DAILY MARKET REPORT

05.02.2016

INTERNATIONAL MARKETS

Index Last Change DJIA 16,416.58 79.92 S&P 500 1,915.45 2.92 4509.559 5.32 NIKKEI 16,819.59 225.40 HANG SENG 19,275.55 92.46 DJ EURSTOXX 50 2,905.30 8.67 FTSE 100 5,898.76 61.62 CAC 40 4,228.53 1.57 DAXX 9,393.36 41.46

 US  Stocks close higher in choppy trade as oil slides  US December factory orders post biggest drop in a year  US productivity falls sharply in fourth quarter  US weekly jobless claims at 285,000 vs. 280,000 estimate

U.S. equities closed slightly higher in choppy trading Thursday as investors digested weaker-than-expected economic data and kept an eye on falling oil prices. Oil prices whipsawed Thursday, with West Texas Intermediate settling at $31.72 a barrel, down 1.7 percent, after rising more than 3 percent at session highs. U.S. equities closed slightly higher in choppy trading Thursday as investors digested weaker-than-expected economic data and kept an eye on falling oil prices. Oil prices whipsawed Thursday, with West Texas Intermediate settling at $31.72 a barrel, down 1.7 percent, after rising more than 3 percent at session highs. Meanwhile, U.S. jobless claims rose 8,000 to 285,000 last week, while economists were expecting a total of 280,000. Despite the increase last week, claims remained below 300,000, a level associated with strong labor market conditions, for the 48th-straight week. That is the longest run since the early 1970s. Factory orders for December fell 2.9 percent, the Commerce Department said. Economists were expecting a 2.6 percent fall. In corporate news, investors digested a slew of earnings reports from such as AstraZeneca, Cigna and Philip Morris, among others. ConocoPhillips also posted quarterly results, while at the same time slashing its dividend. The 's stock fell 8.57 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average closed 79.92 points higher, or 0.49 percent, at 16,416.5, with Caterpillar leading advancers and Nike the biggest laggard. The S&P 500 gained 2.92 points, or 0.15 percent, to close at 1,915.45, with materials leading four sectors higher and consumer staples lagging. The Nasdaq added 5.32 points, or 0.12 percent, to end at 4,509.56. U.S. Treasury yields fell, with the benchmark 10-year yield trading at 1.85 percent. The CBOE Volatility (VIX), widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, traded below 22. The Dow Transports gained 3.17 percent,

posting their best one-day performance since Aug. 1, 2013. Advancers led decliners 2 to 1 on the New York , with an exchange volume of 1.207 billion and a composite volume of 5.157 billion at the close.

 EUROPE & UK  European shares end down in choppy trade, led by Credit Suisse  FTSEurofirst 300 index ends down 0.15 pct in choppy trade  Europe cautious ahead of US jobs data

European shares fell on Thursday as weak U.S. data fed concerns that the world's biggest economy may be slowing down, with export-oriented auto stocks leading the decline and Credit Suisse tumbling after reporting a full-year loss. Losses, however, were limited by a rally in commodities which lifted miners and oil sector stocks. U.S. non-farm productivity slumped in the fourth quarter and jobless claims rose more than expected, data showed. That put added pressure on the dollar, which has been weakening as expectations for more U.S. interest rate hikes this year fade. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index ended down 0.15 percent after a choppy day, while the STOXX 600 index fell by 0.2 percent to 328.8 points. Swiss bank UBS cut its year-end target for the STOXX 600 by 8 percent to 400 points. Credit Suisse slumped 10.9 percent, the biggest loss in the FTSEurofirst 300 index. The bank posted its first full-year loss since 2008 after it booked a big impairment charge for its investment banking business under new Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam. European equities are expected to open lower on Friday as caution reigns ahead of new U.S. jobs data. The FTSE 100 index is set to open 4 points lower at 5,894, the German DAX down 20 points at 9,374 and the French CAC down 5 points lower at 4,224, according to IG. European equities are expected to retreat after the volatile trading sessions seen on Thursday and ahead of closely-watched U.S. payrolls data due on Friday. The figures could influence the hiking path the Federal Reserve's monetary policy committee takes on interest rates. Gloomy data and falling expectations for more Fed tightening this year has sent the dollar lower. Earnings are due from troubled Italian bank Monte di Paschi di Sienna, French bank BNP Paribas, carmaker Volvo and natural gas company BG Group.

