Morgan Stanley shares fall the most in 2 1/2 weeks on Friday, holding settles US lawsuit related to rate manipulation

According to filings in the US District Court in Manhattan from July 28th, Morgan Stanley, Royal Bank of Canada and three other financial institutions have agreed to pay a combined $111.2 million in relation to the settlement of a lawsuit, which accused them of rate manipulation in the Foreign Exchange Market. 14 out of 16 banks sued have already settled the investor litigation, including Bank of America, Citigroup, Barclays, BNP Paribas, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Royal Bank of Scotland among others.

Morgan Stanley shares closed lower for a third consecutive trading session on Friday. It has also been the steepest daily loss since July 12th. The stock went down 0.91% ($0.43) to $46.66, after touching an intraday low at $46.45, or a price level not seen since July 21st ($46.10). In the week ended on July 30th the shares of the financial holding company added 0.15% to their market value compared to a week ago, which marked a second consecutive period of gains, but yet, it has been the smallest increase in at least a year. The stock has pared its advance to 4.71% so far during the current month, following a 6.76% surge in June. The latter has been the best monthly performance since February. For the entire past year, Morgan Stanley shares gained 32.82%.

Preliminary settlements from July 28th include $50 million for Morgan Stanley, $18 million for Societe Generale, $17.2 million for Standard Chartered Plc, $15.5 million for Royal Bank of Canada and $10.5 million for Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.

According to investor allegations, a number of banks have conspired to rig key currency benchmark rates (including the WM/Reuters Closing Spot Rates) by using tactics such as “banging the close”, “front running” and “painting the screen” as well as chat rooms named “The Mafia” and “The Cartel”.

The financial institutions, however, denied wrongdoing.

According to CNN Money, the 24 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Morgan Stanley’s stock price, have a median target of $49.50, with a high estimate of $61.00 and a low estimate of $34.00. The median estimate is a 6.09% surge compared to the closing price of $46.66 on July 28th.

The same media also reported that 13 out of 27 surveyed investment analysts had rated Morgan Stanley’s stock as “Buy”, while 11 – as “Hold”. On the other hand, 1 analyst had recommended selling the stock.

Daily and Weekly Pivot Levels

With the help of the Camarilla calculation method, todays levels of importance for the Morgan Stanley stock are presented as follows:

R1 – $46.73
R2 – $46.80
R3 (Range Resistance – Sell) – $46.86
R4 (Long Breakout) – $47.07
R5 (Breakout Target 1) – $47.30
R6 (Breakout Target 2) – $47.40

S1 – $46.59
S2 – $46.52
S3 (Range Support – Buy) – $46.46
S4 (Short Breakout) – $46.25
S5 (Breakout Target 1) – $46.02
S6 (Breakout Target 2) – $45.92

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for Morgan Stanley (MS) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $47.05
R1 – $47.65
R2 – $48.64
R3 – $49.24
R4 – $49.84

S1 – $46.06
S2 – $45.46
S3 – $44.47
S4 – $43.48