Asian markets mark mute Monday

Sensex, Sydney, Seoul finish lower

Stock market in Asian region remained subdued for third session on Monday 5 October 2009, led by technology and mining companies, as economist Nouriel Roubini said share prices may drop and a report showed the US lost more jobs than estimated. New York University Professor Nouriel Roubini, who predicted the financial crisis, said stock and commodity markets might drop in coming months as the gradual pace of the economic recovery disappoints investors.

On Wall Street, stocks closed slightly lower on Friday, after a lousy unemployment report, but it wasn't the pullback the beginning of the session suggested. Losses for the day were milder; the Dow fell 21.61 points, or 0.2%, to 9487.67, while the S&P 500 gave up 4.64 points, or 0.5%, to 1025.21. The Nasdaq shed 9.37 points, or 0.5%, to 2048.11.

It was a rough week for the major averages, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 losing 1.8%, and the Nasdaq Composite dropping 2% for the five-day session. The bulk of the pullback came as Wall Street braced for the unemployment report.

In economic data, employers cut 263,000 jobs from their payrolls in September 2009 after cutting a revised 201,000 in August 2009, the Labor Department reported Friday, 2 October 2009. The unemployment rate, generated by a separate survey, rose to 9.8% in September 2009, a 26-year high.

A separate government report showed that factory orders plunged in September 2009. The Commerce Department said factory orders fell 0.8% in September 2009 as compared with 1.4% rise in August 2009.

In the commodity market, crude oil fell for a second day in New York on concern demand in the U.S., the biggest energy user, will be slow to rebound as the nation’s jobless rate increased.

Crude oil for November delivery fell as much as 67 cents, or 1 percent, to $69.28 a barrel, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract was at $69.76 a barrel at 4:05 p.m. Singapore time.

Brent crude oil for November settlement fell to as low as $67.28 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange, down 79 cents, or 1.2 percent. It was at $67.79 a barrel at 4:05 p.m. Singapore time.

Gold, little changed in London today, may rise for a second day as a weaker dollar boosts demand for the precious metal as an alternative investment. Immediate-delivery bullion added $2.50, or 0.2 percent, to $1,005.30 an ounce by 9:42 a.m. local time.

In the currency market, US dollar opened the week mildly weaker as markets are disappointed with the rather mild language from G7 statement. There have be a lot of rhetoric about dollar's weakness ahead of the meeting but in the end, G7 finance chiefs refrained from making any criticism on it. Instead, the group just said that excess volatility and disorderly movements in exchange rates have adverse implications for economic and financial stability, which is essentially unchanged from prior stance.

On the other hand, Japanese yen went lower on Japan Finance Minister Fujii’s comments that if yen shows excessive moves in a biased direction, will leaves room for the government to intervene. The Japanese yen was quoted at 89.96 against the greenback.

The Hong Kong dollar was trading at HK$ 7.7503 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 closed higher, bucking poor US jobs data amid speculation that the Reserve Bank of Australia might lift interest rates as early as tomorrow. At local close, the Australian dollar was trading at 87.34/39 US cents, up from Friday's close of 86.89/93 US cents. During the domestic session, the unit moved between 86.47 US cents and 87.47 US cents.

In Wellington trade, the New Zealand dollar dropped slightly on comments by Finance Minister Bill English but then hitched a ride higher with a rising Australian dollar.

The NZ dollar was at US72.01 cents at local close, from US71.61c in the morining and US71.20c at previous closing. During the weekend it fell below US71c for the first time in about 1½ week, but the dip was brief. The NZ dollar fell as low as US71.40c today after Mr. English said NZ dollar was higher than would be expected at this point in the economic cycle.

The South Korean currency closed at 1,173.7 won to the greenback, the highest since 26 September 2008, and up 4.6 won from Thursday's close. The Korean unit climbed to as high as 1,169.1 against the greenback at one point, but the won’s sharp gains eased after the Bank of Korea (BOK), the country's central bank, made a verbal intervention.

The Taiwan dollar strengthened against the greenback. The Taiwan dollar was trading higher against the US dollar at NT$ 32.2550, 0.0950 up from Friday’s close of NT$32.3500.

In the equities, Asian markets ended mostly lower in volatile trading, with South Korean stocks suffering a steep decline as trading resumed after a holiday and as Hana Financial Group plunged on a report it may raise capital.

