18 Jul 2008 | 15:33
Asian Markets Remain Mixed Ahead of Weekend
Asian
markets continued to swing between gains and losses as most of the
markets declined, erasing their early gains, as investors turned
cautious following disappointing U.S. quarterly reports by Merrill
Lynch & Co., Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc. If we glance through
the Asian region most of the markets reversed their early day
positions. Nikkei, Kospi ended lower losing yesterday?s gain while
Shanghai came back in positives.
Oil plunged for the third
straight session on Thursday and closed below $130 a barrel for the
first time in six weeks. Light sweet crude for August delivery closed
at $129.29, down $5.31, on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In Asian
trade Friday, crude is currently up 90 cents at $130.19 a barrel.
On
the currency front, the U.S. dollar gained overnight following a rally
in the equity markets and better-than-expected earnings reported by JP
Morgan. In early Tokyo deals, the U.S. dollar bought 106.16 yen,
compared with 105.23 yen late Thursday. The South Korean won opened
higher at 1,010.5 a dollar compared to previous day's close of 1,012.8
won. The Australian dollar opened weaker at US$0.9724-0.9730 and the
kiwi was trading weaker in early local deals at US$0.7609.
Coming
back in equity markets, the Japanese stock market closed lower, paring
early gains and reversing a two-day winning streak. The market started
off higher, tracking Wall Street's rally overnight, but changed
direction in the afternoon session as investors turned cautious ahead
of Citigroup's earnings announcement in the U.S. Investor sentiment was
also dented as U.S. firms Merrill Lynch, Microsoft and Google reported
disappointing quarterly results. A media report that the struggling
mortgages- giant Freddie Mac was considering a major stock sale added
to the negative sentiment.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed down 0.7% at 12,803.70 and the broader Topix Index fell 0.9% to finish at 1,252.43.
The drop came ahead of an extended weekend, with Japanese markets closed for a holiday on Monday.
On
the economic front, minutes of the Bank of Japan's June meeting noted
policy makers as saying that slowing growth is more of a concern than
accelerating inflation. Japanese bonds rose for the first time in three
days following the release of the minutes.
Japan's nationwide
department store sales continued to decline for the fourth straight
month in June as households reduced their spending. According to data
released by the Japan Department Stores Association, sales declined
7.6% on year in June, significantly faster than a 2.7% fall seen in
May. The association said in its report that adverse weather conditions
hurt sales of summer-related products, especially clothing.
The
South Korean market also closed lower on disappointing quarterly
results reported by major U.S. companies like Merrill Lynch, Microsoft
and Google. The market had started off on a firm note after Wall Street
extended its rally amid better-than-expected results posted by JP
Morgan Chase and United Technologies and a continued drop in oil
prices, but pared early gains as selling intensified in the afternoon
session. The benchmark Kospi lost 1.02% to end at 1,509.99, reversing
yesterday's gains.
China's Shanghai Composite Index reversed yesterday?s losses put a gain on the bolt. ,
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index climbed 3.5% reaching to 2,778.37 against yesterday?s fall of 0.8%.
In
Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index increased 0.6% to 21,874.19, while the
Hang Seng China Enterprises Index zoomed up 0.6% to 12,123.88.
The
Australian stock market closed lower, ending a two-day winning streak.
The local market opened weak, despite a positive lead from Wall Street,
and extended losses as the resources sector fell on weaker commodity
prices and major U.S. companies like Merrill Lynch, Microsoft and
Google reported disappointing earnings after the markets closed in the
U.S.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed down 1.2% at
4,840.4 and the broader All Ordinaries index lost 62.1 points or 1.2%
to finish at 4,915.3.
On the economic front, the Australian
Bureau of Statistics reported that the import price index rose just
1.4% in the June quarter after posting a 2.7% growth in the previous
quarter. In the year to June, import prices rose 3.5%.
Export
price index jumped 13.5% during the June quarter, due to a huge jump in
ore and coal prices, compared to the 3.5% growth recorded in the
previous quarter. In the year to June, export prices rose 13.3%.
The
New Zealand market closed higher for the third consecutive session,
tracking a positive lead form Wall Street and a sharp fall in oil
prices, and traded above the flat line for the entire session. The
benchmark NZX 50 index closed up 0.95% at 3,120.91 and the broader NZX
All Capital Index rose 23.99 points or 0.73% to finish at 3,165.61.
After
opening up sharply, the Indian market drifted down in early trading but
is currently trading in a positive territory. The market opened higher,
led by a sharp correction in crude oil yesterday. Soon, the market
pared gains, led by IT stocks and other index heavyweights as traders
expressed caution ahead of the government's trust vote scheduled early
next week.
In the afternoon trading the BSE Sensex was trading
at 13,625.28 up by 3.9% from yesterday?s closing while, the S&P CNX
Nifty index increased 3.7% reaching to 4,093.40.
On the economic
front, India inflation rose to 11.91% for the week ended on 5 July 2008
? slightly higher than the previous week?s 11.89% and became the
highest increase since 1995.
