen also flew on the crosses, jumping around 6 big figures on the Aussie to as far as 74.50 yen, a six-month high, before clawing back to 78.05 yen.
The Aussie has shed over 7 percent against the yen so far this week as investors sell it as proxy for risk and global growth.

An unwind of yen-funded carry trades has driven the Japanese currency higher all week, with few signs yet of the Japanese investor repatriation of funds in foreign assets that many are expecting to help cover costs from the crisis.
The cost of hedging against a further yen rise jumped, with implied volatility on one-month dollar/yen and Aussie/yen options reaching near 20 percent.

Japanese officials played down the risks of such repatriation on Thursday, with Economics Minister Kaoru Yosano saying the yen was driven by speculative moves and not repatriation.
"I would assume that certainly the carry trade is being unwound," said Dan Fuss, vice chairman of Loomis Sayles, which oversees $150 billion in assets.
The Aussie was at $0.9802 and fell as far as $0.9705 on Thomson Reuters Matching, a three-month low and a huge reversal from $1.0143 at the end of last week.

The euro/dollar pair was a relative sideshow at $1.3920.
Japan's nuclear crisis reached a new danger level as a U.S. official said one of the pools containing highly radioactive spent fuel rods at the stricken plant had run dry.

Breaking News 16.03.11

FOMC Meeting

Berikut statement dari sidang The Fed tanggal 15 Maret :

Informasi yang diterima sejak sidang The Fed di bulan Januari mengindikasikan bahwa pemulihan ekonomi masih terus berlangsung dan kondisi pasar tenaga kerja secara keseluruhan meningkat secara gradual.  Tingkat belanja dan bisnis investasi pada peralatan dan software (perangkat lunak) juga terus mengalami ekspansi.Namun sektor perumahan masih tertekan. Harga komoditas meningkat secara signifikan sejak musim panas, dan kekhawatiran terhadap berkurangnya pasokan minyak telah memicu kenaikan harga minyak dalam beberapa pekan terakhir. Kenaikan pada harga energi dan komoditas lainnya belakangan ini telah memicu naiknya inflasi, meskipun efek dari kondisi tersebut nampaknya hanya sementara saja. Namun komite akan memperhatikan dengan sungguh-sungguh evolusi inflasi dan ekspektasi inflasi yang akan berkembang. Komite akan terus mempertahankan target suku bunga di kisaran 0-0.25 persen dan akan terus memantau perkembangan ekonomi dan kondisi finansial dan akan menggunakan segala daya upaya untuk men-support pemulihan ekonomi dan mempertahankan kondisi inflasi pada level aman.

Headline News 16.03.11

US & GLOBAL 
• Bursa saham AS turun 1% namun berhasil ditutup menjauhi level terendahnya setelah pelaku pasar menyikapi secara positif pandangan The Fed mengenai
ekonomi yang cukup optimis dan munculnya keyakinan bahwa krisis nuklir Jepang hanya akan menekan saham‐saham secara temporer. Saham‐saham yang
berkaitan dengan nuklir (baik bahan baku maupun kontraktor reaktor) masih melanjutkan pelemahannya, disusul saham‐saham asuransi yang juga masih
melemah. Indeks Dow Jones <DJI.> turun 137,74 poin atau 1,15% ke 11,855.42, S&P500 <. SPX> turun 14,52 poin atau 1,12% ke 1,281.87 dan Nasdaq <.
IXIC> turun 33,64 poin atau 1,25% ke 2,667.33. Diperkirakan sejumlah 650 miliar USD dari valuasi pasar ekuitas global menyusut akibat tingginya
kekhawatiran pelaku pasar pada prospek aset beresiko termasuk saham‐saham yang dimiliki.
 
