Oil prices resumed their two week sell-off to trade near $59 a barrel. Renewed anxiety about the pace of recovery in the world economy has kept stocks from rallying further after huge gains between March and June.

Investors are now looking to second-quarter corporate earnings and profit outlooks for the year, to be issued in the coming weeks, for guidance about the economy’s prospects. Unless corporate profits and major economies show more evidence of healing, markets could be hard pressed to move higher for now.

“Most people are fairly cautious, they think it’s been a bit too much too soon,” said Daniel McCormack, a strategist for Macquarie Securities in Hong Kong. “If economic data doesn’t keep improving we could continue to drift off from here.”

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 stock average dropped 191.68 points, or 2.1 percent, to 9,095.60. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 364.71, or 2.1 percent, to 17,343.71, while South Korea’s Kospi dived 3.2 percent to 1,382.45.

Elsewhere, Taiwan’s market tumbled 3.5 percent, Australia’s index lost 1.3 percent and India’s benchmark was down 1.4 percent. Trade on Wall Street Friday was uninspiring amid jitters about earnings season and as a survey showed U.S. consumer confidence falling to its lowest level since March.

The Dow fell 36.65, or 0.5 percent, to 8,146.52, the lowest close for the blue chips since April 28. The broader S&P 500 index lost 3.55, or 0.4 percent, to 879.13, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 3.48, or 0.2 percent, to 1,756.03.

Wall Street futures pointed to more losses on Monday. Dow futures were down 55, or 0.7 percent, at 8,030 and S&P futures fell 7.4, or 0.9 percent, at 866.90. Oil prices dived in Asia trade, with benchmark crude for August delivery down 71 cents to $59.18 a barrel.

The contract fell 52 cents to settle at $59.89. The dollar was flat at 92.43, while the euro traded slightly lower at $1.3920 from $1.3944.

The rupiah’s depreciation was normal after last week it reached the level of nearly Rp 10,100 per US dollar, according to Rully Nova, a foreign exchange analyst of PT Bank Himpunan Saudara Tbk. “We are optimistic that the rupiah will strengthen again in the afternoon trading session, as the positive sentiment of the market is still strong following the victory of the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY)-Boediono pair in the recent presidential election,” he said.

However, he believed it would be difficult for the local currency to reach the level of Rp 10,000 per US dollar because there was no new factor significant enough to boost the rupiah to further move upward. He said the SBY-Boediono victory was one of the main factors which bolstered the rupiah to strengthen.

“Bank credit interest rate cut and foreign capital inflow were expected to help boost the national economic growth,” he said. According to him, if the foreign investments increase and bank credit interests are cut, the economy would get better and this would boost the rupiah to gain further.

“We are optimistic that the rupiah will continue to strengthen up to below the level of Rp 10,000 per US dollar at the end of this year, if all positive factors further support it,” he said. For this moment, the Indonesian currency is quite stable and will not affect exporters negatively in calculating their products to be exported, as the rupiah’s exchange rate is tended to be around Rp 10,200 per US dollar, according to him.

He is also optimistic that Indonesia in the future would grow well if all domestic economic indicators also improve.

TNI spokesman Rear Marshal Sagom Tamboen said here on Monday since the hand-over of security at vital objects in the Freeport area to the police, the military had placed only one unit of soldiers from the Cenderawasi Military Command in Timika. “That is the permanent procedure we have been applying so far, and will not be sending reinforcements for the army unit stationed there,” Tamboen said.

With the present army unit in Timika, Tamboen said, the TNI would coordinate with the National Police (Polri) to ensure security in the Freeport area, especially after the shooting incident. He said the TNI and Police personnel jointly conducted regular patrols across Papua, especially in areas where separatist Free Papua Organization (OPM) elements were active.

At 5:30 a.m. local time on Saturday, Drew Nicholas Grant (38) was shot dead by unidentified gunmen when he was traveling with other workers, Jhon Biggs, Maju Panjaitan, and Lidan Madandan in a car from Timika to Tembagapura. Grant (38) was shot in the neck and chest. His body was evacuated to Tembagapura Hospital and flown back to Australia via Jakarta later on Saturday afternoon.

Similar shooting also recurred on Sunday, wounding several security personnel of PT Freeport when they were patrolling the mining areas. In an attack in the Freeport area in 2002, two American teachers and an Indonesian who worked for the company were also shot dead.