Elsewhere, Singapore's Straits Times Index lost 0.6% to 2,847.73, Taiwan's Weighted Index gave up 2.3% 6,815.32
In
other economic events, International Monetary Fund managing director
Dominique Strauss-Kahn said rising oil prices are making it more
difficult to reduce global current account imbalances. Surging oil
prices, in particular, are widening global imbalances and also
complicating the task of managing domestic inflation for several oil
exporters with less flexible exchange rates, he said in a response to
readers' questions on the International Herald Tribune website.
Strauss-Kahn
said a key priority must be to make sure that downside risks to growth
in the advanced economies are avoided, and that their growth is
restored to a trend pace.
Turning toward European markets,
jumped higher with investors taking heart from a continued retreat in
oil prices and moving back into recently battered sectors such as the
banks. In the opening trade, the U.K. FTSE 100 index fell 0.2% to
5,274.30, the German DAX 30 index was virtually flat at 6,273.24 and
the French CAC-40 index dropped 0.2% to 4,216.22.
On the
economic front, German producer prices surged 6.7% on the year in June,
posting their strongest annual rise since March 1982. Prices at
Germany's factory gates increased 0.9% from May. According to the
Federal Statistics Office the June data marks the sharpest annual rise
since March 1982, when German producer prices leapt 7.2%, the
statistics office said.
Surging energy prices were behind the
moves: heating oil prices surged almost 65% from June 2007, while
gasoline prices leapt 11% over that period, the data showed.
Electricity prices jumped 15.6% on the year in June.
Excluding
the sharp energy price increases, the index rose 0.3% on the month and
3.0% on the year, a spokeswoman at the statistics office said.
In
addition to this the euro-zone foreign trade balance swung to a deficit
in May from a surplus the previous month in a sign that the euro's
strength and weakening global demand are weighing on exports.
The
euro zone recorded a trade deficit of EUR4.6 billion with the rest of
the world in May. That compares with a revised EUR2.5 billion surplus
in April and surplus of EUR1.4 billion in May last year. April's
surplus was revised up from EUR2.3 billion-reported last month.
Non-seasonally
adjusted data showed euro-zone exports grew 4% on the year to EUR128.4
billion in May, but imports increased 9% to EUR133.0 billion. Over the
first five months of the year, exports rose 8% on the year, while
imports increased 11%, Eurostat said. The euro zone's internal trade
rose 3% on the year in May to EUR129.4 billion, Eurostat said.
In
UK the money supply growth accelerated in June. According to the
provisional release of money growth data for June showed M4 -- a broad
measure of money supply -- rose 2.0% on the month and 11.5% on the
year. Meanwhile, M4 lending was at 13.6 billion pounds in June from
11.3 billion in May.
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Asian Markets Remain Mixed Ahead of Weekend
Asian
markets continued to swing between gains and losses as most of the
markets declined, erasing their early gains, as investors turned
cautious following disappointing U.S. quarterly reports by Merrill
Lynch & Co., Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc. If we glance through
the Asian region most of the markets reversed their early day
positions. Nikkei, Kospi ended lower losing yesterday?s gain while
Shanghai came back in positives.
Oil plunged for the third
straight session on Thursday and closed below $130 a barrel for the
first time in six weeks. Light sweet crude for August delivery closed
at $129.29, down $5.31, on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In Asian
trade Friday, crude is currently up 90 cents at $130.19 a barrel.
On
the currency front, the U.S. dollar gained overnight following a rally
in the equity markets and better-than-expected earnings reported by JP
Morgan. In early Tokyo deals, the U.S. dollar bought 106.16 yen,
compared with 105.23 yen late Thursday. The South Korean won opened
higher at 1,010.5 a dollar compared to previous day's close of 1,012.8
won. The Australian dollar opened weaker at US$0.9724-0.9730 and the
kiwi was trading weaker in early local deals at US$0.7609.
Coming
back in equity markets, the Japanese stock market closed lower, paring
early gains and reversing a two-day winning streak. The market started
off higher, tracking Wall Street's rally overnight, but changed
direction in the afternoon session as investors turned cautious ahead
of Citigroup's earnings announcement in the U.S. Investor sentiment was
also dented as U.S. firms Merrill Lynch, Microsoft and Google reported
disappointing quarterly results. A media report that the struggling
mortgages- giant Freddie Mac was considering a major stock sale added
to the negative sentiment.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed down 0.7% at 12,803.70 and the broader Topix Index fell 0.9% to finish at 1,252.43.
The drop came ahead of an extended weekend, with Japanese markets closed for a holiday on Monday.
On
the economic front, minutes of the Bank of Japan's June meeting noted
policy makers as saying that slowing growth is more of a concern than
accelerating inflation. Japanese bonds rose for the first time in three
days following the release of the minutes.
Japan's nationwide
department store sales continued to decline for the fourth straight
month in June as households reduced their spending. According to data
released by the Japan Department Stores Association, sales declined
7.6% on year in June, significantly faster than a 2.7% fall seen in
May. The association said in its report that adverse weather conditions
hurt sales of summer-related products, especially clothing.
