Stocks fly across Asia

Crude rises near $83 as risk appetite continues to pep sentiments up

Stocks were flying across Asia today bearing a late wave of sell off in India as the energy and resource linked counters drove the sentiments up following the continued spell of weakness in the US dollar. Oil prices rose to near $83 a barrel Tuesday in Asia, extending gains from the previous day and the other commodities also garnered impressive gains. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.4% to its highest level since September 2008 yesterday. The euro rose to $1.3538 on Tuesday from $1.3476 yesterday.

The stock market in Japan ended in positive territory after witnessing selling pressure in the last session. Strong buying interest drove the Nikkei 225 index above the psychological 11,000 mark for the first time since October 2008, amid increasing optimism about global economic recovery. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index rose 110.67 points, or 1.0%, to 11,097, while the broader Topix index of all First Section issues rose 13.45 points, or 1.4%, to 980.

On the economic front, a report released by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications revealed that unemployment rate in the country held steady in February at a seasonally adjusted 4.9%. The report noted that the number of employed persons in February was 61.85 million, a decrease of 800 thousand or 1.3% from the previous year. The number of unemployed persons in February was 3.24 million, an increase of 250 thousand or 8.4% from the previous year. The job-to-applicant ratio was 0.47, in line with expectations after showing 0.46 in January. Separately, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry revealed that an index measuring industrial production in Japan was down a seasonally adjusted 0.9% in February compared to the previous month, posting a score of 91.3.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 0.4% to 4,916.80 at the close of trading in Sydney as rising commodity prices assisted mining majors. Copper surged to an 11-week high in New York yesterday though it witnessed some selling at the higher levels today. However, the New Zealand equities slipped a little today, despite a solid gain for top stock Telecom. The benchmark NZX-50 index ended down 1.5 points to 3249.65, after the index climbed yesterday to its highest close for 10 weeks.

Hong Kong stocks hit their highest close in nearly two weeks, led by financial, consumer and airline counters. The Hang Seng Index ended up 0.65% at 21,374.79. Hong Kong's economy is expected grow by 4.0 to 5.0 percent in 2010, the city's financial secretary John Tsang said in his annual budget speech today. China stocks also edged up to two-month high. The mainland's key stock index closed up 0.15% to 3,128.46 points, edging to a fresh two-month closing high after a rally on Monday on news of an imminent launch of stock index futures trade.

In Mumbai, the benchmark BSESENSEX failed to hold to initial gains and turned sharply lower after the European indices opined on a flat note. Bulk of the selling pressure was led due to profit selling after the Benchmarks hit fresh 52-week highs earlier in the day as investors eyed positive global cues. However, technology, select metal and power stocks along with Reliance Industries were under pressure. The 30-share BSE Sensex closed at 17590.17, down 121.18 points or 0.68%.

Benchmark crude for May delivery hit a high of $82.74 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract jumped $2.17 to settle at $82.17 on Tuesday. Crude prices have been buoyed by a yearlong rally of global stock markets. Oil traders often look to equity markets as a measure of overall investor sentiment. However, there has been a sell off from these levels and the prices were last seen hovering at $82.09, down 8 cents from the previous close.