Asian Markets Advance

Hang Seng, Shanghai register good gains while Nikkei strive for advance

Stock markets
in Asian region tried to recoup some of its losses on Tuesday, 10 March 2009, led by financials and commodities despite the weaker closing of the U.S markets overnight.

Stocks at Wall Street once again met with a weak finish that was actually meant to be a strong start. Despite hovering in the green for quite a few times earlier during the day, US stocks ended with losses led by weakness in technology and telecom sectors.

Though the financial sector reversed its course of direction in the final hours of trading, it failed to direct the market in making a U turn. Also, investors seemed to show little interest in the merger plan announced between the pharmaceutical companies – Merck and Schering Plough.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended lower 80 points at 6,547, the Nasdaq closed lower by 25 points at 1,268 and the S&P 500 closed lower by 7 points at 676. Merger news dominated the day today at Wall Street.

In the commodity market, crude oil traded near $47 a barrel after rising yesterday to a two-month high on speculation the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will decide to reduce output when ministers gather in Vienna on 15 March 2009.

Crude oil for April delivery was at $47.29 a barrel, up 22 cents, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 11:10 a.m. London time. It earlier rose as high as $47.44 a barrel. Yesterday, futures rose $1.55, or 3.4%, to close at $47.07 a barrel, the highest settlement since 6 January 2009.

Brent crude oil for April settlement rose as much as $1.01, or 2.29%, to $45.14 a barrel at 11:10 a.m. London time. The contract fell 1.6% to $44.13 yesterday.

Gold futures fell as some investors sold the precious metal following a two-session rally. Gold futures for April delivery fell $24.70, or 2.6%, to $918 on the New York Mercantile Exchange’s Comex division. The price rose 20 cents last week. . The metal traded at $912.10 at 11:10 a.m. in London.

In the currency market, the Japanese yen was quoted at 98.70 against the US dollar..

The Hong Kong dollar was trading at HK$ 7.7560 against the dollar. Actually The Hong Kong dollar is pegged at HK$ 7.8 to the U.S. dollar but can trade between HK$ 7.75 and HK$7.85 to the U.S. dollar.

In Sydney trades, the Australian dollar corrected further on Tuesday, in the face of more gloomy economic data, with falling job advertisements signaling rising unemployment. The Australian dollar closed the trades at $US0.6384, little changed from $US0.6352 before the data release, but well below 63.97 US cents seen at the closing on Monday

In Wellington trades, the New Zealand dollar ended the day at US49.76c from US50.25c yesterday, having hit a low of US49.17c during the day. The currency recovered from early weakness today but risk aversion meant it remained subdued.

The South Korean currency surged 2.48% against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday, extending its gaining run to three sessions, as foreign investors turned strong buyers to snap up local shares.

The local currency closed at 1,511.5 won to the greenback, up 37.5 won from Monday, after rising as high as 1,500 won at one point in afternoon trade. For the past three sessions, the won rose 3.74% against the dollar.

The Bank of Korea said earlier in the day that South Korea's entire foreign exchange reserves, totaling some US$201.54 billion, are available at any time because they are invested in highly liquid assets that are easily converted into cash.

The comment by the central bank that total foreign reserves are immediately available and dollar sales by local card issuers related to Visa Inc's dividend payouts also gave some relief to the local currency.

The Taiwan dollar strengthened as it was trading at NT$ 34.6000 up by NT$ 0.2150 from yesterday’s close of NT$34.815

Coming back in equities, in Japan, closed at a fresh 26-year low, with automobile stocks tracking Wall Street lower and Takeda Pharmaceutical extending losses on concerns a U.S. approval for its diabetes drug could be delayed. The benchmark ended down 0.4% at 7054.98, although it withstood selling pressure that threatened to pull it below the psychologically important 7000-point level through the session. The broader Topix was down 7.03 points or 0.99%, to 703.50.

On the economic front, Japan’s key economic indexes were down in January. Japan’s coincident index that tracks the current state of the Japanese economy fell by 2.8% to 89.6 in January from 92.2 in December. The composite index of leading economic indicators as well as the lagging indexes decreased indicating contraction in economic activity. The Cabinet Office maintained its assessment on the coincident index, saying that the Japan's economy was worsening.

