Source: Yahoo Finance

Strong earnings and a slide in the dollar sent stocks to fresh five-month highs this session. Some of the gains were surrendered into the close, though.

Buying was initially stirred by better-than-expected earnings from bellwethers Intel (INTC 19.24, -0.53) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM 39.84, -0.56). Though neither name actually advanced, their announcements were enough to add to the stock market’s recent momentum, which has seen the S&P 500 close higher for four straight sessions.

JPM wasn’t the only name that was rejected among banks. Their general weakness left the financial sector to finish flat. Tech (+0.9%) was actually led by Apple (AAPL 300.14, +1.60), which broke above the $300 mark to set a record high.

Positive market breadth had taken the Volatility Index (VIX) down to its lowest level since April, but the VIX rebounded as stocks drifted lower into the close. Though stocks finished off of their session highs, advancing issues still outnumbered advancers by 4-to-1 in the S&P 500. Share volume was also strong, in that nearly 1.3 billion shares were traded on the NYSE today. Outside of the final session of the third quarter, today’s total is the greatest of the past month.

Personal opinion: I believe investors and (esp) traders should be nimble in the market and should trim their long positions. There are three signs which seem troubling to me.

Firstly, VIX has fallen to 19.07 yesterday, below the historical average near 20 on investor hopes for robust corporate earnings and potential economic stimulus. This is a level unseen since late April before the selloff in May. Although there is no reason liquidate all long positions based solely on this measure, it is good to be nimble in this market.

08.00 am – AUD – MI Inflation Expectations

08.30 pm – USD – Unemployment Claims

08.30 pm – USD – Trade Balance

1. Import prices for September decreased 0.3% from the prior month. That makes for a sharp downturn from the 0.6% monthly increase that had been recorded in August. Excluding oil, import prices for September actually increased 0.3% month-over-month. That increase is consistent with what was seen in the prior month.

Source: Briefing.com

14 Oct             after market closes                    Advanced Micro Devices / Google

15 Oct             before market opens                 General Electric / Infosys / Mattel

Asian: Asian stock markets ended mostly higher Wednesday, with Hong Kong’s market rising to a 28-month high while Japanese stocks gained after upbeat machinery orders data.

Sentiment in the region received a boost after the minutes of the September Federal Open Market Committee meeting released Tuesday only served to reinforce the view that the central bank would soon adopt more quantitative easing measures.

Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average added 0.2%, Australia’s S&P/ASX finished flat and South Korea’s Kospi tacked on 0.4%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.5%, while China’s Shanghai Composite gained 0.7%.

China’s shares ended at a more than five-month high, led by property developers and banks as trade and foreign exchange reserves data added to the likelihood that the yuan will continue to appreciate, which could inflate asset prices and draw more funds into the country.

STI: Singapore shares ended Wednesday at their highest level this year, buoyed by regional gains amid fresh indications overnight that the U.S. Federal Reserve will announce steps to stimulate the world’s biggest economy.

The benchmark 30-share Straits Times Index rose 1.7%, or 52.80 points, to 3,202.16. Gainers outnumbered losers 423 to 112 and last minute buying boosted trading volume to 2.48 billion shares worth S$2.33 billion, higher than 1.91 billion shares on Tuesday.

Personal opinion: As predicted, STI closed on an extremely strong note yesterday at 3,202. Although the long term is positive, there are some worrisome signs which investors have to be careful (as listed under “Personal Opinion” under US market section.

Current: 3,149.36

Support 1: 3,136

Support 2: 3,122

Resistance 1: 3,214

Resistance 2: 3,275

1. Japanese stocks were boosted by a surprise 10.1% on-month rise in August core machinery orders. A poll of economists by Dow Jones Newswires and Nikkei had tipped a fall of 4.5%.  

2. China’s trade surplus narrowed to $16.88 billion in September from $20.03 billion in August, below economists’ expectations of a $18.5 billion surplus. Also Wednesday, the central bank said financial institutions in China extended CNY595.5 billion worth of new yuan loans in September, up from CNY545.2 billion in August, and well above the median CNY500 billion forecast in a Dow Jones survey.

1. Miyoshi Precision Ltd. (MIYO SP): The Singapore-based maker of components for hard-disk drives said its full-year profit will be “significantly” lower than last year’s. Its shares were unchanged at $0.155.

2. Otto Marine Ltd. (OTML SP): The Singapore-based shipbuilder said it took over three vessels held by a company it jointly owns with Norway’s GC Rieber Shipping ASA and sold one for 24.1 million euros ($33.7 million). Otto Marine slid 1.34% to $0.375.

3. The provider of customized software solutions for banks said it won a contract valued at S$30 million from a company in Southeast Asia. The stock lost 1.4% to $0.350.

4. Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. (SPH SP): The biggest newspaper publisher in the city said it will fully restore staff salaries and pay a one-off bonus in January. The stock gained 0.7% to S$4.25.

Source: Various sources, eg. Reuters & analyst reports

1. NA.

*This is to highlight stocks which are worth to look into from a technical standpoint for a small punt (i.e. with smaller gains over a shorter period of time) It involves speculation and may not meet the needs of certain clients. In addition, this strategy involves cutting loss if necessary. Thus, this mentality may not be suitable for some clients. Furthermore, entry and exit levels may change depending on market and chart conditions. 

The CRB Commodity Index ended the session with a 0.6% gain, about half of what it had sported at its session high. The CRB’s best level of the day also made for a fresh two-year high.

Precious metals prices pushed sharply higher. The continuous gold contract hit a new record of $1374 per ounce before pit traded ended with gold priced at $1370.50 per ounce with a 1.8% gain. Silver prices set a fresh 30-year high at $23.98 per ounce before they settled with a 3.4% gain at $23.93 per ounce.

As for energy, oil prices finished the day at $83.01 per barrel with a 1.6% gain. Natural gas prices climbed 1.9% to $3.70 per MMBtu.

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