The
South Korean market also closed lower on disappointing quarterly
results reported by major U.S. companies like Merrill Lynch, Microsoft
and Google. The market had started off on a firm note after Wall Street
extended its rally amid better-than-expected results posted by JP
Morgan Chase and United Technologies and a continued drop in oil
prices, but pared early gains as selling intensified in the afternoon
session. The benchmark Kospi lost 1.02% to end at 1,509.99, reversing
yesterday's gains.
China's Shanghai Composite Index reversed yesterday?s losses put a gain on the bolt. ,
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index climbed 3.5% reaching to 2,778.37 against yesterday?s fall of 0.8%.
In
Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index increased 0.6% to 21,874.19, while the
Hang Seng China Enterprises Index zoomed up 0.6% to 12,123.88.
The
Australian stock market closed lower, ending a two-day winning streak.
The local market opened weak, despite a positive lead from Wall Street,
and extended losses as the resources sector fell on weaker commodity
prices and major U.S. companies like Merrill Lynch, Microsoft and
Google reported disappointing earnings after the markets closed in the
U.S.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed down 1.2% at
4,840.4 and the broader All Ordinaries index lost 62.1 points or 1.2%
to finish at 4,915.3.
On the economic front, the Australian
Bureau of Statistics reported that the import price index rose just
1.4% in the June quarter after posting a 2.7% growth in the previous
quarter. In the year to June, import prices rose 3.5%.
Export
price index jumped 13.5% during the June quarter, due to a huge jump in
ore and coal prices, compared to the 3.5% growth recorded in the
previous quarter. In the year to June, export prices rose 13.3%.
The
New Zealand market closed higher for the third consecutive session,
tracking a positive lead form Wall Street and a sharp fall in oil
prices, and traded above the flat line for the entire session. The
benchmark NZX 50 index closed up 0.95% at 3,120.91 and the broader NZX
All Capital Index rose 23.99 points or 0.73% to finish at 3,165.61.
After
opening up sharply, the Indian market drifted down in early trading but
is currently trading in a positive territory. The market opened higher,
led by a sharp correction in crude oil yesterday. Soon, the market
pared gains, led by IT stocks and other index heavyweights as traders
expressed caution ahead of the government's trust vote scheduled early
next week.
In the afternoon trading the BSE Sensex was trading
at 13,625.28 up by 3.9% from yesterday?s closing while, the S&P CNX
Nifty index increased 3.7% reaching to 4,093.40.
On the economic
front, India inflation rose to 11.91% for the week ended on 5 July 2008
? slightly higher than the previous week?s 11.89% and became the
highest increase since 1995.
Elsewhere, Singapore's Straits Times Index lost 0.6% to 2,847.73, Taiwan's Weighted Index gave up 2.3% 6,815.32
In
other economic events, International Monetary Fund managing director
Dominique Strauss-Kahn said rising oil prices are making it more
difficult to reduce global current account imbalances. Surging oil
prices, in particular, are widening global imbalances and also
complicating the task of managing domestic inflation for several oil
exporters with less flexible exchange rates, he said in a response to
readers' questions on the International Herald Tribune website.
Strauss-Kahn
said a key priority must be to make sure that downside risks to growth
in the advanced economies are avoided, and that their growth is
restored to a trend pace.
Turning toward European markets,
jumped higher with investors taking heart from a continued retreat in
oil prices and moving back into recently battered sectors such as the
banks. In the opening trade, the U.K. FTSE 100 index fell 0.2% to
5,274.30, the German DAX 30 index was virtually flat at 6,273.24 and
the French CAC-40 index dropped 0.2% to 4,216.22.
On the
economic front, German producer prices surged 6.7% on the year in June,
posting their strongest annual rise since March 1982. Prices at
Germany's factory gates increased 0.9% from May. According to the
Federal Statistics Office the June data marks the sharpest annual rise
since March 1982, when German producer prices leapt 7.2%, the
statistics office said.
Surging energy prices were behind the
moves: heating oil prices surged almost 65% from June 2007, while
gasoline prices leapt 11% over that period, the data showed.
Electricity prices jumped 15.6% on the year in June.
Excluding
the sharp energy price increases, the index rose 0.3% on the month and
3.0% on the year, a spokeswoman at the statistics office said.
In
addition to this the euro-zone foreign trade balance swung to a deficit
in May from a surplus the previous month in a sign that the euro's
strength and weakening global demand are weighing on exports.
The
euro zone recorded a trade deficit of EUR4.6 billion with the rest of
the world in May. That compares with a revised EUR2.5 billion surplus
in April and surplus of EUR1.4 billion in May last year. April's
surplus was revised up from EUR2.3 billion-reported last month.
Non-seasonally
adjusted data showed euro-zone exports grew 4% on the year to EUR128.4
billion in May, but imports increased 9% to EUR133.0 billion. Over the
first five months of the year, exports rose 8% on the year, while
imports increased 11%, Eurostat said. The euro zone's internal trade
rose 3% on the year in May to EUR129.4 billion, Eurostat said.
In
UK the money supply growth accelerated in June. According to the
provisional release of money growth data for June showed M4 -- a broad
measure of money supply -- rose 2.0% on the month and 11.5% on the
year. Meanwhile, M4 lending was at 13.6 billion pounds in June from
11.3 billion in May.
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