Crude Oil Falls Below $50 a Barrel for First Time in 5 1/2 Years

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West Texas Intermediate oil fell below $50 a barrel for the first time since April 2009 as surging supply signaled that the global glut that drove crude into a bear market will persist.

Futures slid as much as 5.2 percent in New York. Brent futures earlier slid below $55 in London for the first time since May 2009. Russia™s output rose to a post-Soviet high in December, preliminary Energy Ministry data showed. Iraq, the second-largest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, plans to boost crude exports to a record this month, the Oil Ministry said.

Brent slumped 48 percent last year, the most since the 2008 financial crisis, as OPEC resisted calls to cut output amid a battle with U.S. shale producers for market share. The 12-member group pumped above its target for a seventh straight month in December, according to a Bloomberg survey.

West Texas Intermediate for February delivery dropped $2.48, or 4.7 percent, to $50.21 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 11:33 a.m. local time. It slipped to $49.95, the lowest level since April 29, 2009. Volume for all futures traded was 4.8 percent above the 100-day average. The U.S. benchmark grade traded at a $3.04 discount to Brent.

Source: Bloomberg

Bursa AS Turun Seiring Saham Industri Energi Dorong Mayoritas Bursa Saham Melemah

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Minyak mentah turun di bawah level $ 50 sehingga mengirim indeks Standard & Poor 500 turun ke ke level terendahnya sejak Oktober lalu, karena selisih dari penjualan industri energi di tengah kekhawatiran bahwa pemangkasan pengeluaran modal akan merugikan pendapatan.

Saham energi di S&P 500 turun 4 % karena West Texas Intermediate melemah ke level terendah sejak April 2009 lalu. Saham Exxon Mobil Corp turun 2,7 % dan Chevron Corp. melemah 3,9 %. Caterpillar Inc turun 5,3 % dan indeks saham kereta api kehilangan 3,2 % karena kekhawatiran bahwa pelemahan saham energi dapat merugikan belanja modal peralatan dan transportasi minyak mentah.

Indeks S&P 500 turun 1,8 % ke level 2,020.90 pukul 04:00 sore di New York, selama empat hari pertama secara  beruntun sejak 2013 lalu. Penurunan indeks tersebut di bawah harga rata-rata selama 50 hari terakhir. Sementara Indeks Dow Jones Industrial Average turun 327,49 poin, atau 1,8 %, ke level  17,505.50.

Sementara ke-10 industri utama di S&P 500 turun hari ini, dengan saham produsen bahan industrials masing-masing turun lebih dari 2 %, saham energi berayun untuk memperpanjang aksi jual yang dimulai Juni lalu. Sementara saham Denbury Resources Inc melemah 8 % dan Noble Energy Inc anjlok 9,6 % yang merupakan penurunan terbesar di S&P 500. (vck)

Sumber: Bloomberg

Gold Rises for Second Day as Greek Crisis Spurs Demand for Haven

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Gold futures rose for the second straight session as Greece™s political crisis and a decline in equities spurred demand for the precious metal as an alternative asset.

The euro weakened to the lowest since March 2006 amid a debate on Greece™s membership in the European Union. Those concerns helped push the Standard & Poor™s 500 Index of stocks toward its first four-day slump in 12 months. Last year, gold fell 1.5 percent as U.S. equities climbed to a record.

On the Comex in New York, gold futures for February delivery advanced 1.5 percent to settle at $1,204 an ounce at 1:48 p.m. On Jan. 2, the price rose 0.2 percent.

Speculation that the European Central Bank is moving closer to large-scale sovereign-bond purchases pushed the euro lower, helping gold priced in the currency to climb to the highest since September 2013.

Source : Bloomberg

Xiaomi revenue doubled in 2014

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Chinese mobile phone manufacturers, Xiaomi, said more than doubled its earnings in 2014, just a week after the company was named as the most valuable startups in the world.

The company earn 74.3 billion yuan, or about US $ 11.97 billion in sales revenue before tax last year, up 135% from 2013.

Last week, Xiaomi get funding of US $ 1.1 billion, which makes the company is now worth US $ 45 billion.

This figure exceeds the value of US $ 40 given to taxi booking app Uber previously holding a glass of the most valuable private technology companies.

The company also surpassed the sales target to sell 60 million mobile phone in 2014, which means increased by almost 20 million from the previous year.

Source: BBC

Asian Futures Drop as Oil Slump Sinks Stocks; Euro Holds Losses

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Asian index futures signaled stocks in the region may extend a global selloff amid concern over hemorrhaging oil prices and the outlook for the euro area. The yen maintained gains with gold, while the euro held its drop.

Futures on Japan™s Nikkei 225 Stock Average sank more than 1.6 percent in Chicago and Osaka, while contracts on equity gauges from Hong Kong to South Korea dropped at least 1 percent. The NZX 50 Index slipped 0.6 percent by 11:45 a.m. in Wellington after a 1.8 percent drop in the Standard & Poor™s 500 Index, which capped its first four-day slump in more than a year. The yen rose to 119.37 a dollar following last session™s 0.7 percent gain, while the euro bought $1.1933 after touching an almost nine-year low. Gold traded near a one-week high.

Global equities tumbled the most in more than 18 months yesterday, led by energy producers as benchmark U.S. oil sank below $50 a barrel for the first time since 2009. The prospect of Greece exiting the euro area loomed over trading, as Germany reported slower-than-forecast inflation before an update on euro area consumer prices tomorrow. Services data from China to the U.S. is due today, along with a report on Australian trade.

Source: Bloomberg