Asian Markets ends mixed

Hang Seng; Sensex ends lower while Shanghai continues gaining further

Stock market in Asian region closed mixed on Thursday, 18 June 2009, as investors choose a cautious path, as doubts about a quick economic revival surfaced again following mixed reports from the U.S., Europe and other regions. Considering the uncertainness, the markets across the globe have been finding it increasingly tough to hold at higher levels over the past few sessions.

On Wall Street, stocks ended modestly lower but in a mixed mode. US stocks opened the day in the red, but with the help of consumer stocks, indices managed to change direction. But disappointing guidance from Fed Ex halted the upward movement of stocks. Selling was witnessed in the materials sector, energy sector, and financial sectors. The consumer price index report checked in line with expectations but could do little to fuel stocks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended lower by 7.46 points at 8,497. The Nasdaq Composite Index, ended higher by 11.88 points at 1,808. S&P 500 ended lower 1.2 points at 910.

In the commodity market, crude oil pared gains, trading near $71 a barrel in New York, as concern that demand is falling outweighed potential supply disruptions in Nigeria. The Nigerian militants said they attacked a “major” delivery pipeline at Shell’s Forcados terminal using explosives at 8:30 p.m. local time yesterday.

In other news, U.S. crude oil stockpiles last week fell a more-than- expected 3.87 million barrels to 357.7 million barrels. Oil dropped earlier yesterday after the weekly Energy Department report showed that fuel stockpiles increased. Gasoline inventories climbed 3.39 million barrels to 205 million last week, the biggest gain since January. Gasoline use increased 213,000 barrels a day to 9.35 million.

Crude oil for July delivery was at $70.96 a barrel, down 7 cents, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 1:06 p.m. Singapore time. The contract earlier rose as much as 55 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $71.58 a barrel. Prices are up 59 percent this year and reached $73.23 last week.

Brent crude for August settlement was at $70.66 a barrel, down 19 cents, on London’s ICE Futures Europe exchange at 1:04 p.m. Singapore time. The contract earlier traded as high as $71.31 a barrel.

Gold, little changed in Asia, may gain after the dollar’s rally this week failed to push prices below their 100-day moving average. Gold for immediate delivery traded at $938.25 an ounce at 1:38 p.m. in Singapore, after adding as much as 0.5 percent to $943.63 an ounce today.

In the currency market, US dollar weakens again as crude oil rebounded back to above 70 level on tensions in Iran and Nigeria. Though the downside is limited so far as greenback is somewhat supported by risk aversion on falling Asian stocks. The rebound of dollar and yen since Monday was disappointing as key levels in major pairs and yen crosses are still intact.

The Japanese yen edged down against greenback on Thursday. The Japanese currency quoted at 96.05 against greenback.

The Hong Kong dollar was trading at HK$ 7.7502 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 trade, the Australian dollar has closed lower, with a lack of definitive economic data sapping the unit's momentum. At the local close, the dollar was trading at $US0.7967, down from Wednesday's close of $US0.7993.

In Wellington trades, the NZ dollar ended at US63.02c little changed from US63.05c yesterday. The New Zealand dollar consolidated in a fairly narrow range in its domestic session.

The Taiwan dollar weakened slightly against the greenback. The Taiwan dollar fell against the US dollar as it closed trading lower at NT$ 32.9000, down by NT$ 0.015 from Wednesday’s close of NT$32.8850.

Coming back in equities, Asian shares were mixed as investors tried to pin down a near-term direction for markets, with exporter shares in Tokyo hurt by ongoing resilience in the Japanese yen.

In Japan, the stock index plummeted in the absence of decisive lead from Wall Street overnight, firmer greenback, and lower commodities prices. The market plummeted on broad based slumps across most of sectors in Tokyo exchange amid rekindled concerns about the state of the global economy and financials institution after S&P said the business environment for U.S. banks will become less favorable.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average index tumbled 137.13 points, or 1.4% to 9,703.72, while the broader Topix index stumbled 11.82 points, or 1.28% to 911.21.

On the economic front, the Finance Ministry reported that the Japanese resident became net sellers of foreign-based stocks last week, but remained net buyers of foreign bonds and notes. Residents of Japan sold a net 36.8 billion yen in foreign stocks for the week of June 7 - 13. Japan residents bought a net 550.2 billion yen in foreign bonds and notes for the week.

