1) It was Deepavali yesterday, a public holiday in Singapore.

2) Stocks end lower as financials give up early gains
Wall Street has ended a highly volatile session with a big last-minute loss as the market's worries about a protracted economic downturn and tight credit erased budding optimism about a housing sector recovery. The Dow skidded 203pts to its lowest close in 5 1/2 years, with almost all the decline coming in the last 10min of the session.
That malaise grew particularly after Moody's Investors Service in the last half-hour of trading downgraded GM further into "junk" status, pointing to the sharp contraction of the US auto market. Shares of GM sank 50c (8.4%) to $5.45
Earlier, banks got a boost after the Treasury said it signed agreements with nine financial institutions to buy stock in the companies this week. An upbeat home sales report also gave the market support until late afternoon.
The Dow fell 203.18 (2.42%) to 8,175.77 after earlier rising by as many as 220pts. Even before the late-day selloff, it was an extremely volatile day for Wall Street -- the Dow crossed between positive and negative territory 60 times during the session.

3) Treasury set to dish out financial rescue funds
The Treasury will start doling out $125bn to 9 major banks this week to get credit flowing again, giving a lift to US markets on rising confidence that the government's moves would stave off a protracted recession.
The deals with the nine banks were signed Sunday, and the government will make the stock purchases this week. The deals are designed to bolster the banks' balance sheets so they will begin more normal lending. The deployment of the first $125bn to the major banks had been delayed while the government and the banks worked out the details for the purchases.

4) September new home sales rise by 2.7%
Economists had expected sales of new, single-family homes to drop from August levels, but instead they rose 2.7% in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 464,000 homes.
Many homebuilders had ramped up incentives in August and September to capitalize on the end of seller-funded down payment assistance programs on Oct 1. Builders also likely benefited from another factor motivating homebuilders: an increase from 3% to 3.5% in the down payment required to qualify for a Federal Housing Administration-insured loan, which also took effect Oct.
Builders' discounts helped push down the median price of a new home to $218,400, 9.1% below what it was a year ago. That means prices have rolled back to what they were four years ago.
Despite the surprising increase in September, sales were still 33% below a year ago and off almost 68% from the peak in July 2005.

5) Little relief in credit as market awaits rate cut
The still-cinched credit markets are anticipating a half-point interest rate cut from the Fed this week, but investors are worried it won't be enough to quickly revive the economy.
The Fed has been slashing rates and taking unprecedented action to get market participants back in the lending mood, including launching a facility Monday to buy the short-term corporate debt known as commercial paper. The moves have helped ease lending rates at the margins.
But the central bank has already reduced its key rate to 1.5%. After the Fed's meeting Wednesday, the market predicts it will be down to 1% -- the same low level it reached in 2001 under Greenspan. From there, policy makers have little room to lower rates further.

6) Oil prices fall as investors eye weak demand
Oil dropped as low at $61.30/barrel in early trading before rising in response to the Commerce Department report that sales of new single-family homes rose by 2.7% in Sep to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 464,000 homes. Economists had expected sales to drop from August.
Any positive news about the US economy is welcomed by investors, and the home sales report lifted Wall Street off its lows. Stock prices were fluctuating and tending down in late afternoon.
But just as the stock market was unable to hold on to gains, oil pulled back. The weakness of the economy has traders convinced that demand for energy will continue to flag; one set of data -- in this case, the home sales number -- won't be enough to lift the markets from their slump.

7) DMG Morning Insights: Sept CPI rises 6.7% on costlier housing, food
SINGAPORE'S inflation rate inched upwards last month as September's consumer price index
(CPI) rose 6.7% from the same month last year, compared with August's 6.4% increase yoy. The jump in September's CPI was largely due to higher housing and food costs, according to data released by the Department of Statistics yesterday.
As for monthly CPI variation, September's index was unchanged from August's, and 0.1% higher on a seasonally adjusted basis. This was because higher food, housing, and
recreation costs were offset by lower costs of education and stationery, as well as transport
and communication. These latest figures mean that the CPI over the first 9 months of 08 was 6.9% yoy. Excluding accommodation costs, this was an increase of 6%. The 6.7% CPI gain in September slightly exceeds the consensus forecast of 6.5%. Still, economists expect the trend of subsiding inflation seen in the months of July and August to continue, even if less quickly than initially expected.

Tags: bailout, crude oil, dow, finance, home sales, inflation, singapore