26 Mar 2012 UNITED STATES U.S. jobless claims fall 5,000 to 348,000. Applications for benefits at lowest level since February 2008. U.S. home sales fell in February, but upward revisions to January's pace and the first yearly increase in prices in 15 months suggested the recovery in the housing market remained on track. The U.S. Commerce Department reported housing starts fell last month while permits for future building rose to their highest level since October 2008. Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke said, While financial stresses in Europe have lessened, more work needs to be done to fully resolve the region s crisis. Dow Jones Industrial Average 13232.60 13080.70-1.15% S&P 500 1404.17 1397.11-0.50% NASDAQ 3055.26 3067.92 0.41% EUROPE Euro-zone PMI slid 0.6 to a three month low of 48.7 in March, raising concerns that improved financial-market sentiment is not leading to economic growth. German PMI fell from February but still at 51.4, signaled expansion in Europe s largest economy. The European Central Bank is falling behind on a 40bn asset purchase program launched at the height of Eurozone crisis, in a sign it could be dropped as a first step towards unwinding emergency support for the region s financial system. Greece s caretaker prime minister said Greece was determined to avoid another debt restructuring and its political leaders were prepared to put aside past differences to implement crucial structural and fiscal reforms. FTSE 100 5965.58 5854.89-1.86% DAX 30 7157.82 6995.62-2.27% CAC 40 3594.83 3476.18-3.30% 1
HONG KONG & CHINA HSBC flash PMI, the earliest indicator of China's industrial activity, fell to 48.1 in March from February's four-month high of 49.6. The mainland's Ministry of Commerce research institute said that consumption would overtake investment as China's biggest driver of economic growth in 2012 for the first time in more than a decade.. Hang Seng Index 21317.85 20668.80-3.04% Hang Seng CEI 11216.39 10658.07-4.98% Shanghai A 2518.78 2461.11-2.29% Shenzhen A 1027.90 996.64-3.04% EMERGING MARKETS Russia, the world s biggest oil producer, will increase its export duty on most crude shipments by 12 percent from April 1, the biggest gain in a year. Russian shares had their biggest weekly drop since December as reports showed manufacturing contracted in Europe and China. Brazil BOVESPA 1640.80 1648.20 0.45% India SENSEX 107.06 106.87-0.18% Russia RTS 3.86 3.81-1.26% MSCI Emerging Market Index 1063.34 1041.96-2.01% 2
ASIA PACIFIC Japan s trade surplus of 32.9 billion yen in February - the first surplus in five months - against a forecast for a 120 billion yen deficit. Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard s Labor party suffered its worst defeat at a state election in Queensland, deepening her challenge before a national ballot due in 2013. Thailand s Finance Minister gave a target for where the baht should trade at and urged the central bank to cut the benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point to help exporters, pushing the currency to a one-month low. Taiwan Weighted Index 8054.94 8076.61 0.27% Australia All Ordinaries 4364.71 4360.72-0.09% Nikkei 225 10129.80 10011.50-1.17% Korea KOSPI 2034.44 2026.83-0.37% Singapore Straits Times 3010.68 2990.08-0.68% Thailand SET 1189.56 1194.44 0.41% Philippine Composite Index 5145.89 5042.44-2.01% Indonesia JCI 4028.54 4041.56 0.32% Malaysia KLCI 1571.40 1585.83 0.92% COMMODITIES Saudi Arabia s oil minister declared that high oil prices were unjustified and vowing the nation boosts its output by as much as 25% if necessary. His statement sent oil prices lowered by more than 1%. Gold 67684.10 65813.00-2.76% Oil 17466.20 17361.74-0.60% Copper 1748.32 1668.41-4.57% 3