• Harga emas turun ke posisi terendah dalam 1‐bulan terakhir, namun berhasil bangkit dari level terendahnya tersebut setelah kekhawatiran pada krisis
nuklir Jepang kembali meningkatkan minat investor pada aset safe haven. Harga platinum juga turun tajam akibat berlanjutnya krisis nuklir di Jepang yang
berpotensi menurunkan permintaan industri otomotif negeri sakura tersebut. Harga spot emas <XAU=> turun 2,3% ke 1396.30 USD per troy ounce setelah
sempat anjlok hingga 1,380.90 USD per troy ounce, penurunan harian terbesar sejak 2‐bulan terakhir.
 
• Harga minyak Brent anjlok 4,5%, penurunan terbesar dalam 13‐bulan terakhir akibat krisis nuklir di Jepang yang menurunkan minat pada aset beresiko
meskipun bentrokan di Bahrain dan Libya berhasil menarik harga dari posisi terendahnya. Minyak Brent untuk pengiriman April <LCOc1> turun 5.15 USD ke
108,52 USD per barel, persentase penurunan terbesar sejak 4 Februari 2010. Sementara itu Crude berjangka AS untuk pengiriman April <CLc1> juga
mengalami penurunan hampir 4% ke 97,02 USD per barel setelah sempat anjlok ke 96,71 USD yang merupakan level terendah sejak 1 Maret silam.
 
• Yen menguat terhadap mata uang utama dunia lainnya, menuju rekor tertinggi terhadap dolar AS, sebagai dampak dari kekhawatiran akan bencana nuklir
di Jepang yang memicu aksi jual saham global dan komoditi serta mendorong investor untuk menjauhi aset berisiko yang didanai dengan yen. Dollar AS
turun 1,1% terhadap yen ke 80.71 yen <JPY=> setelah sempat anjlok hingga 80,60 yen, tak terlalu jauh dari level terendah sepanjang masa di 79.75 yen pada
1995 silam. Namun demikian, dollar AS berhasil bertahan secara stabil terhadap euro dan yen setelah The Fed mengatakan pemulihan AS mendapatkan
dukungan yang cukup dan meningkatnya tekanan inflasi membuat The Fed masih akan mempertahankan kebijakan moneter longgarnya.
 
• Jepang menghadapi potensi bencana lanjutan setelah gempa dan tsunami akhir pekan lalu, dimana sebagian besar pembangkit tenaga listriknya lumpuh
dan ledakan reaktor nuklir tersebut telah melepaskan radiasi tingkat rendah ke arah Tokyo. Kondisi tersebut mendorong investor mengalihkan aset
finansialnya untuk memenuhi persediaan kebutuhan pokok.
 
• Euro turun 1,1% terhadap yen ke 112,99 yen <EURJPY=>. Penguatan tajam yen sangat mencolok terutama terhadap mata uang yang ber imbal hasil tinggi
seperti Aussie dan New Zealand dollar. Aussie dollar merosot ke level terendahnya dalam 9‐pekan terakhir ke 0,9815 <AUD=> serta anjlok ke level terendah
dalam kurun 4‐bulan terakhir terhadap yen ke 79.23 yen <AUDJPY=>. Para asset managers, hedge funds serta klien baik korporasi maupun perorongan
mengambil posisi beli terhadap yen untuk pertama kalinya sejak Oktober silam. Meskipun tidak ada intervensi dari pemangku kebijakan Jepang, namun
perlu diwaspadai jika dollar AS turun dibawah level 80 yen yang diperkirakan akan memancing reaksi berupa intervensi dari BOJ untuk membendung
penguatan yen.

Japan stocks jump 6 percent, JGBs slide as nuclear fears

TOKYO | Tue Mar 15, 2011 9:29pm EDT

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese stocks rallied more than 6 percent on Wednesday after their worst two-day selloff since the 1987 crash, with some investors picking up battered shares even as many said the risk of a worsening nuclear crisis could hit the market further.

Traders said the gains were likely driven by market players, such as hedge funds, covering short positions in futures, as well as some buying by portfolio managers after the two-day battering down stocks down more than 16 percent.

