September Slide Continues As Asian Market Plunge Further
Asia markets ended deep in the red, as fears global companies could
reduce technology spending weighed down stocks such as Advantest Corp.,
while energy-related shares such as Cnooc and BHP Billiton lost further
ground as crude-oil prices extended losses.
On
Wall Street, the U.S. stocks put in a mixed performance after the
Federal Reserve's Beige Book report showed a slowdown in economic
activity in most districts, while the Commerce Department's report
showed a more-than-expected increase in orders for manufactured goods
in July. The Dow closed up 16.0 points at 11,532, while the Nasdaq
closed down 15.5 points at 2,333 and the S&P 500 lost 2.6 points to
finish at 1,274.
Crude oil rose by 34 cents in late Asian session
to trade at $109.69 a barrel today after the contract for October
settlement finished 36 cents lower Wednesday in New York at $109.35 a
barrel on slowing demand for oil and a stronger dollar.
In the
currency market, the U.S. dollar held steady in the lower 108-yen
levels in late Thursday local deals. The dollar was quoted at
108.25-108.28 yen, down 0.65 yen from Wednesday's close of
108.90-108.91 yen in Tokyo. The South Korean won jumped against the
U.S. dollar on a verbal intervention by foreign exchange authorities.
The won finished the local session at 1,129.0 a dollar, up 19.5 won
from Wednesday's close of 1,148.5 a dollar.
The Australian dollar
closed stronger at US$0.8353-0.8357, up from Wednesday's close of
US$0.8282-0.8286 after an unexpected trade deficit in July temporarily
dented investor sentiment. The New Zealand dollar consolidated after
bouncing back from Wednesday's sharp fall. The kiwi finished the local
session at US$0.6817, up from US$0.6745 late Wednesday.
Coming
back in Asian equities, the Japanese stock market closed sharply lower
on worries about an economic slowdown and uncertainty about the
country's political outlook. Technology stocks were under pressure on
concerns that global technology spending is set to decline and
commodity-related stocks eased as oil prices fell for a fifth straight
session. The Japanese market closed higher Wednesday, ending a two-day
losing streak.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index lost 1.04% to close at 12,557.66 and the broader Topix index closed down 1.55% at 1,201.65.
On
the economic front, Japan's Ministry of Finance reported Thursday that
foreigners purchased a net 131.0 billion yen worth of Japan stocks for
the week ended August 30. Foreigners were net sellers of a revised
215.1 billion yen in stocks in the prior week. Meanwhile, foreigners
were also buyers of a net 439.4 billion yen worth of Japan bonds and
notes for the latest week.
The Chinese market closed marginally
higher, ending a three-day losing streak. Nonferrous metal stocks rose
on a technical rebound, but Banks continued to decline. Beverage makers
surged on news that China Huiyuan Juice is being acquired by Coca-Cola
at a premium of nearly 200%. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index
closed up by 0.03% at 2,277.41. In Shenzhen, the All Share index
increased by 0.68% to 631.80.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises
tracked Shanghai stocks lost 1.37% to 10,924.91 while the benchmark
Hang Seng index closed down 0.95% at 20,389.48.
The Australian
market closed lower, extending losses for a fourth straight trading
session. Mining and energy stocks dragged the market down on weaker
gold, nickel, zinc and oil prices. The market opened higher, tracking a
mixed lead from Wall Street, but soon lost ground as weakness in the
commodity sector prompted investors to sell stocks.
The benchmark
S&P/ASX 200 index lost 1.6% to finish at 4,979.5, after touching a
high of 5,081.5 in early trade. The broader All Ordinaries index closed
down 1.6% at 5,050.9.
Australia's trade balance swung back into
the red in July as the surging cost of fuel imports and supply
bottlenecks for coal exports put a disappointing end to what had been
only the second surplus in six years. The government showed the country
recorded a trade deficit of A$717 million ($598 million) in July,
compared to a surplus of A$351 million in June. Imports rose 3.9% in
July to A$23.6 billion, largely due to a hefty 29% increase in fuel
imports. Exports dipped 0.8% to A$22.88 billion in July, with a 9% drop
in coal shipments illustrating long-standing problems with Australia's
transport infrastructure.
The New Zealand stock market closed
lower Thursday, ending a five-day winning streak. The market started
off slightly higher, but lost ground by noon as investors locked in
profits on the back of a weak lead from Wall Street. The benchmark NZX
50 index closed down 0.75% at 3,348.14 and the broader NZX All Capital
index closed flat at 3,407.14.
The South Korean market closed
flat after a volatile trading session. The market started off weak, but
recovered ground to finish marginally below the flat line. The
benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index or KOSPI slipped 0.03% to
close the session 1,426.43.
On the economic front, the Korea
Automobile Importers and Dealers Association said that sales of
imported cars in South Korea climbed 7.7% in August to 4,894 from that
for the same month a year ago, bucking the trend of poor sales by local
automakers such as Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia Motors.
In
India, lack of investor participation ahead of inflation data kept the
market under pressure today. Indices witnessed major volatility
throughout the session. Realty shares were the worst performers, while
software and healthcare pivotals bucked weak trend.