“The six heads of state/government who had sent congratulatory messages are Malaysian Prime Minister, the Timor Leste President, Singapore Prime Minister, Australian Prime Minister, South Korea’s President, Palestinian President and the Philippine President,” Patti Djalal said.

The spokesman said that the congratulations were a reflection of international recognition and respect of the implementation of democracy in Indonesia. On Thursday (July 9), the US embassy in Jakarta issued Ambassador Cameron R Hume’s statement congratulating Indonesia holding the presidential election.
“We congratulate the government and people of Indonesia for an orderly and peaceful presidential election,” the ambassador said. The presidential election once again showed the commitment of the Indonesian people to their dynamic democracy, he added.

He also congratulated President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for his success. Earlier, Palestinian Ppresident Mahmud Abbas in a telephone-conversation with Yudhoyono on Friday at 6.35 pm, conveyed his congratulatory message on the success of the election.

In his response, Yudhoyono who is the incumbent president thanked Abbas and pointed out that Indonesia always supports the struggle of the Palestinian people for independence. In the provisional results of the vote counts issued by the General Elections Commission (KPU), Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono who paired with Boediono was still leading in the race, collecting 61.66 percent of the total number of votes.

The Mega-Pro and JK-WIN pairs trailed behind with a vote collection of 28.57 percent and 9.77 percent respectively. Three presidential and vice presidential candidate pairs competed in the election, namely former president Megawati Soekarnoputri and her running mate retired Lt. General Prabowo Subianto, president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono who pairs with Boediono, and incumbent vice president M Jusuf Kalla and retired general Wiranto.

“I have asked the Kukar regency administration to summon all mining concessionaires and I myself will also attend the meeting. Kukar is rich in coal deposits, and will not be able to build even one PLTU,” Awang Faroek Ishak said in Samarinda on Friday.

He said the PLTU is expected to overcome the power crisis facing East Kalimantan, especially in Mahakam which consists of three regencies/cities, namely Balikapapan, Samarinda, and Kukar. He said in the past Kukar was the only region with a capacity to build a PLTU in Indonesia, while at that time the number of coal mines was not as many as now.

“Therefore there is no reason for the mining concessionaires not to set aside their coal for the building of a PLTU to overcome the power crisis facing the Mahakam system,” he said.

“If necessary the PLTU will have a capacity of 2×100 Megawatts, and at the same time with the building of a 2×100 megawatts PLTU in Muara Jawa, there would be no longer any power problem in East Kalimantan,” he said.

The matter had been put forward by Awang in view of the may national events held in East Kalimantan. Soon to be held will be the Adat Erau Festival.

Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supari said Sunday that there had been six new “imported” cases that happened to three Australians and three locals.

The ministry identifies the Australians as GC, MT and JA, and local residents as AG, TP and AM.

All Australians, who were in the same plane with another H1N1 patient BM, are receiving medical treatments at Sanglah public hospital in Denpasar, Bali. BM herself has been declared to have recovered from the illness and left the hospital.

“Local residents AG and TP spent holidays in Singapore while AM came back from Australia. They are now being treated at Sulianti Saroso public hospital in North Jakarta,” Siti said as quoted by Antara state news wire in Denpasar.

She said that she had asked for all authorities in hospitals, laboratoriums, airports and seaports to increase their medical supply and prepare more staffers to anticipate more H1N1 cases.

“We also demand for all people, who come back from the pandemic countries, to report and examine themselves to the nearby hospitals should they feel the disease sympthoms,” she said. (ewd)

“A report saying that a number of Indonesians have been infected with the virus is true,” Faizasyah said but he could not yet give further details on the matter.

Earlier reports said that 14 Indonesian taking part in the choir contest in Changwon city, South Korea, were confirmed on Saturday by the local health officials to have been suffering from swine flu.

Reuters reported fourteen Indonesians attending a choir contest in South Korea were confirmed H1N1 patients on Saturday in the country’s largest daily confirmations as organizers rushed to send more than 1,000 participants home.

On Sunday, 404 Chinese and nearly 300 Indonesians are expected to fly home after the contest in the southern city of Changwon was canceled on Saturday. Many others are planning departures on Monday.

Health authorities are running tests on 34 other Indonesians with flu symptoms, provincial and Health Ministry officials said. South Korea has had 394 confirmed cases of the flu with 80 people in quarantine.