"The rebound is pretty strong as investors realized they may have panicked a bit too much yesterday," said Fujio Ando, senior managing director at Chibagin Asset Management.
"But it's mostly short covering by both domestic and foreign players, and not honest, active buying, because nuclear worries are still strong," Ando said.

JGB futures slid more than half a point and 20-year yields jumped to a one-year high as bond dealers fretted that a long-term bond auction later in the day may have trouble finding buyers. Japanese insurers sold bonds on Tuesday to cover losses in their stock portfolios, traders said.

The yen dropped across the board, with the dollar pushing up to 81.10 yen but still not far from a record low of 79.75 hit against the Japanese currency in 1995. The Australian dollar jumped nearly 1 percent against the yen.

Traders are still keeping an eye out for Japanese companies and insurers selling their hefty foreign asset holdings and repatriate funds to cover costs from the nuclear crisis, quake and tsunami, a factor that could drive the yen higher.

Japan's Nikkei average was up 6.4 percent at 9,152 .N225 after having plunged 10.6 percent on Tuesday but was still down 11 percent from Friday's close. Osaka Nikkei futures were up 4.5 percent at 9,030.
The broader TOPIX pushed up 6.5 percent to 816 .TOPX.

Hedge funds were cited as aggressive sellers of Nikkei futures on Tuesday as the market panicked over reports of leaking radiation from the stricken Fukushima nuclear reactor and higher radiation readings near Tokyo. Domestic fund managers have largely stuck to the sidelines, traders said.

Bonds lost more ground. Ten-year JGB futures were down more than half a point to 139.71, while the 20-year yield shot up 7 basis points to a one-year high of 2.150 percent.
Japan's Ministry of Finance will sell 1.1 trillion yen ($13.4 billion) of 20-year bonds later in the day.

Headline News 15.03.11

US & GLOBAL 
• Bursa saham AS jatuh tertekan bencana gempa bumi di Jepang, namun demikian, selain kepada industri khusus seperti industri tenaga nuklir, dampak
gempa Jepang terhadap ekuitas diperkirakan tidak akan berlangsung lama. Meskipun melemah, namun volume perdagangan sangat rendah dibandingkan
dengan sesi perdagangan yang di dominasi aksi jual lainnya, dimana hanya 7,68 miliar lembar saham yang diperdagangkan di New York Stock Exchange,
American Stock Exchange dan Nasdaq, di bawah rata‐rata harian tahun lalu sebesar 8,47 miliar. Pelemahan tajam bursa akhir‐akhir ini biasanya dibarengi
dengan penjualan saham dengan volume yang tinggi. Pelabuhan Jepang menangani sekitar 7% dari produk industri negara tersebut yang tengah mengalami
kerusakan besar, dengan demikian maka kondisi ini cukup mengganggu arus pengiriman barang secara global. Indeks Dow Jones <. DJI> turun 51,24 poin
atau 0,43% ke 11,993.16, S&P500 <. SPX> turun 7,89 poin atau 0,60% ke 1,296.39 dan Nasdaq <. IXIC> turun 14.64 poin atau 0,54% ke 2,700.97.
 
• Harga emas naik terdorong krisis nuklir di Jepang dan kerusuhan politik yang meningkat di kawasan Arab yang memicu pembelian aset safe haven. Emas juga
mendapat manfaat dari pelemahan dollar AS terhadap mata uang utama dunia lainnya, tetapi analis mengatakan pembelian dibatasi oleh ketidakpastian
mengenai apakah arus repatriasi yen akan terus berlanjut. Total perdagangan berjangka di bursa COMEX hanya sepertiga di bawah rata‐rata perdagangan
dalam 30‐hari. Harga emas <XAU=> naik 0.5% ke 1,424.71 USD per troy ounce.
 
