U.S. Stocks Retreat as Earnings Results Offset ECB Stimulus Plan

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U.S. stocks fell, trimming the first weekly gain of 2015, as weaker-than-forecast results at companies from United Parcel Service Inc. to Kimberly-Clark Corp. offset confidence that central banks will support global growth.

UPS slumped 9.9 percent as it said preliminary 2014 earnings were lower than previously forecast. Bank of New York Mellon Corp. and State Street Corp. led financial shares lower after both said the falling euro hurt revenue from the region. Kimberly-Clark dropped 6.1 percent after forecasting 2015 earnings that missed estimates.

The Standard & Poor™s 500 Index lost 0.6 percent to 2,051.82 at 4 p.m. in New York, paring a weekly gain to 1.6 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 141.38 points, or 0.8 percent, to 17,672.60. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.2 percent. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rallied 1.7 percent a day after the European Central Bank expanded its stimulus plan.

About 6.5 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges today, in line with the three-month average. Selling accelerated in the final 30 minutes of trading as materials producers extended declines to 1.6 percent and investors anticipated the results of an election in Greece on Sunday. Opinion polls show the anti-austerity party may win enough votes to take power.

Source: Bloomberg

Japan Stocks Fall After Weekly Gain as Yen Climbs on Greek Vote

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Japanese stocks fell, after the Topix index posted its first weekly advance in 2015, as the yen gained amid official projections showing Greece™s anti-austerity Syriza party may get close to winning a majority.

The Topix slid 1 percent to 1,388.85 as of 9:00 a.m. in Tokyo after increasing 2.9 percent last week. All 33 industry groups retreated. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average declined 1.2 percent to 17,300.64. The yen added 0.3 percent to 117.41 per dollar after strengthening 0.6 percent on Jan. 23.

Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras said Greece™s era of bowing to international creditors is over, as he celebrated his party™s victory. While it remains unclear whether Syriza will be able to govern alone, the result hands Tsipras a mandate to confront Greece™s program of austerity imposed in return for pledges of 240 billion euros ($267 billion) in aid since May 2010.

Futures on the Standard & Poor™s 500 Index sank 0.8 percent. The underlying equity measure dropped 0.6 percent on Jan. 23, as weaker-than-forecast results at companies from United Parcel Service Inc. to Kimberly-Clark Corp. offset confidence that central banks will support global growth.

Source: Bloomberg

Saham Asia Jatuh Terkait Penguatan Yen Vs Euro Serta Pemilu Yunani

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Saham Asia jatuh karena yen menguat ke level tertinggi sejak September 2013 terhadap euro terkait proyeksi partai politik yang berkomitmen untuk renegosiasi utang Yunani yang akan memenangkan cukup suara untuk mendekati suara mayoritas.

Indeks MSCI Asia Pacific turun 0,4% menjadi 140,59 pada 09:01 pagi di Tokyo, setelah naik ke level tertinggi dua bulan pada hari Jumat pekan lalu. Pemimpin partai Syriza Alexis Tsipras mengatakan era kreditur internasional Yunani berakhir setelah Perdana Menteri Antonis Samaras mengakui kekalahan dalam pemilihan yang didominasi oleh reaksi publik terhadap pemotongan anggaran tahunan. Yen menguat sebanyak 0,9% terhadap euro.(yds)

Sumber: Bloomberg

Euro Falls to 11-Year Low as Syriza Wins Greek Poll

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The euro weakened to an 11-year low against the dollar after Syriza, the party committed to renegotiating Greece™s debt obligations, won a general election.

The 19-nation currency fell for a third day versus the greenback, after tumbling last week on the European Central Bank™s plan to pump 1.1 trillion euros ($1.23 trillion) into the economy to stoke inflation. The yen strengthened versus 13 of its 16 major counterparts amid demand for haven assets. The Australian and New Zealand dollars declined.

The euro fell 0.2 percent to $1.1178 at 9:32 a.m. in Tokyo after sliding to $1.1098, the weakest level since September 2003. The common currency dropped 0.2 percent to 130.71 yen after reaching 130.15, the weakest since September 2013. The yen was little changed at 117.43 per dollar.

Tsipras™s Coalition of the Radical Left, known by its Greek acronym, took 36 percent of the vote with 90 percent of the ballots counted. That compares with 28.1 percent for Prime Minister Antonis Samaras™s New Democracy. The far-right Golden Dawn placed third with 6.3 percent, followed by To Potami, a potential Syriza coalition partner, with 5.9 percent.

Australia™s dollar dropped 0.2 percent to 78.98 U.S cents, while the New Zealand currency fell 0.3 percent to 74.27 cents. Australian financial markets are shut for a holiday.

Source: Bloomberg

Oil Slides to Near 6-Year Low as U.S. Supply Seen Worsening Glut

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Oil declined to the lowest level in almost six years as data showed U.S. crude inventories in December surged to the highest level for the month since 1930, adding to signs a global supply glut may persist.

Futures slid as much as 2.7 percent in New York and 1.9 percent in London. Crude stockpiles in the U.S., the world™s biggest oil consumer, rose 7.4 percent from last year to end December at 383.5 million barrels, the American Petroleum Institute said in a monthly report. Saudi Arabian King Salman Bin Abdulaziz, who took over after the death of King Abdullah, said he will maintain the policies of his predecessor in a speech on Saudi national television.

Crude slumped almost 50 percent last year as the U.S. pumped oil at the fastest rate in more than three decades while the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries sought to defend market share and resisted calls to cut supply. Producers outside of OPEC will boost output this year at a slower rate than previously forecast, according to a monthly report from the International Energy Agency.

West Texas Intermediate for March delivery fell as much as $1.24 to $44.35 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $44.78 at 9:11 a.m. Seoul time. It dropped 1.6 percent to $45.59 on Jan. 23. Volume of all futures traded was about 163 percent above the 100-day average. Prices slid 6.4 percent last week.

Brent for March settlement slid as much as 94 cents to $47.85 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. It gained 0.6 percent to $48.79 a barrel on Jan. 23. The European benchmark crude was at a premium of $3.41 to WTI, compared to $3.20 at the end of last week.

Source: Bloomberg