As per
provisional closing, the BSE 30-share Sensex was down 132 points or
0.88% to 14,917.86. The index shed 283.85 points at the day's low of
14,766.01, hit in mid-morning. It lost 55.71 points at the day?s high
of 14,994.15 points, hit in afternoon. The S&P CNX Nifty was down
50.30 points or 1.12% to 4453.70.
In Malaysia the exports rose
25.4 percent in July from a year ago, led by strong performances by
electronics, palm oil and petroleum products. Exports totaled a record
63.36 billion ringgit ($18.42 billion), up from 58.3 billion ringgit in
June, while imports rose 14.8 percent from a year ago to 48.85 billion
ringgit in July, according to data from the trade ministry. Export
growth was largely driven by sales of electronics, crude oil and crude
palm oil, and chemical products. Exports had grown 18.4 percent in
June, after logging a 44-month high a month earlier. Malaysia's July
trade surplus was up 82 percent from a year ago at 14.51 billion
ringgit. The KLSE Composite was at par with 1,085.06.
In
Indonesia, the central bank raised its key interest rate by 25 basis
points. August consumer prices rose 11.85 percent over a year earlier,
a modest easing from July's annual pace of 11.9 percent, which was the
highest level in almost two years. However, the data marked the first
fall in annual inflation in seven months, underlining a view that
inflationary pressures, led by the soaring cost of raw materials and
food, may have peaked. The Jakarta Composite index closed down 1.93% at
2,075.23.
Elsewhere, Taiwan's Taiex slumped by 2.61% at 6,412.63; Singapore's Strait Times declined by 2.91% at 2,626.05.
In
the other part of the world, European shares declined, as losses for
exporters and airlines offset an advance for Unilever and BP, and with
interest rate decisions from the European Central Bank on tap. The Bank
of England has decided to keep its interest rate unchanged at 5% in
today?s meeting turning all eyes on the ECB who is scheduled to release
its interest rate decision by 11.45 GMT.
Of national indexes,
the German DAX 30 index fell 1.2% to 6,389.72 and the French CAC-40
index fell 0.7% to 4,414.24. In contrast, the U.K. FTSE 100 index
traded up 0.4% at 5,520.70, boosted by sharp gains from Unilever and
BP. At 11.40 GMT all this national indices showed some recovery from
their opening positions. U.K. FTSE 100 index gained to 0.31% to
5,516.70. The German DAX 30 index was down by 1.06% to 6,398.91, while
the French CAC-40 index was down by 0.74% to 4,414.31.
In Sweden,
the central bank raised its key interest rate by a quarter percentage
point to 4.75% - the 13th in a series, which began in January 2006,
showing its focused on above-target inflation rather than slowing
economic growth. The Riksbank also lowered its outlook for interest
rates, saying it saw the repo rate averaging 4.7 percent in the fourth
quarter; down from a previous forecast 4.8 percent. Inflation has
continued to rise in Sweden, inflation expectations are still high and
cost pressures have increased. It is necessary to raise the repo rate
now to prevent the increases in energy and food prices from spreading
to other areas, the bank said in a statement.
In U.K. the house
prices recorded the steepest annual drop in August since records began
as the increasing cost of living and the global credit crisis continued
to weigh on demand for housing. The Halifax house price index declined
1.8% from July and was 10.9% lower than in August 2007. That compares
with a 1.7% month-on month drop in July and a fall of 8.8% on the year.
The drop - the steepest year-on-year decline since records began in
January 1983 - was bigger than expected.
The bank also said it
had lowered the path of the repo since its July assessment partly
because the oil price and other commodity prices have fallen. Moreover,
growth has slowed down more than expected both in Sweden and abroad.
In
Germany, the manufacturing orders fell in July for the eighth
consecutive month due to weaker domestic demand, forecasting weak
production for the coming months. Orders fell a seasonally adjusted
1.7% on the month in July. In June, orders fell a revised 2.6% compared
with the previously reported 2.9% drop. The decline was due to a 3.6%
slump in domestic orders, which was partially offset by a 0.3% rise in
foreign orders in July from June.
Looking ahead the day is
scheduled to release some of the key events of the week. After BoE?s
interest rate decision now all eyes will be on European Central Bank
interest rate decision which will be release in the short while from
now. It will be followed by Trichet comment in the evening. From US we
have a series of events. Starting with ADP employment change for
August, which will be followed by weekly data on jobless claims. In the
evening we have second quarter details on non-farm productivity and
unit labor cost which will be followed by the ISM non-manufacturing
index for the month of August. Today?s calendar will end on EIA weekly
update on Crude oil stoics change.
Visit site at - http://investorline.co.in/
Newsroom -
http://newsroom.investorline.co.in/
Learning
Center- http://learning.investorline.co.in/
Mutual
funds - http://mutualfunds.investorline.co.in/
Life Insurance - http://insurance.investorline.co.in/
Investor
Journal - http://research.investorline.co.in/
Investor
Forums- http://forums.investorline.co.in/
0 comments:
Post a Comment