• Harga minyak mentah tidak banyak berubah dalam sesi perdagangan yang cukup volatile. Berlanjutnya pelemahan harga minyak dunia tertahan oleh isu
kerusuhan Timur Tengah dan menguatnya harga distilat berjangka yang terangkat oleh ekspektasi naiknya impor bahan bakar Jepang untuk menutupi
ditutupnya kilang minyak akibat gempa. Harga minyak minyak mentah Brent untuk pengiriman April <LCOc1> turun 17 sen ke 113,67 USD per barel,
sedangkan minyak mentah Crude AS untuk pengiriman April <CLc1> naik 3 sen ke 101,19 USD per barel, setelah sempat menembus level 98,47 USD ‐ harga
intraday terendah sejak 01 Maret.
 
• Dollar AS anjlok terhadap yen pada sesi perdana awal pekan ini, dan diperkirakan akan terus melemah untuk mencoba menembus level terendah sepanjang
masa menyusul maraknya aksi repatriasi oleh perusahaan‐perusahaan dan perusahaan asuransi asal Jepang untuk menangani klaim asuransi dan biaya
rekontruksi berkaitan dengan bencana gempa yang melanda. Dollar AS sempat turun ke level 80.60 yen, mendekati level terendah sepanjang masa di 79.75
yang terjadi pada 1995 silam.
 
• Hingga akhir sesi New York, dollar AS tercatat melemah 0.3% ke 81.67 yen <JPY=>, setelah sempat rebound ke 82.43 yen menyusul aksi intervensi dari BOJ
yang menaikkan skema pembelian asetnya menjadi 10 triliun yen dan mengucurkan likuiditas ke perbankan sebagai salah satu upaya untuk menstabilkan
ekonomi yang terdampak dari gempa terbesar sepanjang sejarah.
 
• Euro tercatat menguat 0,6% terhadap dollar AS ke 1.3994, mendapat sokongan dari tercapainya persetujuan antara pemimpin‐pemimpin Uni‐Eropa di
Brussels guna dalam hal dana bailout dan pinjaman murah. Euro sempat menguat hingga level 1.4003 terdorong komentar dari Chairman Eurogroup ‐ Jean‐
Claude Juncker yang menyatakan bahwa telah terjadi peningkatan tekanan inflasi secara signifikan – komentar yang mendukung proyeksi kenaikan suku
bunga yang selama ini didengungkan pejabat ECB. Pada sesi in pelaku perhatian pelaku pasar akan tertuju pada sidang The Fed terutama berfokus pada
bagaimana The Fed akan membantu pemerintah mengatasi pengangguran dan pemulihan ekonomi secara umum.

Radioactive levels "significantly" higher after plant blasts

FUKUSHIMA, Japan | Mon Mar 14, 2011 11:45pm EDT

FUKUSHIMA, Japan (Reuters) - Japan's prime minister warned that radioactive levels had become "significantly" higher around an earthquake-stricken nuclear power plant on Tuesday after explosions at two reactors, and the French embassy said a low level radioactive wind could reach Tokyo in 10 hours.

Naoto Kan urged people within 30 km (18 miles) of the facility north of Tokyo to remain indoors, underscoring the dramatic worsening of Japan's nuclear crisis, the world's most serious since the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine in 1986.

"There has been a fire at the No. 4 reactor and radiation levels in the surrounding area have heightened significantly. The possibility of further radioactive leakage is heightening," a grim-faced Kan said in an address to the nation.
"We are making every effort to prevent the leak from spreading. I know that people are very worried but I would like to ask you to act calmly."

The French embassy in the capital warned in an advisory that a low level of radioactive wind could reach Tokyo -- 240 km (150 miles) south of the plant -- in about 10 hours.
Winds over the facility are blowing slowly in a southwesterly direction that includes Tokyo but will shift westerly later on Tuesday, a weather official said.

The reactor operator asked the U.S. military for help, while Kyodo news agency said radiation levels nine times normal levels had been briefly detected in Kanagawa near Tokyo.
As concern about the crippling economic impact of the double disaster mounted, Japanese stocks plunged nearly 9.0 percent to their lowest level in nearly two years, compounding a drop of 7.6 percent the day before. The two-day fall has wiped more than $500 billion off the market.

