Asia confidence dented by US jobs data Jul 3
Asia’s markets were mixed yesterday as investor confidence took a blow from worse-than-expected jobs figures out of the US that suggest a global recovery may not be as close as hoped.
However, the early losses in some markets gave way to bargain hunting.
Despite recent losses, global markets just wrapped up one of their strongest quarters in years. India, China and other emerging markets were among the best performers as investors’ appetite for growth and riskier assets returned.
For the second quarter, global investors channeled a whopping $26.5 billion into funds that focus on equities in developing markets, according to a survey by EPFR Global, a Boston-based firm that tracks global fund flow data. That eclipsed the previous record for a single quarter, the $22.4 billion such funds attracted in the fourth quarter of 2007.
Floor traders work at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Friday, July 3, 2009 in Hong Kong. Asian stocks retreated Friday as a weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs report signaled more pain ahead for the world's largest economy. Losses across Asia were somewhat tame compared to Wall Street, where markets pulled sharply lower. Oil prices weakened further, while the dollar was little changed against the yen.
(AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
TOKYO: Down 0.61 percent. The Nikkei-225 fell 60.08 points to 9,816.07.
“Overly optimistic views on the economy are disappearing,” Mizuho Securities analyst Yutaka Miura told Dow Jones Newswires.
SYDNEY: Down 1.27 percent. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 dropped 49.1 points to 3,828.2, while the broader All Ordinaries was off 48.6 points or 1.25 percent to 3,826.6.
“The market seems devoid of activity,” Peter Copeland, senior institutional trader at BBY, told Dow Jones Newswires.
HONG KONG: Share prices finished 0.14 percent higher yesterday, supported by gains in energy stocks due to lower oil prices and improved demand for coal, dealers said.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index added 25.35 points to 18,203.40. Refiners jumped on lower oil prices
SINGAPORE: Shares declined 0.91 percent yesterday, tracking overnight Wall Street losses, dealers said.
The Straits Times Index fell 21.07 points to 2,299.75.
SHANGHAI: Up 0.92 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index, which covers A and B shares, was up 28.11 points to 3,088.37.
The index was helped by news that Beijing will further limit large volume sales of state-owned shares, dealers said.
TAIPEI: Flat. The weighted index fell 2.13 points or 0.03 percent to 6,665.40.
Since US high-tech stocks suffered heavy losses, local counterparts, in particular large cap electronic shares, encountered more pressure following a recent strong rebound, dealers said.
SEOUL: Up 0.6 percent. The Kospi ended up 8.56 points at 1,420.04.
The market opened weak but it soon started reducing losses as foreigners and domestic institutions picked up low-priced shares, analysts said.
KUALA LUMPUR: Continuing buying support on key heavyweight index-linked counters helped to cushion off the negative impact on the overall market sentiment on Bursa Malaysia. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) continued to stay above its critical support of 1,050 when it closed at 1,072.69 yesterday.
The KLCI opened marginally higher at 1,078.52 before drifting lower to its intra-day low of 1,072.41 on Monday. The KLCI closed
BANGKOK: Down 0.50 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite index shed 2.94 points to close at 583.48.
JAKARTA: Up 0.46 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite index shed 2.94 points to close at 583.48 while the blue-chip SET-50 index was off 2.77 points to 418.52.
Investors were boosted by a central bank interest rate cut of 25 basis points to 6.75 percent, dealers said.
MANILA: Down 0.27 percent. The composite index fell 6.70 points to 2,431.34 while the all-share index shed 0.16 percent to 1,559.95.
“There is little movement in the market,” said Lisa Gan of Solar Securities Inc. “There are no foreign players, just local ones.”
MUMBAI: Up 1.74 percent. The 30-share Sensex jumped 254.56 points to 14,913.05.
VIETNAM: The VN Index July 3 rose by 1.65 points or 0.38 percent against the previous session to end at 435.44 points with the total matching trade order of 26 million shares worth 928.25 billion dong in value, down 35 percent in volume and 53 percent in value against Thursday.
The HNX Index on the northern floor declined by another 0.24 point or 0.16 percent to close at 145.76 points with a total market trade of 13.452 million shares for 416.397 billion dong in value.
EUROPE: European stocks fell, recording their third straight week of losses, led by utilities, oil & gas and basic resources while banks and media pulled in the opposite direction.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index closed 0.1 percent lower at 842.52 points. It lost 0.2 percent over the week and has fallen 5.1 percent since its five-month high close on June 11.
The London FTSE 100 index edged up 0.05 percent to end the week at 4,236.28 while in Paris the CAC 40 added 0.10 percent to close at 3,119.51. The Frankfurt Dax fell 0.2 percent to finish at 4,708.21.
AMERICA: US markets closed Friday in observance of the Independence Day holiday.
Benchmark Currency Rates
USD EUR JPY GBP CHF CAD AUD HKD
HKD 7.75 10.8341 0.0807 12.6581 7.1323 6.6769 6.176
AUD 1.2549 1.7542 0.0131 2.0496 1.1549 1.0811 0.1619
CAD 1.1607 1.6226 0.0121 1.8958 1.0682 0.925 0.1498
CHF 1.0866 1.519 0.0113 1.7747 0.9361 0.8659 0.1402
GBP 0.6123 0.8559 0.0064 0.5635 0.5275 0.4879 0.079
JPY 96.04 134.2591 156.862 88.3858 82.7417 76.5343 12.3923
EUR 0.7153 0.0074 1.1684 0.6583 0.6163 0.57 0.0923
USD 1.398 0.0104 1.6333 0.9203 0.8615 0.7969 0.129
Bloomberg
Category: Stocks