 ASIA  Asia markets trade mixed as Nikkei extends losses  Toshiba predicted bigger loss as restructuring costs mount

Asian markets came under pressure on Friday, despite a positive finish on Wall Street overnight, as a newly weaker dollar brought fresh concerns. The dollar index, where the dollar is weighted against a basket of currencies, was at 96.58. In Japan, the Nikkei extended losses, appearing set for a five-day losing streak, with the index falling 2.15 percent on the back of a stronger yen. The dollar-yen pair fell to the 116-level, trading at 116.63 in afternoon trade; earlier this week, the pair was trading above 120. Japanese exporters were mostly down, with Toyota, Nissan and Honda seeing losses between 2.90 and 3.83 percent. Down Under, Australia's ASX 200 closed down 5.65 points, or 0.11 percent, at 4,974.70, with the financial sector losing 0.71 percent. Energy and materials sectors finished in positive territory, buoyed by gains in commodities. Across the Korean Strait, the Kospi opened down 0.28 percent before retracing losses to trade up 0.13 percent. In China, indexes gave up their small margin of gains on the final trading day ahead of the Lunar New Year, when

markets will remain closed for a week starting February 8. The Shanghai composite retraced gains to trade down 0.21 percent, while the Shenzhen composite traded 0.53 percent lower. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was up 0.53 percent. Mining stocks in Australia ended mixed, with and BHP Billiton gaining 3.20 and 4.85 percent, respectively, boosted by upticks in commodity prices this week. Smaller miners such as Atlas Iron and BC Iron saw losses of 7.69 and 1.30 percent respectively. In Japan, shares of Nikon traded up 4.77 percent, after initially surging as much as 7.47 percent, after the company reported a 28 percent increase in its net profit for April-December period. Toshiba shares plunged 11.84 percent as the company projected a bigger-than-expected loss in the middle of mounting restructuring costs, following a $1.3 billion account scandal last year. Reports said Toshiba predicted it would record a net loss of 710 billion yen ($6 billion) for the full fiscal year ending in March, up from their initial prediction of 550 billion loss. In Korea, Kakao shares were down 0.37 percent after see-sawing between gains of 0.91 percent and losses of as much as 1.19 percent. The technology company, which operates South Korea's dominant mobile messaging app, reported a net profit of 10.2 billion won ($8.6 million) in the fourth quarter, plunging some 80 percent from a year earlier. With earnings season under way in the region, companies that are set to announce their results today include Nippon Telegraph, Toyota and Sumitomo. Oil prices remained volatile, after gyrating between declines and gains of 5 to 8 percent this week. U.S. crude futures were flat at $31.74 a barrel in Asian hours, after falling 1.7 percent overnight. Globally traded Brent was down 0.26 percent at $34.37, following a 1.6 percent decline during U.S. trading hours. Energy plays were mixed, with Australia's Santos erasing early losses of 3.18 percent to close up 2.23 percent; Woodside Petroleum finished up 0.41 percent. In Japan, Inpex traded up 0.74 percent, while South Korea's S-Oil retraced losses to gain 0.96 percent. Hong Kong-listed shares of CNOOC were up 1.82 percent, while A-shares of China Oilfield traded flat.

Economic Release

 US

Event Previous Forecast

Trade Balance -$42.37B -$43.20B

Unemployment Rate 5.0% 5.0%

292K 190K Change in Non-farm Payrolls

DOMESTIC MARKET

Stocks Last Close Change Volume SOLIDERE A 10.04 10.04 0.00 0 SOLIDERE B 10.24 10.24 0.00 0 SOLIDERE GDR 10 10.35 0.35 732 HOLCIM 14.41 14.41 0.00 0 BLOM GDR 9.75 9.72 0.03 45260 BLOM BANK 9.4 9.4 0.00 5000 AUDI GDR 6.1 6.1 0.00 0 AUDI 6.1 6.1 0.00 10000 BYBLOS GDR 75 75 0.00 0 BYBLOS BANK 1.64 1.64 0.00 0

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

FX Spot NY Closing EUR 1.1192 1.1211 GBP 1.4535 1.4590 AUD 0.7181 0.7200 JPY 116.86 116.78 CHF 0.9944 0.9930 CAD 1.3738 1.3752 AMD 493.6500 493.4400 RUB 77.3734 76.8478 Commodities Spot Closing GOLD 1154.77 1155.6 SILVER 14.83 14.8575 CRUDE OIL 31.57 31.72

Market Summary

Commodities

Crude oil prices steady in thin Asian trading ahead of Lunar New Year Crude oil futures were steady in lackluster trading on Friday as Asian liquidity faded ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday across large parts of the region. International benchmark Brent crude futures were trading at $34.41 per barrel at 0539 GMT, a notch below their last settlement while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 6 cents at 31.78 a barrel. Traders said liquidity was low due to the Lunar New Year holiday which will last for most of next week. Oil prices have been extremely volatile since the start of the year, and in particular this week, as a string of bullish indicators like a slump in the dollar and potential talks on output cuts clashed with bearish reports of record U.S. crude inventories, higher output and a slowing global economy. Investment bank Jefferies said on Friday that U.S. crude prices had traded within a 19 percent band over the last week and with inter-day moves approaching 11 percent. U.S. crude inventories climbed 7.8 million barrels in the week to Jan. 29 to 502.7 million barrels. Gasoline inventories rose to a record high, soaring 5.9 million barrels to 254.4 million barrels. Brimming storage is contributing to an overall bearish market outlook as long as major producers don't reach an agreement on output, with China's economic slowdown now showing signs of spreading across the world.