There have been a total of four explosions at the plant since it was damaged in last Friday's massive earthquake and tsunami. The most recent were blasts at reactors No. 2 and No. 4 earlier on Tuesday.
Authorities had previously been trying to prevent meltdowns in the Fukishima Daiichi complex's nuclear reactors by flooding the chambers with sea water to cool the reactors down down.
Air China said it had canceled flights from Beijing and Shanghai to Tokyo.

In Tokyo, travel agents said there had been a rise in inquiries from foreigners seeking to leave the country, but local residents were cancelling vacations abroad saying now was not the time to travel. The capital's Narita airport said there had been no surge in passenger traffic.
There has been panic buying in Tokyo.

Don Quixote, a multi-storey, 24-hour general store in Tokyo's Roppongi district, sold out of radios immediately after the quake. It also sold out of flashlights, candles, gasoline containers and sleeping bags.
The full extent of the destruction wreaked by last Friday's massive quake and tsunami that followed it was still becoming clear, as rescuers combed through the region north of Tokyo where officials say at least 10,000 people were killed.
 Kan has said Japan is facing its worst crisis since World War Two and, with the financial costs estimated at up to $180 billion, analysts said it could tip the world's third-biggest economy back into recession.
The U.S. Geological Survey upgraded the quake to magnitude 9.0, from 8.9, making it the world's fourth most powerful since 1900.
Car makers, shipbuilders and technology companies worldwide scrambled for supplies after the disaster shut factories in Japan and disrupted the global manufacturing chain.

BLAST DAMAGES ROOF, WORKERS TOLD TO LEAVE

The fear at the Fukushima plant is of a major radiation leak after the quake and tsunami knocked out cooling systems.
Jiji news agency said the first explosion on Tuesday damaged the roof and steam was rising from the complex. Some workers were also told to leave the plant, a development one expert had warned beforehand could signal a worsening of the crisis.

The worst nuclear accident since the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine in 1986 has drawn criticism that authorities were ill-prepared and revived debate in many countries about the safety of atomic power.
"You're above Three Mile Island but you're nowhere near a Chernobyl ... Chernobyl there was no impediment to release, it just blew everything out into the atmosphere," said Murray Jennex, professor at San Diego State University in California.

"You've still got a big chunk of the containment there holding most of it in."
Switzerland put on hold some approvals for nuclear power plants and Germany said it was scrapping a plan to extend the life of its nuclear power stations. The White House said U.S. President Barack Obama remained committed to nuclear energy.

Whilst the Fukuskima plant's No.1 and No.3 reactors both suffered partial fuel rod meltdowns, operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) had earlier said the No.2 reactor was now the biggest concern.
A sudden drop in cooling water levels when a pump ran out of fuel had fully exposed the fuel rods for a time, an official said. This could lead to the rods melting down and a possible radioactive leak.

TEPCO had resumed pumping sea water into the reactor early on Tuesday.
U.S. warships and planes helping with relief efforts moved away from the coast temporarily because of low-level radiation. The U.S. Seventh Fleet described the move as precautionary.
South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Philippines said they would test Japanese food imports for radiation.

TOWNS FLATTENED

About 850,000 households in the north were still without electricity in near-freezing weather, Tohuku Electric Power Co. said, and the government said at least 1.5 million households lack running water. Tens of thousands of people were missing.

"The situation here is just beyond belief, almost everything has been flattened," said the Red Cross's Fuller in Otsuchi, a town all-but obliterated. "The government is saying that 9,500 people, more than half of the population, could have died and I do fear the worst."
Whole villages and towns have been wiped off the map by Friday's wall of water, triggering an international humanitarian effort of epic proportions.

"When the tsunami struck, I was trying to evacuate people. I looked back, and then it was like the computer graphics scene I've seen from the movie Armageddon. I thought it was a dream . it was really like the end of the world," said Tsutomu Sato, 46, in Rikuzantakata, a town on the northeast coast.
Estimates of the economic impact now starting to emerge.

