Tuesday 16 September 2008

HSI Weekly Chart


HSI rebounded off 76.4% Fibo at 18035 today with a bullish star candlestick. Gap to close is 19157 and then test 61.8% Fibo at 20687.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Stocks take hit in Asia, Europe

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- Stocks declined in Asian and European markets on Tuesday, a day after Wall Street's worst day in seven years.

Japan's Nikkei index fell 4.9 percent, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell to its lowest point in nearly two years when it dropped by 5.5 percent, while a leading indicator of stock values in South Korea -- the KOSPI index -- went down 6.1 percent.

In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 was down 1.6 percent as was France's CAC-40 at 1.3 percent.

The Associated Press reported that the European central bank announced it would make more cash available in a bid to calm markets.

Stocks tumbled the day after earth-shaking news in the U.S. financial industry sent shock waves up and down Wall Street, raising fears in Asia that a decline in U.S. consumer spending could hurt export-driven economies in Asia.

Asian stock markets were closed Monday, so Tuesday's trading gave Asian traders their first opportunity to react to news from the United States.

The venerable Lehman Brothers investment bank announced Monday it would file for bankruptcy despite frantic efforts to save it.

However, AP reported Tuesday that British bank Barclays PLC confirmed that it is interested in acquiring some Lehman assets.

Barclays had been engaged in negotiations about a possible takeover of Lehman Brothers but pulled out over the weekend.

Barclays now says it is interested in Lehman assets that can be acquired on attractive terms, though it does not say which parts it might attract its interest. The company said in a statement that there is no assurance the discussions would result in any agreement.

Elsewhere, the Bank of America bought another Wall Street fixture -- Merrill Lynch -- in an all-stock deal worth $50 billion.

As a result of those dramatic developments, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 504 points, or 4.4 percent, on Monday. It was the biggest one-day decline for the Dow on a point basis since September 17, 2001, when the market reopened for trading after having been closed in the aftermath of September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. On a percentage basis, it was the biggest decline since July 19, 2002.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 4.7 percent, its worst day since September 17, 2001, when it plunged 4.9 percent. The S&P 500 also closed at its lowest point since October 27, 2005.

The Nasdaq composite lost 3.6 percent, its worst single-session percentage decline since March 24, 2003. It left the tech-fueled average at its lowest point since March 17 of this year.

"It was an ugly day," said James King, president and chief investment officer at National Penn Investors Trust Company. "Lehman's failure to find a suitor and Merrill deciding to cash in their chips before a similar fate could befall them really stoked the fears of the public."

Early trading raised concerns in Asia, said CNN's Kyung Lah, but Japanese government officials said the Japanese financial system will recover.

"It has been a very rough ride here in Japan," she said.

A major worry, she said, is that export-driven economies, such as the ones in Japan and China, will suffer in the financial crisis because people in the United States are spending less money on the consumer goods that many Asian countries produce.

"The impact here is going to be extreme if U.S. consumer spending continues to plummet," she said.

Across Asia, regulators moved to shore up their financial systems in the wake of the collapse of Lehman, AP reported.

The Bank of Japan injected 2.5 trillion yen ($24 billion) into money markets Tuesday, while South Korea's central bank said it was intensifying its market monitoring, the press agency said.

In China, the mainland central bank cut a key interest rate Monday for the first time in more than six years, as Hong Kong's monetary chief announced plans were in place to flush more cash into the banking system if necessary.