16 April 2008
Asian Markets Advanced while Shanghai takes a plunge on Inflation data
Asian markets mostly advanced, with Japanese shares led by technology companies while high inflation data for March pulled Shanghai and Hong Kong-listed shares lower on worries about monetary tightening. Retreat drop
Japan's Nikkei 225 Average finished 1.2% higher at 13,146.13, while the broader Topix index climbed 1.3% to 1,271.88.
Indexes in China declined after government data showed a slowdown in economy accompanied by the hike in cash reserve ratio and inflation.
Chinas March consumer-price inflation rose 8.3% from a March 2007. The People's Bank of China lifted the ratio banks must hold in reserves by half a percentage point, its third such hike this year, as the central bank steps up efforts to curb excess liquidity and cool lending growth. From April 25 banks will be required to hold 16% of their deposits on reserve with the central bank, up from 15.5% currently.
In another data release by the National Bureau of Statistics showed that the economic growth of China eased to 10.6% in the first quarter of 2008 from the year-ago period, reflecting the impact of severe weather conditions in the first two months of the year.
China's Shanghai Composite finished the day 1.7% lower at 3,291.60, while the Shenzhen All Share index dropped 2.4% to 1,004.18.
The inflation also dragged Hong Kong indexes lower in afternoon trading. The benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 0.1% to 23,878.35, after it rose as high as 24,194.18 earlier in the day. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index lost 6% at 12,593.88.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 advanced 1.3% to 5,470.30 and South Korea's Kospi added 0.9% to 1,758.56, while New Zealand's NZX 50 index gained 0.4% to 3,516.67.
India's Sensitive Index, or Sensex, climbed 0.6% to 16,251.60 and the broader S&P/CNX Nifty rose 0.2% to 4,889.10. Singapore's Straits Times Index rose 1% to 3,087.78 and Taiwan's weighted index gained 1.6% to 9,066.04, reclaiming the 9,000-point level for the first time since early November.
Oil prices hit a new high of $114.08 a barrel on electronic trading on Wednesday. The contract was recently down 16 cents at $113.63 a barrel. On Tuesday, the contract hit a high of $113.99 amid supply worries and continuing weakness in the U.S. dollar. Soaring crude-oil prices lifted energy producers in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Australia.
In Asian currency trading, the U.S. dollar was quoted at 101.59 yen. In New York, the dollar bought 101.85 yen late Tuesday.
The European shares advanced, as the technology sector got a lift from Intel's upbeat guidance and potential deal making sparked sharp gains for Sweden's TeliaSonera.
In the opening trade, the U.K. FTSE 100 index rose 0.7% to 5,949.00, the German DAX 30 index advanced 0.8% to 6,636.25 and the French CAC-40 index rose 0.8% to 4,818.18.
On the data side, European inflation accelerated more than initially estimated in March as energy prices increased and the cost of foods including rice and dairy products rose at a record pace.
According to European Union's statistics office the inflation rate rose to near a 16-year high of 3.6 % from 3.3 % in February, exceeding an initial estimate of 3.5 % published on March 31.
The tightening in the UK labor market started to level off in March, while average earnings remained stable.
The Office of National Statistics said the claimant count, measuring the number of Britons claiming the jobseeker's allowance, fell by 1,200.Meanwhile, the previous month's 2,800 decrease in the claimant count was revised away to show a 600 increase.
The last time the claimant count rose was in September 2006. Since then, the claimant count had fallen for 16 consecutive months.
The claimant count level now stands at 794,300, the lowest since June 1975, while the claimant count rate remained at 2.5 percent in March, unchanged from February.
The wider ILO measure of unemployment fell by 39,000 in the three months to February compared with the previous three months and down 90,000 from last year. This pushed the ILO unemployment rate down slightly to 5.2 percent from 5.3 percent in the previous three months.
In another data release Italy's trade deficit narrowed in February as export growth outpaced import growth for the second consecutive month, said Wednesday.
As per the data released by Italian statistics office Istat the index registered a trade deficit of EUR408 million in February, compared with a deficit of EUR1.87 billion a year earlier.
February's figures rebounded after Italy's trade deficit widened to a downwardly revised EUR4.11 billion in January-- its widest level since the index began in 1991.
In February, exports rose 10.9% on the year and 1.7% on the month. Imports rose 5.3% on the year and 0.6% on the month.
0 comments:
Post a Comment