Hiromichi Shirakawa, chief economist for Japan at Credit Suisse, said in a note to clients that the economic loss will likely be around 14-15 trillion yen ($171-183 billion) just to the region hit by the quake and tsunami.
Even that would put it above the commonly accepted cost of the 1995 Kobe quake which killed 6,000 people.

The earthquake has forced many firms to suspend production and global companies -- from semiconductor makers to shipbuilders -- face disruptions to operations after the quake and tsunami destroyed vital infrastructure, damaged ports and knocked out factories.
"The earthquake could have great implications on the global economic front," said Andre Bakhos, director of market analytics at Lec Securities in New York. "If you shut down Japan, there could be a global recession."

Headline News 14.03.11

U.S. & GLOBAL 
• Gempa besar Jepang dan tsunami menghancurkan harga komoditas pada hari Jumat, namun kekhawatiran investor kemudian mereda
setelah mereka kembali menaksir dampak dari bencana tersebut terhadap kondisi ekonomi negara terbesar ketiga dunia tersebut.
 
• Di awal sesi, pasar sempat terpukul setelah siaran televisi menunjukkan kerusakan di bagian timur laut Jepang setelah gempa terbesar
melanda negara itu yang menyebabkan sedikitnya 1.000 orang meninggal dunia. Namun optimisme pasar kembali bangkit seiring
pembangunan kembali Jepang bisa berpengaruh baik untuk kondisi pasar secara umum.
 
• Caterpillar Inc dan produsen alat berat lainnya melihat kenaikan pada saham mereka, dan emas berbalik menguat setelah dolar AS
melemah terhadap euro.
 
• Yen melambung setelah gempa berkekuatan 8,9 memicu minat terhadap mata uang berimbal hasil lebih rendah. Mata uang Jepang bisa
naik lagi minggu depan (minggu ini) jika perusahaan asuransi berebut untuk mendapatkan uang tunai dengan menjual aset asing, seperti
obligasi pemerintah AS.
 
• Gempa terdahsyat dalam kurun waktu 140 tahun lalu, memicu sedikitnya 80 kebakaran di kota‐kota pesisir dan sejumlah kota besar
lainnya. Pembangkit listrik tenaga nuklir Jepang dan kilang minyak ditutup menyusul satu kilang terbakar.
 
• Harga minyak mentah AS turun di bawah $100 sebelum akhirnya rebound tipis dan memangkas kerugiannya. Jepang merupakan negara
konsumen minyak terbesar ketiga dunia dan mengimpor hampir semua kebutuhan energinya.
 
• Indeks saham global MSCI jatuh ke level terendah 5 pekan namun kemudian berhasil naik 0,2% di akhir sesi.
 
• Gempa telah menutup sejumlah kilang minyak dan fasilitas industri lainnya di Jepang, sehingga menyebabkan turunnya harga minyak.
North Sea Brent mencatat penurunan mingguan pertamanya dalam 7 pekan terakhir, dengan minyak mentah AS berakhir melemah untuk
minggu pertama dalam 4 minggu terakhir. Pasar minyak juga memonitor rencana aksi protes di negara eksportir minyak Arab Saudi dan
kekerasan di Libya, di mana ekspor minyak telah terganggu.
 
• Sementara itu bursa saham Eropa jatuh ke level penutupan terendah 2011, dengan saham asuransi yang paling terpukul, tetapi saham AS
naik, dipimpin oleh kenaikan 1,6% pada indeks energi S & P dan indeks saham penyulingan minyak.
 
• Wall Street juga terangkat oleh kenaikan 1,0% penjualan ritel AS pada bulan Februari, keuntungan terbesar dalam empat bulan, setelah
konsumen meningkatkan pembelian mobil, pakaian dan barang lainnya, dan bahkan karena mereka menghabiskan lebih banyak uang
untuk mengkonsumsi bensin.
 