The choir contest drew more than 1,500 people from abroad. The H1N1 swine flu virus first emerged in Mexico in March and was spreading out of control in the United States by the time it was identified at the end of April. The World Health Organization declared a pandemic in June. It has killed close to 500 people globally.

The majority of Indonesians are satisfied with the country’s newfound economic and political stability, following decades of brutal authoritarian rule. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has won popular support on a campaign of anti-corruption and financial support for the poor.

Opinion polls indicate that Yudhoyono, who won his first five-year term in 2004, will get the necessary 50 percent plus one vote to defeat two opponents and avoid a September runoff.

We hope people will “come to vote for the best head of state who is able to create peace and prosperity,” said Simon Tabuni, an election official in the easternmost province of Papua, which is two hours ahead of the capital, Jakarta.

Until recently, Indonesia was wracked by secessionist battles, suicide bombings by al-Qaida-funded Islamic militants and towering unemployment after the Asian financial crisis in 1997-98.

Today, the predominantly Muslim country of 235 million is enjoying a level of harmony its critics had said was impossible, with its economy growing at 4 percent a year amid a severe global downturn.

“We are optimistic our candidate will win in a single round based on recent poll results,” Andi Mallarangeng, Yudhoyono’s campaign spokesman, said on the eve of the election. People “want the continuation of stability in politics, security and economy.”

Still, Indonesia faces huge obstacles in attracting foreign investment to improve its crumbling infrastructure, creating an independent judiciary, and reducing poverty of up to 100 million people. It has also struggled to stop illegal logging and mining that are depleting its natural resources and causing global warming.

Most public opinion polls in Indonesia are funded by political parties, but even the surveys paid for by Yudhoyono’s opponents put the 59-year-old former general 10 percent ahead of the closest rival. Pro-Yudhoyono pollsters give him a 30 percent lead at 70 percent of the vote. Yudhoyono needs 50 percent of cast ballots to win in one round.

Yudhoyono is competing against Megawati Sukarnoputri, a former president whose father was the first postcolonial leader of Indonesia, and Vice President Jusuf Kalla, the frontman of the ex-dictator’s political machine, Golkar.

It has been a decade since the Suharto regime was ousted in a public uprising in 1998, but leaders of the country’s military past still play an active role in politics. The courts, police and parliament are regularly ranked among the most corrupt institutions in the world by anti-graft watchdogs.

The running mates of Yudhoyono’s opponents, former generals Prabowo Subianto and Wiranto, faced accusations by U.N. prosecutors and rights groups of atrocities during the dictatorship, but are expected to win millions of votes.

Foreign observers are hopeful that a win for Yudhoyono, will reinvigorate the push to eradicate graft and nepotism. But former Corruption Eradication Commission deputy chairman, Erry Riyana Hardjapamekas, said the president “is failing to respond to unjust attacks” on the commission, a reference to police investigations into two commissioners.

Yudhoyono has gained a name at home and abroad for his clean reputation, and a crackdown on Southeast Asia’s Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist network after a series of attacks between 2002 and 2005 killed more than 240 people, most of them foreign tourists on Bali.

The Indonesian Survey Circle, which has accurately forecast previous elections, predicted in a poll published Monday that Yudhoyono would win more than 50 percent of the popular vote. It said Sukarnoputri and Kalla would garner less than 30 percent.

The independent agency said it conducted 2,000 face-to-face interviews in the nationwide survey in mid-June, and that it has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. It declined to tell The Associated Press who commissioned the survey.

Around 176 million people signed up to vote at more than half a million polling stations. The Constitutional Court sided with an opposition demand this week that other citizens – possibly tens of millions – will be allowed to make last-minute registrations to exercise their right to vote.

The National Election Commission overseeing the polls has been widely criticized for failing to compile a list of registered voters, as it did in the April elections. Yudhoyono’s rivals – while providing no proof – claim that millions of people will be unable to
participate.

Every voter will have their index finger dipped in ink to show they have cast their ballot – a system designed to avoid duplications.

The next-generation aircraft that has been hampered by repeated delays due to production problems that have cost Boeing billions of dollars in anticipated expenses and penalties. The airplane maker said Tuesday the acquisition of the North Charleston, South Carolina, plant from Vought Aircraft Industries will boost its capacity to develop and build large plane sections made from carbon composite parts.

