| CFFEX approves 13 new members
The China Financial Futures Exchange (CFFEX) announced the fourth group of members on Monday. Including the 13 new members, the total number of CFFEX member brokers is now 52, accounting for about one third of all of China's futures brokers. Analysts believe continuous expansion of the membership indicates accelerated preparations for the launch of the country's first financial futures products based on the CSI 300 index. Two of the 13 new members - Donghai and Everbright - have been granted full clearing rights . Six of them are trading and clearing brokers: Topwin, Henan Wanda, Haitong, Shanghai Tonglian, Shanghai Zhonggu, and China Merchants. Five are trading members: Chuangyuan, Hengyin, SC, Zhujiang and Zhejiang Tiandi. As of yesterday, of the total 52 CFFEX members, seven are full clearing brokers, 27 are trading and clearing brokers, and 18 are trading members.
Australian stock market firmer at noon, led by resources
THE share market was up almost 2 per cent at noon following a strong start to morning trade, after the US capped off its best week in five years on Friday and speculation mounted over the future of market leader Rio Tinto. At 12.07pm AEDT, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 was up 107 points, or 1.83 per cent, at 5949.9, while the broader All Ordinaries lifted 112.9 points, or 1.92 per cent, to 5995.2. At 12.08 pm AEDT on the Sydney Futures Exchange, the March share price index contract was up 161 points, or 2.79 per cent, at 5939 on 16,887 contracts. ABN AMRO Morgans senior equities adviser Geoff Voller said retail trading volumes were light. Mr Voller said the resource sector was strong on the back of news China's biggest aluminium producer, Chinalco, and US group Alcoa had jointly bought a 12 per cent stake in Rio Tinto on Friday.
CME up after volume jumps
After a halting start, the year-end rally gained momentum, with stocks rising roughly 7 percent in less than two weeks.
Among winners, shares of CME Group Inc., the world's largest futures exchange, shot higher after November volume advanced 41 percent on rising volatility.
Traders saw their business boom as economic uncertainty caused investors to hedge or speculate with futures contracts tied to equity indexes and interest rates on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Chicago Board of Trade, both owned by CME.
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Big miners drag stocks down
On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December share price index contract was down 72 points to 6528, on a volume of 19,549 contracts. CMC Markets dealer Matt Wacher said lower base metal prices overnight are weighing on the local bourse. "Most of the sectors seem to be pretty flat. Energy and materials sectors are off," Mr Wacher said. "I guess the materials and energy sectors are off on the back of the commodity prices overnight. Oil prices and all the base metals took a bit of a beating and similarly with the gold price which was off quite substantially." Mr Wacher said positive retail sales data in the United States helped to buoy stocks on Wall Street."The US retail sales result was pretty strong so that's probably given a bit of impetus to the market as a whole over there. "It started much lower on the day and ended up around 40 points on the close...
Australian stock market climbs higher at noon
THE Australian stock market was 1.1 per cent stronger at noon as solid earnings results from Telstra and Qantas lifted investor spirits and Wall Street provided a good lead on speculation of another US interest rate cut. At 12.01pm AEDT, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 62 points, or 1.13 per cent, at 5558.5 while the broader All Ordinaries index had risen 62 points to 5639.3. On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the March share price index futures contract was 86 points higher at 5538 on a volume of 16,577 contracts. Macquarie Equities associate director Lucinda Chan said a strong lead from the US and some better than expected local earnings results were supporting the market. ''The market has not been supported since we started the results (season), but today looks a bit more positive with Telstra's good result and Qantas wasn't too bad either,'' Ms Chan said.
Oil prices remain near US$99 a barrel but market seen staying bullish
Oil prices were barely higher Friday from the previous session's close after setting a record above US$100 a barrel overnight on a larger-than-expected drop in U.S. crude stockpiles. Light, sweet crude for February delivery was up 4 cents to US$99.22 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midday in Europe. On Thursday, the contract rose as high as US$100.09 a barrel, a trading record, before retreating to settle at US$99.18. In London, Brent crude fell 8 cents Friday to US$97.52 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange. The U.S. Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said Thursday that crude inventories fell 4 million barrels last week, much more than the 1.7 million barrel decline analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires, on average, had expected.
Australian stockmarket down on Wall St, BHP fears
THE Australian sharemarket has closed weaker amid fresh jitters over a massive drop on Wall Street and BHP Billiton's first-half profit slump. At 4.15pm (Sydney time) the benchmark S&P/ASX200 was down 183.5 points or 3.17 per cent to 5609.4, while the broader All Ordinaries was down 174.5 points or 2.98 per cent at 5677.6. On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the March share price index futures contract was down 214 points or 3.71 per cent to 5576 points on a volume of 28,669 contracts. Investors punished BHP, which posted a dip in first-half net profit, after exchange rate movements and higher input costs affected its bottom line. BHP's result was overshadowed by the company's announcement of a formal $US147.4 billion ($A164.5 billion) 3.4-to-one share bid for rival Rio Tinto Ltd.
Shock for food prices as wheat futures rocket
THE price of wheat on the JSE futures exchange broke through R4000 a ton yesterday to a new record on supply concerns, making increases in the price of bread and other foodstuffs inevitable. After hovering around R3900 a ton for some time, the future prices for delivery in May broke the psychological barrier of R4000 a ton, and the price for delivery in July closed at R4000, although it was as high as R4030 during the day yesterday. Wheat prices have now more than doubled from R1878 a ton a year ago, and further increases are expected. Milling and bread companies warned yesterday that with the steep hike in the price of wheat, further increases in the price of bread were unavoidable.
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