• Indeks Dow Jones <. DJI> ditutup naik 59,79 poin atau 0,50%, di 12.044,40. Index Standard & Poor's 500 naik <SPX.> 9,17 poin atau 0,71%
pada 1.304,28. Nasdaq Composite Index <. IXIC> bertambah 14,59 poin atau 0,54%, pada 2.715,61.
 
• Dolar turun 1,2% menjadi 81,87 yen, penurunan terbesar satu hari sejak 3 Desember, sementara yen juga rally terhadap pound, euro dan
franc Swiss.
 
• Emas juga terangkat oleh berita gempa Jepang dan gejolak Timur Tengah. Sedangkan harga obligasi AS jatuh di tengah kekhawatiran
bahwa perusahaan asuransi Jepang mungkin perlu untuk menjual obligasi untuk membayar ganti rugi.

Blast at stricken Japan plant, new tsunami heads for

FUKUSHIMA, Japan | Sun Mar 13, 2011 10:54pm EDT

FUKUSHIMA, Japan (Reuters) - A hydrogen explosion rocked the earthquake-stricken nuclear plant in Japan where authorities have been working desperately to avert a meltdown, while media said a fresh tsunami was heading for the same coastline that was hit last week.

Japan's nuclear agency confirmed there was an explosion at the No. 3 reactor of the Daiichi plant in Fukushima, and TV images showed smoke rising from the facility, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo.
Officials said they could not immediately confirm whether the blast had caused a radioactive leak.

Operators had earlier halted injection of sea water into the reactor, resulting in a rise in radiation levels and pressure. The government had warned that an explosion was possible because of the buildup of hydrogen in the building housing the reactor.

Japan battled through the weekend to prevent a nuclear catastrophe and to care for the millions without power or water in its worst crisis since World War Two, after a huge earthquake and tsunami that likely killed more than 10,000 people.

A badly wounded nation has seen whole villages and towns wiped off the map by a wall of water, leaving in its wake an international humanitarian effort of epic proportions.

Kyodo quoted authorities as saying the new tsunami could be up to a height of three meters and issued an alert for the country's Pacific coast, including Fukushima prefecture.
As the country returned to work on Monday, markets began estimating the huge economic cost, with Japanese stocks plunging around 5 percent and the yen falling against the dollar.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan said the situation at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant remained worrisome and that the authorities were doing their utmost to stop damage from spreading.

"The earthquake, tsunami and the nuclear incident have been the biggest crisis Japan has encountered in the 65 years since the end of World War Two," a grim-faced Kan had told a news conference on Sunday.
"We're under scrutiny on whether we, the Japanese people, can overcome this crisis."
Officials confirmed on Sunday that three nuclear reactors north of Tokyo were at risk of overheating, raising fears of an uncontrolled radiation leak.

Engineers worked desperately to cool the fuel rods in the damaged reactors. If they fail, the containers that house the core could melt, or even explode, releasing radioactive material into the atmosphere.
The world's third-biggest economy also faced rolling power blackouts to conserve energy, and Tokyo commuters reported long delays as train companies cut back services.

DEATH TOLL "ABOVE 10,000"

Broadcaster NHK, quoting a police official, said more than 10,000 people may have been killed as the wall of water triggered by Friday's 8.9-magnitude quake surged across the coastline, reducing whole towns to rubble. It was the biggest to have hit the quake-prone country since it started keeping records 140 years ago.
"I would like to believe that there still are survivors," said Masaru Kudo, a soldier dispatched to Rikuzentakata, a nearly flattened town of 24,500 people in far-northern Iwate prefecture.

Kyodo said 80,000 people had been evacuated from a 20-km (12-mile) radius around the stricken nuclear plant, joining more than 450,000 other evacuees from quake and tsunami-hit areas in the northeast of the main island Honshu.