Gold perched near 3-month high ahead of US jobs, eyes best week in 4 Gold was trading near its highest since October on Friday, on track for its strongest weekly gain in a month as the dollar was pressured by growing doubts the Federal Reserve can stick to its interest rate hike campaign. A shaky global economy has lifted buying interest in gold, making it among the best performing assets with a year-to-date gain of nearly 9 percent. Other precious metals rode on gold's rally, with silver and platinum also at multi-month highs. Silver is eyeing its best week since May last year. Focus is turning to the U.S. employment report due later in the day, with analysts saying a weaker- than-expected reading could stretch gold's rally. Spot gold was flat at $1,154 an ounce by 0211 GMT, after peaking at $1,157.20 on Thursday, its highest since Oct. 29. Gold has gained more than 3 percent so far this week, on course for its biggest such increase since early January. Bullion's upward momentum increased this week after a key Fed official said there was a need to consider tighter financial conditions and the weakening global outlook in framing U.S. monetary policy. That spurred gold bulls, thinking it would be tough for the Fed to raise interest rates again this year after hiking them in December for the first time in nearly a decade. Non-interest bearing gold is quite sensitive to U.S. monetary policy. Its recent upturn has prompted some analysts to have a more positive price outlook on the metal many had thought was bound to fall below $1,000 an ounce as the U.S. lifts rates. U.S. gold for April delivery eased 0.2 percent to $1,155 an ounce. Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, continued to rise, reaching 22.3 million ounces on Thursday, the most since late October. The unemployment rate is forecast to remain at a 7-1/2-year low of 5 percent. Spot silver was steady at $14.85 an ounce, near Thursday's three-month high of $14.91 and has gained 4 percent this week. Platinum dropped 0.7 percent to $901.74 an ounce, not far below a three-month peak, while palladium held close to a one-month top at $514.38.

FX

Dollar nurses losses as payrolls report looms

The dollar steadied in Asian trading on Friday but remained on track for weekly losses, as investors braced for U.S. employment figures later in the session for the latest clues on the outlook for the Federal Reserve's monetary tightening path. The greenback wallowed close to a two-week low against the yen, having erased its upward spike triggered a week ago by the Bank of Japan's move to adopt negative interest rates. The key nonfarm payrolls report is expected to show that employers added 190,000 jobs in January, according to the median estimate of 108 economists polled by . But figures released Thursday showed the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week, suggesting labor conditions could be weaker than many believe. Recently weak U.S. economic data, as well as dovish comments from New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley, have led investors to pare bets on a steady pace of Fed rate increases. Fed funds futures contracts on Thursday suggested traders were pricing in just a 10 percent probability of a Fed rate hike next month and a 41 percent chance by the end of the year, according to CME FedWatch. The dollar stood at 116.73 yen, flat from late North American trade but not far from Thursday's two-week low of 116.525 yen and poised for a weekly loss of around 3 percent. The euro edged down around 0.1 percent to $1.1198 after surging 1 percent overnight to $1.12390, its loftiest peak since October. The single currency was up about 3.4 percent for the week. The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against a basket of six major currencies, rose about 0.1 percent to 96.563 after dropping as low as 96.259 on Thursday, its lowest since October. Sterling, meanwhile, gave up some of its overnight gains. It had surged to a one-month high after comments from chief Mark Carney quashed talk that interest rates could be cut in the coming months and led to a squeeze of short-pound positions. Sterling was last trading down about 0.1 percent at $1.4571, from its Thursday high of $1.4672 but still on track for weekly gains of more than 2 percent. The Australian dollar slipped about 0.3 percent to $0.7179 after local retail sales data disappointed. But the Aussie remained on track to gain over 1 percent of the week, and not far from a one-month high of $0.7242 touched in the previous session. The Reserve Bank of Australia's quarterly report issued on Friday also lent some support to the nation's currency. The RBA continued to stress that any rate cut would depend on jobs data and whether recent financial market turmoil led toa weaker global economy.

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