In Mainland China, stocks ended higher in anticipation of further interest rate cut by the country's central bank. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A shares and B shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, added 1.88% or 39.82 points to 2,158.57 points after fluctuating between 2,159.27 and 2,088.16 points. The Shenzhen Component Index on the smaller Shenzhen Stock Exchange grew 1.24% or 98.87 points to 8,045.66 points, after touching an intraday low of 7,786.86 points.

In Hong Kong, stock markets rebounded from its four and half month low, as HSBC recovered from its biggest sell-off in at least three decades ahead of its $18 billion cash call.

The Hang Seng Index ended jumped by 349.47 points, or 3.08%, to 11,694.05. The Hang Seng China Enterprise Index, which tracks H shares of Chinese companies, gained 155.09 points, or 2.31% to 6,880.67. The Hang Seng Index moved in the narrow range of 11747.11 – 11542.88.

In Australia, stock market in Australian managed to close higher, after trading in the red for most of the morning session, following a rebound among banking stocks. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 spurted of 30 points or 1% ending the day at 3,184.50. The broader All Ordinaries gained 21.5 points or 0.7% closing at 3,143.20.

On the economic front, the ANZ Banking Group survey found total job advertisements slipped 10.4% in February, the largest recorded monthly fall since the series began in 1999. It was the 10th consecutive monthly decline and the second time in three months that the survey recorded a double-digit percentage fall. On an annual basis, the number of job advertisements in newspapers and on the Internet has backpedaled 39.8% in the 12 months to February - the worst outcome in the history of the survey.

In another economic release, business conditions slumped in February as a slowdown in the global economy continued to hit Australia. The National Australia Bank (NAB) monthly business survey's measure of business conditions fell nine index points to - 20 points, a level last seen in June 1992. The measure of business confidence rose 10 index points in February, to -22 points. But the lift in business confidence followed the worst reading of confidence in the survey's 20-year history in January.

In New Zealand, stock market continued its downward slide as the benchmark index dipped down for the third consecutive session on Tuesday. The benchmark NZX50 fell 0.26% or 6.468 points to close at 2462.706. The NZX 15 ended in the down 0.30% or 13.843 points to 4646.751.

In South Korea, stock market closed higher, as the local currency's strength against the U.S. dollar helped soothe investor sentiment. After starting weaker, the Seoul bourse turned higher and extended earlier gains on the back of the Won's sharp gain and foreign investors' stock buying. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index increased by 20.47 point or 1.91% closing the day at 1,092.20

In Taiwan, stock market regain its two month closing high, after DRAM makers Powerchip and Nanya Technology up after the government said it would inject up to T$30 billion into a new DRAM company it is setting up to consolidate the island's industry. The main Taiex share index resumed gaining by closing higher by 42.78 points or 0.92% at 4,671.02, regaining its two month high, i.e. the highest closing since 7 January 2009 when the market closed at 4789.84.

In Philippines, the stock market continued to sail downwards for the third consecutive day taking cues from the losses on Wall Street overnight, which ended around 12-year lows, amid continued uncertainty about the economy. Moreover, frail economic news also weighed down the benchmark index. The benchmark index PSEi declined 0.92% or 17.40 points to 1,873.22, while the All Shares index fell 0.74% or 9.05 points to 1,201.73.

Elsewhere, Malaysia's Kula Lumpur Composite index was down 1.27% or 11.02 points to 858.22, while Indonesia’s Jakarta composite decreased by 1.38 points or 0.11% to 1,286.69. In Thailand, the Thai Stock exchange added 2.40 points or 0.58% to 419.51.

Stock markets in India were closed on the account of public holiday.

In other regional market, European shares bounced off 12-year lows Tuesday, as an upgrade for U.K. lender Barclays helped sentiment in the banking sector and a double upgrade for Daimler injected some life back into the auto sector. At the regional level, the German DAX 30 index jumped 1.7% to 3,753.20, outpacing the French CAC-40 index, up 1.1% to 2,547.87 and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index, up 1.2% to 3,585.41.