Almost 2 million households were without power in the freezing north, the government said. There were about 1.4 million without running water.
 "I am looking for my parents and my older brother," Yuko Abe, 54, said in tears at an emergency center in Rikuzentakata.
"Seeing the way the area is, I thought that perhaps they did not make it. I also cannot tell my siblings that live away that I am safe, as mobile phones and telephones are not working."

NUCLEAR CRISIS

The most urgent crisis centers on the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex, where authorities said they had been forced to vent radioactive steam into the air to relieve reactor pressure.
The complex was rocked by a first explosion on Saturday, which blew the roof off a reactor building. The government had said further blasts would not necessarily damage the reactor vessels.

Operator TEPCO said on Monday it had reported a rise in radiation levels at the complex to the government. On Sunday the level had risen slightly above what one is exposed to for a stomach X-ray, the company said.
Authorities had been pouring sea water in two of the reactors at the complex to cool them down.

Nuclear experts said it was probably the first time in the industry's 57-year history that sea water has been used in this way, a sign of how close Japan may be to a major accident.
"Injection of sea water into a core is an extreme measure," Mark Hibbs of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "this is not according to the book."

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said there might have been a partial meltdown of the fuel rods at the No. 1 reactor, where Saturday's blast took place, and there was a risk of an explosion at the building housing the No. 3 reactor, but that it was unlikely to affect the reactor core container.

A Japanese official said 22 people have been confirmed to have suffered radiation contamination and up to 190 may have been exposed. Workers in protective clothing used handheld scanners to check people arriving at evacuation centers.

"NOT ANOTHER CHERNOBYL"

The nuclear accident, the worst since Chernobyl in Soviet Ukraine in 1986, sparked criticism that authorities were ill-prepared for such a massive quake and the threat that could pose to the country's nuclear power industry.

Prime Minister Kan on Sunday sought to allay radiation fears: "Radiation has been released in the air, but there are no reports that a large amount was released," Jiji news agency quoted him as saying. "This is fundamentally different from the Chernobyl accident."

Kan said food, water and other necessities such as blankets were being delivered by vehicles but because of damage to roads, authorities were considering air and sea transport.
Thousands spent another freezing night huddled in blankets over heaters in emergency shelters along the northeastern coast, a scene of devastation after the quake sent a 10-meter (33-foot) wave surging through towns and cities in the Miyagi region, including its main coastal city of Sendai.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

The earthquake has forced many firms to suspend production and shares in some of Japan's biggest companies tumbled on Monday, with Toyota Corp dropping around 7 percent. Shares in Australian-listed uranium miners also dived.

Already saddled with debts twice the size of its $5 trillion economy and threatened with credit downgrades, the government is discussing a temporary tax rise to fund relief work.
Analysts expect the economy to suffer a hit in the short-term, then get a boost from reconstruction activity.

"When we talk about natural disasters, we tend to see an initial sharp drop in production ... then you tend to have a V-shaped rebound. But initially everyone underestimates the damage," said Michala Marcussen, head of global economics at Societe Generale.

Ratings agency Moody's said on Sunday the fiscal impact of the earthquake would be temporary and have a limited play on whether it would downgrade Japan's sovereign debt.
Risk modeling company AIR Worldwide said insured losses from the earthquake could reach nearly $35 billion.

The Bank of Japan has said it would pump cash into the banking system to prevent the disaster from destabilizing markets.
It is also expected to signal its readiness to ease monetary policy further if the damage threatens a fragile economic recovery.

Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said authorities were closely watching the yen after the currency initially rallied on expectations of repatriations by insurers and others. The currency later reversed course in volatile trading.

The earthquake was the fifth most powerful to hit the world in the past century. It surpassed the Great Kanto quake of September 1, 1923, which had a magnitude of 7.9 and killed more than 140,000 people in the Tokyo area.

The 1995 Kobe quake killed 6,000 and caused $100 billion in damage, the most expensive natural disaster in history. Economic damage from the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was estimated at about $10 billion.