ASEAN Stocks traded mostly higher yesterday but we expect to see a flat open this morning after a mixed session in New York overnight.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand index closed at 720.29 points, down 0.51%, in trade worth 19.6 billion baht. Pushed lower by the political situation. This situation will possibly extend for a few more days and we can count on reduced investment from overseas. Even though there are many already undervalued stocks on the Thai market, those brave enough to buy now will be getting bargains.

Stocks in Singapore closed 1.59 per cent higher on Monday, following better-than-expected US jobs data. The Straits Times Index rose 44.28 points to end at 2,834.57. Singapore will trade flat tomorrow but we do expect a strong afternoon session and Singapore may actually close the day higher.

Another potentially strong afternoon session should be seen in Malaysia, Malaysia’s benchmark index hit a two-year high on Monday, fuelled by strong interest in banking stocks which surged following last week’s announcement of the overnight policy rate (OPR) hike, analysts said.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (FBM KLCI) closed at 1,324.22, its highest since March 2008, with the key index having touched an intra-day high of 1,325.69.

HANOI — Vietnam’s stock market index, VN-Index, closed at 521. 12 points on Monday, up 7.73 points, or 1.51 percent, against the previous trading day.

A total of 55.96 million shares worth 2.4 trillion Vietnamese dong (VND) (126.3 million U.S. dollars) changed hands at the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange. Prices of 170 stocks went up, 20 dropped while 24 remained unchanged.

JAKARTA — Indonesian shares closed higher by 47.679 points, or 1.84 percent, to a level of 2,626.451 points on Monday.

Some 85,987 transactions were booked today at a volume of 4.848 billion copies of share worth 3.450 trillion rupiah (about 376 million U.S. dollars).

MANILA — Philippine stocks closed 0.82 percent higher on Monday.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index increased by 25. 35 points to 3,094.98. The all-share index went up by 19 points, or 0.99 percent, to 1,945.64.

Equities on Wall St were nearly flat overnight as the general upbeat sentiment from AIG’s sale of a unit and McDonald’s sales data were offset by falling healthcare shares after President Barack Obama’s playing politics yet again, this time with criticism of health insurers.

Investors were bullish encouraged by Friday’s jobs data that helped the Nasdaq close at an 18-month and although flat today the trend is still strong despite the regular Anti-Wall St White House administration.

A bright spot came early from American International Group, whose shares rose 3.5 per cent to $US29.07 after the company agreed to sell its Alico foreign life insurance unit to MetLife Inc for about $US15.5 billion. MetLife’s stock shot up 4 per cent to $US40.49.

McDonald’s Corp advanced 2.6 per cent to $US65.30 after the world’s biggest hamburger chain, a Dow component, reported that February same-store sales increased 4.8 per cent.

But an index of health insurers’ shares slipped 0.5 per cent after Obama criticized insurance premium increases and some cases of coverage denial in a speech in Philadelphia. All Health Insurers look set for further falls on the White House policy.

Last week, Britain’s Prudential said it will buy AIG’s Asian life insurance arm in the insurance sector’s biggest deal ever.

On the Nasdaq, Applied Materials Inc gained 0.8 per cent to $US12.40 after its board approved a 17 per cent quarterly dividend increase and a $US2 billion stock-buyback program.

Also, Cisco Systems rose 2.2 per cent to $US25.76 after JP Morgan assumed coverage of the stock with an “overweight” rating.

On Friday, the government said 36,000 U.S. jobs were lost in February, compared with forecasts for a drop of 50,000, resulting in a stock market rally that pushed both the Dow and the S&P 500 to six-week closing highs.

This week’s economic data include the government’s report on monthly retail sales, which is due on Friday.

Global Market Indexes

Americas

Price

Change (%)

1 Year %

Last Updated

Toronto Composite

11975.81

+0.67 (0.01%)

+56.97%

Mar 08, 3:00pm

Mexican Bolsa IPC Index

32516.37

+314.37 (0.98%)

+87.25%

Mar 08, 3:00pm

Brazil Bovespa Index

68692.18

-154.32 (-0.22%)

+83.82%

Mar 08, 3:00pm

Argentina Merval Index

2300.90

+2.16 (0.09%)

+140.98%

Mar 08, 3:00pm

Chile IPSA Index

3796.45

+6.68 (0.18%)

+59.31%

Mar 08, 3:00pm

Asian Pacific

Price

Change (%)

1 Year %

Last Updated

Nikkei 225 Index

10585.92

+216.96 (2.09%)

+42.41%

Mar 08, 3:00pm

ASX All Ordinaries

4774.70

+0.00 (0.00%)

+51.64%

Mar 07, 5:30pm

Seoul Composite

1660.04

+25.47 (1.56%)

+56.88%

Mar 08, 3:00pm

Hong Kong Hang Seng

21196.87

+408.90 (1.97%)

+73.58%

Mar 08, 3:00pm

Shanghai

3053.23

+22.17 (0.73%)

+37.47%

Mar 08, 3:00pm

Taiwan Weighted

7762.27

+96.01 (1.25%)

+67.39%

Mar 08, 3:00pm

Singapore Straits Times

2834.57

+44.28 (1.59%)

+86.65%

Mar 08, 3:00pm

Bombay Sensex Index

17102.60

+0.00 (0.00%)

+108.62%

Mar 08, 3:00pm

Jakarta Composite

2626.45

+0.00 (0.00%)

+103.91%

Mar 08, 3:00pm

Kuala Lumpur Composite

1324.22

+24.44 (1.88%)

+52.34%

Mar 08, 3:00pm

PSE Composite

3094.98

+60.85 (2.01%)

+60.84%

Mar 08, 3:00pm

Sri Lanka All Share

3835.06

+29.21 (0.77%)

+137.31%

Mar 08, 3:00pm

Europe

Price

Change (%)

1 Year %

Last Updated

FTSE 100 Index

5606.72

+6.96 (0.12%)

+58.84%

Mar 08, 3:00pm

Paris CAC 40

3903.54

-6.88 (-0.18%)

+51.91%

Mar 08, 3:00pm

Frankfurt Index

5875.91

-1.45 (-0.02%)

+59.00%

Mar 08, 3:00pm

Milan BCI General

15743.00

+0.00 (0.00%)

+40.91%

Mar 07, 5:30pm

Belgium 20 Index

2600.83

-10.20 (-0.39%)

+67.56%

Mar 08, 3:00pm

Swiss Market Index

6851.20

+3.42 (0.05%)

+56.06%

Mar 08, 3:00pm

OSE Norway All Share

415.97

-1.21 (-0.29%)

+70.49%

Mar 08, 3:00pm

ATX Vienna

2492.25

+36.47 (1.49%)

+72.35%

Mar 08, 3:00pm

Amsterdam Total Return General

338.17

-0.51 (-0.15%)

+68.60%

Mar 08, 3:00pm

Madrid General

1149.38

+5.55 (0.49%)

+55.38%

Mar 08, 3:00pm

Stockholm General Index

316.54

+1.55 (0.49%)

+68.65%

Mar 08, 3:00pm

Africa/Middle East

Price

Change (%)

1 Year %

Last Updated

Israel TA 100 Index

1139.42

-8.21 (-0.72%)

+97.16%

Mar 08, 10:45am

TEL-TECH INDEX

321.66

-3.36 (-1.03%)

+107.84%

Mar 08, 10:45am

TEL-TECH-15 INDEX

276.44

-3.36 (-1.20%)

+95.34%

Mar 08, 10:45am

Shayne Heffernan www.livetradingnews.com