Singapore Markets Morning Briefing - what you need to know for Tues Feb 7, 2012

It seems like there’s nothing to jump about at least this morning.

OCBC Investment Research said:

The muted reactions on Wall Street overnight and the mildly lower Nikkei start (-0.2% now) are likely to cue the local bourse to a relatively quiet start this morning.

As a recap, the STI finally conquered the stubborn 2920 key resistance yesterday following numerous failed attempts. Following a strong 1.1% gap-up above this key obstacle at the open, the index held on to much of its gains to end the day 0.8% higher.

But with today's outlook likely to turn more cautious, we could see the index trading around current levels and possibly even ease towards the 2931-2939 gap support which was formed yesterday.

Below this initial base, we see the subsequent support at around 2874 (recent trough). On the upside, we now peg the immediate obstacle at the 3000 psychological resistance, followed by the subsequent resistance at 3070 (support-turned-resistance).

GFT, on the other hand, reported:

Since it is quiet week for U.S. economic data, the dollar will predominately trade on risk appetite. Today, U.S. stocks recovered much of its earlier losses to end the day only slightly lower.

At the start of the North American trading session, the dollar strengthened against all of the major currencies but by the day’s end, it was only higher against the euro, Swiss Franc, Canadian Australian and New Zealand dollars. The greenback turned negative against the euro and the Japanese Yen.

Meanwhile RBS noted:

With equities unchanged and the Greek PSI situation still unresolved, there was muted risk-seeking sentiment among the G10 currencies versus the USD. The USD, though, weakened modestly in the morning versus the EUR, GBP and CHF before settling into narrow ranges for the remainder of the session.

The lack of conviction in broader risk sentiment amid a relatively quiet session with minimal data releases helped restrain CAD upside despite a positive surprise in the Canadian Ivey PMI.

AUD also traded tightly against the USD and the NZD for the majority of the session ahead of the RBA decision, where RBS is in the minority in expecting no change in the policy rate (consensus: 25bp cut).