In Japan, shares market dropped with most of sectors dived broadly, hurt by concern about the effects of a strong yen on the economic recovery and as bleak U.S. job data. At the closing bell, the Nikkei 225 Stock Average index tumbled 57.38 points or 0.59%, to 9,674.49, while the broader Topix erased 7.39 points, or 0.84%, to 867.28.

Stock markets in China have been shut since 1 October 2009 for National day and autumn festival celebrations. Trading will resume on 9 October 2009

In Hong Kong, the stock market finished the session marginally higher, erasing morning losses as bargain hunters stepped in the afternoon trading after the benchmark indices dived to three-week lowest levels in the previous session. Banks and financials and energy stocks outperformed, while shares of properties sank as weak US jobs data and holiday in China further discourage investors. The Hang Seng Index recovered 53.58 points, or 0.26%, to 20,429.07, while the Hang Seng China Enterprise added 118.73 points, or 1.03%, to 11,645.05.

On the economic front, as per report by Markit Economics and HSBC Holdings, Hong Kong’s purchasing managers’ index for the whole economy stood at 51.8 in September, down from 52.8 in August. A reading above 50 indicates improvement in business conditions, while a reading below 50 signals deterioration.

In Australia, the shares dropped, off morning gains in a last hour of trading, with steep losses in major four banks and as shares of industrials and consumer discretionary ran out of energy in the afternoon. At the closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index stumbled 28.40 points, or 0.62%, to 4,573.3, meanwhile the broader All Ordinaries retreated 26.80 points, or 0.58%, to 4,579.3.

In New Zealand, benchmark indices ended the first trading day of the week in the negative region in line with most of the regional markets that faired lower. As per the provisional figures at the closing bell, the NZX50 declined 0.32% or 10.13 points to 3138.72. The NZX 15 was down 0.14% or 8.09 points to close at 5767.43.

On the economic front, New Zealand's key export commodity prices rose 6.8% month-on-month in September, at the fastest monthly pace in 22 years, the latest ANZ Commodity Price Index showed Monday. This comes after a 4.3% gain in prices in August. Meanwhile, as per the treasury report on monthly economic indicators, the New Zealand economy grew marginally in the June quarter, ending the recession, which began in March 2008 - one quarter earlier than anticipated.

In South Korea, shares dropped as foreign and institutional investors cut holdings of local shares on renewed concerns over an economic recovery. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) plunged 37.73 points to 1,606.9, extending a losing streak to a third day.

In Singapore, stock market dragged lower by banks, properties and major blue chip shares as investors around the world start to have concerns about the strength of global economic recovery after deeper-than-expected US job losses ignited fears that a soft American labour market could slow the pace of economic recovery. The blue chip Straits Times Index was ended today session at 2,583.73 sank 20.80 points or 0.8%.

In Taiwan, stock market sought to recover from its worst percentage slide in seven weeks, by posting some modest gains. The benchmark Taiex share index finished the first day of the week higher by 26.10 points or 0.35% in a day, closing the day at 7437.98.

In Philippines, the stock market closed marginally lower as investors took clue from losses on Wall Street last Friday. However, positive news on the economic front, gave some support to the composite index. Drop in the leading economic indicator slowed down in the third quarter (Q3) suggesting that the Philippine economy may have bottomed out. The benchmark index PSEi lost 0.01% or 0.55 points to 2,819.48, while the All Shares index mounted 0.01% or 0.21 points to 1,790.41.

In India, key benchmark indices extended fall in late trade to strike day’s low on fresh selling in index pivotals. Stocks fell as investors priced in a sharp weakness in global markets on Friday, when the Indian market was closed for a public holiday.

The BSE 30-share Sensex fell 268.14 points or 1.56% to 16,866.41. The Sensex opened 72.54 points lower at 17,062.01, also its day's high. The barometer index lost 298.75 points at the day's low of 16,835.80 in late trade. The S&P CNX Nifty lost 80.20 points or 1.58% to 5003.80. The index dipped below the psychological 5,000 level to touch day's low of 4991.95 in late trade.

Elsewhere, Malaysia's Kula Lumpur Composite index went up 0.85% or 10.20 points to 1216.45 while stock markets in Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite index ended the day higher at 2480.41.

In other regional market, mineral extractors and telecom’s helped European shares to advance on Monday for the first time in four sessions, with Telenor shares rising sharply after the firm signed a deal to create a new mobile operator with Altimo. On a regional level, the U.K. FTSE 100 index rose 0.1% to 4,993.38, the German DAX index advanced 0.24% or 13.02 points to 5,481 and the French CAC-40 index 3,656, gained 0.2% or 5.85 points to 3,656.