After the transaction, Boeing said Vought will continue its work on many Boeing programs, including other components of the 787, as well as parts of the 737, 747, 767, 777, C-17 and V-22 through operations located elsewhere. As part of the deal, expected to close in the third quarter, Vought will be released from obligations to repay money that had been advanced earlier by Boeing.

It remains unclear when Chicago-based Boeing will conduct the first test flight of the 787, previously scheduled for the second quarter of this year. Deliveries of the new jet were lagging nearly two years behind schedule before the latest 787 program delay was announced last month.

With the 787, Boeing has taken a new approach to building airplanes, relying on suppliers around the world to build huge sections of the plane that are later assembled at the company’s commercial aircraft plant near Seattle. Illinois-fitting parts and other problems have hampered production.

Despite those problems, Boeing spokesman Jim Proulx said Tuesday the company has no plans to change its production strategy for the 787. “We remain committed to the business model and the global strategy for the 787,” he said.

Shares of Boeing slid $1.10, or 2.7 percent, to $39.47 in midday trading.

Trading volume remained thin amid a dearth of news about the economy this week and as investors await the beginning of the second-quarter earnings season, which starts Wednesday with aluminum maker and Dow component Alcoa Inc.

Stocks have drifted lower in recent days as the market’s confidence about the economy took hits from a poor jobs report for June, waning consumer confidence and plunging commodities prices. That stoked fears that the market might have gotten ahead of itself in March and April, when investors sent stocks soaring in hopes that a nearly two-year-long recession will end some time this year.

The next guideposts for the market will be the forecasts companies give during earnings reports about how business conditions look for the rest of the year.“Uncertainty has crept back into the picture,” said Carl Beck, partner at Harris Financial Group. “We started to get some data that put a damper on some of the optimism that had been growing about the economic recovery and that sort of put everything on hold until we start hearing from companies.”

The Dow fell 161.27, or 1.9 percent, to 8,163.60. It was the lowest finish for the blue chips since April 28. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 17.69, or 2 percent, to 881.03, its lowest finish since May 1. The Nasdaq composite index lost 41.23, or 2.3 percent, to 1,746.17, the lowest close since May 27.

Stocks finished mixed on Monday after all the major indexes posted losses last week. The Dow and the S&P 500 have shed about 7 percent since their recent highs on June 12. Oil tumbled from an eight-month high hit last week on concerns that a weak economy will dampen demand for energy.

Light, sweet crude fell $1.12 to settle at $62.93 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, helping to send Exxon Mobil Corp. down $1.54, or 2.3 percent, to $66.56, while ConocoPhillips lost 84 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $39.99.

Doreen Mogavero, president of brokerage Mogavero, Lee & Co., said light trading volume meant many investors were standing on the sidelines. She said discussions in Washington and on trading desks about the potential for more government stimulus spending was unnerving.
“Once you start saying this is something we might have to do again, that says it’s not working and that’s not good,” she said.

Disappointing economic news over the last few weeks, culminating in Thursday’s worse-than-expected jobs report for June, has undermined investors’ belief that the economy would rebound significantly. Corporate results begin to float in this week, putting investors on edge. Analysts say expectations are still relatively low, so companies could do better than what the market has forecast. At the same time, companies have cut costs dramatically in recent months, which could boost profits.

“Over the next few weeks, we’ll get a real sense for whether there are reasons to be optimistic about the business outlook during the second half of 2009,” said Michael Sheldon, chief market strategist at RDM Financial. As they await more details from companies, investors have begun to take a more defensive stance.

Despite the overall weakness in the market Tuesday, there was some buying of health care stocks after an analyst said the White House had signaled it would be open to negotiation on a public insurance option in its drive to reform health care, which would benefit managed-care companies.

Aetna Inc. jumped more than 6 percent, adding $1.53 to $25.94. Cigna Corp. rose more than 7 percent, gaining $1.77 to $25.24. Declining issues outnumbered advancers by more than three to one on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to a low 1.1 billion shares and was essentially flat with Monday.

Bond prices were mostly higher as investors looked for safety. Results from an auction of $35 billion in three-year notes were mixed but demand was robust.

Investors have been worried in recent weeks that the government may have to raise interest rates to entice buyers as it issues massive amounts of debt to fund its stimulus programs. So far though, auctions have been going relatively smoothly.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.46 percent from 3.51 percent late Monday.