In Mainland China, stock index endured gains for second consecutive day, with broad based gains across ten sectors. Financials led the rally after the World Bank reinforced the belief that the economy is recovering, meanwhile energy outperformed as crude oil prices rebounded.

The Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A shares and B shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, jumped 1.56%, or 43.78 points, to 2,853.90, while the Shenzhen Component Index climbed up 1.01%, or 111.14 points, to 11,151.63.

In Hong Kong, the stock market endured loses for fourth straight day, with broad based slumps across the board amid uncertainty about the prospects for a further pickup in the economy.

The blue-chip Hang Seng Index shrank 307.94 points or 1.7% to close at 17,776.66. The Hang Seng China Enterprise Index, which tracks the overall performance of 43 Chinese mainland state-owned enterprises on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, slipped 277.84 points or 2.6% to 10,422.31 points.

In Australia, the share market ended lower for a fourth straight day as the sell-off of mining stocks goes on. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index lost 0.3%, or 12 points, to 3892.1, while the broader All Ordinaries index was down 0.4%, or 16.8 points, at 3887.4.

In New Zealand, benchmark index moved forward despite a drop in most of the Asian markets on Thursday. The share market registered a gain after falling for two sessions in a row as low investor sentiment hampered global markets. The NZX50 rose 0.73% or 20.20 points to 2798.24. The NZX 15 rose 1.44% or 73.01 points to close at 5127.78.

In South Korea, stocks sank as investors dumped steel, tech and other large-cap shares amid lingering uncertainty over an economic recovery and lack of new momentum backing up recent rallies. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) slid 15.41 points to 1,375.76, the fourth consecutive day of declines.

In Singapore, the stocks index extended losing streak for fourth straight day, as investors booked profits due to uncertainty about the prospects for a further pickup in the economy. Lower commodity prices and valuation concerns following recent run up also impacted market sentiment. Major heavyweight were sold for gains as investors speculated that this year’s rally has outpaced prospects for growth in the economy and corporate earnings. The blue chip Straits Times Index tumbled 34.25 points, or 1.51%, to 2,237.2.

In Taiwan, stock market prolonged its downward rally for fifth straight session, as investors continued profit booking on concerns over the local market's momentum after months of rally.

The main Taiex share index extended its downward trend for fifth straight session as the Taiex index slumped 51.38 points or 0.83%, closing the day at 6144.53, another lowest closing since 30 April 2009 when market closed at 5992.57.

On the economic front, Perng Fai-nan, governor of the central bank in Taiwan, with reference to a report by JP Morgan, a world-leading financial services firm, indicated that Taiwan, Japan and the United States would see positive economic growth in the second quarter of 2009, and Taiwan would see a recovering economy in the follow quarters of 2009.

In Philippines, the stock market continued to take a downhill for the third consecutive day tracking the overnight losses on Wall Street as investors continued to remain worried about the uncertainty in the global economy. At the concluding bell, the benchmark index PSEi fell 0.30% or 7.49 points to 2,434.26, while the All Shares index lost 0.10% or 1.60 points to 1,574.27.

In India, the key benchmark indices extended losses for the second straight day as investors took profits after a recent solid surge in share prices. A newspaper report that the government may rollback excise duty cuts in a bid to return to fiscal prudence amid slack revenue collections, weighed on the sentiment.

The BSE 30-share Sensex was down 257.31 points or 1.77% to 14,265.53. The S&P CNX Nifty was down 104.75 points or 2.40% to 4,251.40.

Elsewhere, Malaysia's Kula Lumpur Composite index went down 1.54% or 16.49 points to 1054.41 while Indonesia’s Jakarta composite index ended the day lower at 1950.99.

In other regional market, European shares declined on Thursday, falling for the fifth session in a row, although Dutch financial conglomerate ING Group and mining giant Xstrata shares advanced after broker upgrades. On a regional level, the U.K. FTSE 100 index declined 0.2% to 4,269.44, the German DAX index slipped 0.1% to 4,796.98 and the French CAC-40 index moved down 0.3% at 3,151.86.

Looking ahead for the day, in the European session, the Swiss national bank will release its interest rate
decision followed by retail sales data from UK for May. In US session, Canadian CPI will be the main focus. Initial jobless claims in US accompanied by Philly Fed survey for June will bear the evening focus.