Indeks Saham AS Lanjutkan Reli Pekan Lalu

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Saham AS naik melanjutkan penguatannya pekan lalu, karena optimisme kekuatan ekonomi terbesar di dunia dibayangi kekhawatiran krisis di Ukraina dapat meningkat.

Saham Apple Inc naik sebesar 1,2 persen terkait laporan bahwa perusahaan telah mengadakan pembicaraan dengan Comcast Corp, operator kabel terbesar di Amerika, guna membahas layanan live streaming dan on-demand televisi. Saham Herbalife Ltd melonjak sebesar 6,7 persen setelah sepakat untuk mencalonkan tiga orang diusulkan oleh miliarder Carl Icahn ke dewan direksi.

Indeks Standard & Poor 500 naik sebesar 0,2 persen ke level 1,869.38 pukul 09:30 pagi di New York. Indeks Dow Jones Industrial Average naik sebanyak 45,59 poin, atau sebesar 0,3 persen, ke level 16,348.36 hari ini.

Para pemimpin Amerika Serikat, Uni Eropa, China , Jepang akan bertemu hari ini, berusaha untuk memobilisasi perlawanan terhadap serangan Rusia ke Crimea. Pertemuan di Den Haag ini untuk mendiskusikan Ukraina di tengah kekhawatiran atas penumpukan tentara Rusia di perbatasan ukrainan sebagai pasukan pro-Kremlin yang ingin merebut basis keuatan Ukraina di Krimea.

Saham mendapat keuntungan terbesar mereka dalam satu bulan terakhir pekan lalu, dengan indeks S&P 500 naik sebesar 1,4 persen, seiring data dari klaim pengangguran hingga data manufaktur menunjukkan ekonomi AS menguat. Indeks  IHSG mencatat rekor intradaynya pada jum™at lalu, menyentuh level 1,883.97 sebelum kembali turun. (izr)

Sumber : Bloomberg

U.S. Stock-Index Futures Climb After Weekly Gain as Apple Rises

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U.S. stock-index futures advanced, following the Standard & Poor™s 500 Index™s gain last week.

Apple Inc. added 0.8 percent in early New York trading as the Wall Street Journal reported that the technology company has held talks with Comcast Corp., America™s largest cable operator, about streaming live and on-demand television.

Futures on the S&P 500 expiring in June climbed 0.2 percent to 1,860.9 at 6:10 a.m. in New York. The equity benchmark climbed 1.4 percent last week. Dow Jones Industrial Average contracts gained 22 points, or 0.1 percent, to 16,243 today.

U.S. President Barack Obama arrives in Europe as Russia, which completed its annexation of Crimea last week, masses troops on the border with Ukraine. U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague wrote in yesterday™s Sunday Telegraph that the troop buildup means the crisis may worsen, calling the situation the most serious risk to Europe™s security this century.

Apple added 0.8 percent to $537.01. The newspaper reported that Comcast has discussed providing preferential access to its cables for video content sent to Apple™s set-top boxes. The newspaper cited unidentified people familiar with the matter.

Source : Bloomberg

U.S. Stocks Decline on Slowing Factory Data Amid Russia Concern

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U.S. stocks fell for a second day as economic data signaled a slowdown in American manufacturing and some banks said Russia™s economy will enter a recession.

The Standard & Poor™s 500 Index fell 0.5 percent to 1,857.45 at 4 p.m. in New York, trimming an earlier decline of as much as 0.9 percent.

The Markit Economics preliminary index of U.S. manufacturing decreased to 55.5 in March from 57.1 a month earlier, the London-based group said today. A reading above 50 indicates expansion. This month™s reading was the second-highest since January 2013.

Sanctions imposed by the U.S. and the European Union are pushing Russia toward a recession as the intensity of their economic penalties increases after the annexation of Crimea earlier this month.

Banks including state-run VTB Capital say the world™s ninth-biggest economy will shrink for at least two quarters as penalties for annexing Crimea rattle markets, curb investment and raise the cost of borrowing. Sanctions that have so far focused on individuals via visa bans and asset freezes may be expanded to target specific areas of the economy.

The Group of Seven major powers decided to hold a summit in Brussels in June instead of a planned G-8 meeting in Sochi in the latest sanction against Russia. President Barack Obama and his fellow G-7 leaders met in The Hague today to agree on the next steps in the crisis, amid growing concern that Russia is building up its forces on the border with Ukraine.

Copy Source : Bloomberg

European Stocks Fall Most in Two Weeks on Ukraine, Manufacturing

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European stocks fell, after posting their biggest weekly advance in more than a month, as world leaders pledged further measures against Russia, and manufacturing gauges slipped in China, Germany and the U.S.

Royal KPN NV lost 4.2 percent after Citigroup Inc. downgraded the stock. Stada Arzneimittel AG slumped 15 percent after cutting its 2014 forecast. CEZ AS, the largest Czech utility, climbed 5.1 percent after the nation™s finance minister said the government is seeking a 100 percent dividend payout.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 1.1 percent to 324.39 at the close of trading in London. That™s its biggest drop since March 7. The benchmark gauge advanced 1.8 percent last week as Russian President Vladimir Putin said he won™t seek territory beyond Crimea.

U.S. President Barack Obama and the other Group of Seven heads of government hold a meeting in The Hague tonight to decide what steps to take next in the Ukraine crisis amid growing concern that Russia is building up its forces on the border with its neighbor after annexing the Crimean peninsula. Ukraine said today it deployed more troops to the frontier.

Copy Source : Bloomberg

U.S. Stocks Drop on Slowing Factory Data as Biotech Shares Slump

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U.S. stocks fell for a second day as economic data signaled a slowdown in American manufacturing and some banks said Russia™s economy will enter a recession.

Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. tumbled 5.5 percent, helping drive the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index toward the biggest two-day retreat since 2011. Tesla Motors Inc. and Facebook Inc., among this year™s best performers in the Nasdaq 100 Index, dropped at least 4.8 percent, dragging the technology gauge toward its lowest level since February. NetApp Inc. slipped 3.7 percent after Morgan Stanley cut the stock™s rating.

The Standard & Poor™s 500 Index fell 0.8 percent to 1,851.26 at 12:41 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 76.52 points, or 0.5 percent, to 16,226.25. Trading in S&P 500 stocks was 11 percent higher than with the 30-day average during this time of the day.

The Markit Economics preliminary index of U.S. manufacturing decreased to 55.5 in March from 57.1 a month earlier, the London-based group said today. A reading above 50 indicates expansion. This month™s reading was the second- highest since January 2013.

Copy Source: Bloomberg