CURRENCIES AND FIXED INCOMES Brazil s real fell as the central bank s dollar purchases fueled speculation the government may be seeking to keep the currency weaker than 1.80 per dollar. UST 10 2.30 2.24-2.65% UST 30 3.41 3.31-2.84% EUR/ USD 1.3078 1.3197-0.91% USD/ JPY 83.41 82.31-1.32% GBP/ USD 1.5843 1.5866-0.15% USD/ CAD 0.992 0.998 0.60% AUD/ USD 1.0586 1.0455 1.24% MARKET FOCUS IN COMING WEEK Investors will get a better idea of how Americans feel about the economy via reports this week on consumer confidence and individual spending. Economists are watching to see if a jump in gas prices starts to weigh on the mind of consumers. When Americans have to spend more on fuel, they have less to spend on other goods and services. MSCI World Index 1320.96 1308.25-0.96% WEEKLY COMMENTS US job market kept delivering decent figures but housing market was not as strong as we think, loosening monetary policy must carry on and the door for further stimulus policy is still open. The International Energy Agency expected the leading economies will pay $1.5 trillion for oil import and it may tip the World economy back to recession. We would keep an eye on the dispute in Middle East and high oil prices. 4
ECONOMIC FIGURES TO BE RELEASED Date Country Event Estimate Previous 26 Mar Germany IFO - Business Climate (Mar) 109.6 109.6 27 Mar Germany Gfk Consumer Confidence Survey (Apr) N/A 6 US Consumer Confidence (Mar) 70.5 70.8 28 Mar Germany Consumer Price Index (MoM) (Mar) 0.3% 0.7% US Durable Goods Orders (Feb) 3.1% -4.0% 29 Mar Germany Unemployment Rate (Mar) N/A 6.8% Japan National Consumer Price Index (YoY) (Feb) N/A 0.1% Japan Unemployment Rate (Feb) 4.6% 4.6% Japan Industrial Production (YoY) (Feb) N/A -1.3% Japan Tankan Large Manufacturing Index (Q1) N/A -4 30 Mar Germany Retail Sales (YoY) (Feb) N/A 1.6% US Core Personal Consumption Expenditure - Price Index N/A 0.2% (YoY) (Feb) US Personal Income (MoM) (Feb) N/A 0.3% ECONOMIC FIGURES HAVE BEEN RELEASED Date Country Event Actual Previous 19 Mar US NAHB Builders survey (Mar) 28 29 20 Mar Germany PPI (Feb) 3.2% 3.4% US Building Permits (Feb) 717,000 682,000 US Housing Starts (Feb) 698,000 699,000 21 Mar US Existing Home Sales (Feb) 459,000 4.57m 22 Mar EMU Flash Composite PMI (Mar) 47.7 49.3 EMU Industrial New Orders (Jan) -3.3% -0.4% US Leading Indicator (Feb) 0.7% 0.2% 23 Mar US New Home Sales (Feb) 313,000 318,000 Source : Financial Express/ Financial Times/ FX Street 5
WEEKLY TOP 10 PERFORMENCES CATAGORY 1 weeks 1 month 3 months 6 months 1 year 3 years HKM Equity - Japan Small/Mid Cap 0.99-0.58 5.66 0.86-0.21 45.79 HKM Fixed Int - Sterling 0.92 1.17 2.33 6.48 6.28 41.08 HKM Fixed Int - Europe 0.44 0.18 5.9 2.83-1.44 20.65 HKM Fixed Int - Global 0.27-0.38 1.97 1.52 2.84 24.51 HKM Currency - Other 0.24-0.42 1.54 0-4.57 4.8 HKM Equity - TMT 0.1 2.74 15.32 21.41 5.15 86.84 HKM Fixed Int - US Dollar 0.06-0.25 1.6 1.83 4.98 28.62 HKM Currency - USD/HKD -0.04-0.05 0.13 0.56 0.6 0.62 HKM Fixed Int - High Yield -0.06 1.06 8.29 11.08 2.27 80.64 HKM Fixed Int - Asia Pacific -0.22-0.33 2.32 3.17 4.88 28.28 WEEKLY BOTTOM 10 PERFORMENCES CATAGORY 1 weeks 1 month 3 months 6 months 1 year 3 years HKM Equity - Emerging Europe -3.97 0.05 17.67 22.15-18.7 97.36 HKM Equity - Europe Single Country -3.37 0.58 17.47 25.75-14.59 88.75 HKM Equity - China -3.14-4.27 7.22 11.4-12.26 50.77 HKM Equity - Hong Kong -3.11-3.53 10.92 19.42-9.14 67.38 HKM Equity - Greater China -2.81-3.3 9.49 15.4-11.27 56.42 HKM Equity - India -2.72-6.34 16.75 3.19-14.46 89.78 HKM Equity - Emerging Markets -2.29-1.77 12.76 20.33-6.36 87.88 HKM Property -2.23-0.22 11.88 18.61-0.97 87.74 HKM Equity - Europe ex UK -2.09 0.38 13.55 23.88-9.81 47.75 HKM Commodity & Energy -2-4.6 5.54 7.95-12.49 47 Source : Financial Express The information shown in this article is neither a recommendation, an offer, nor a solicitation for any investment products or services. Investment involves risk. Past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance. The value of investments and income from them can fluctuate and is not guaranteed. Rates of exchange may cause the value of investment to go up or down. Investors may not get back the amount they invest. Individual stock price/figure does not represent the return of the investment products. Issuer of this material: Patrick Lam, Alroy Financial Services Ltd 6