Asia: Investors play it safe

Asian markets were mixed yesterday Monday October 15 following a soft lead from Wall Street, while better-than-expected Chinese trade data failed to lift spirits as dealers await growth figures from Beijing.

With the corporate earnings season under way, there is also nervousness in global bourses, with many investors opting to stay away for now.

Tokyo stocks closed higher as late bargain-hunting offset a slump in mobile carrier SoftBank, which is planning a multi-billion-dollar takeover of US-based Sprint Nextel.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed up 43.81 points, or 0.51 per cent, at 8,577.93, while the Topix index of all first-section issues gained 0.65 per cent, or 4.67 points, to 722.99.

Oversold car and steelmaker shares rebounded in the afternoon to lead the major indices firmly into positive territory, brokers said.

Chinese shares closed down. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index slipped 6.23 points, or 0.30 per cent, to 2,098.70.

“Stocks were more or less stable since the CPI (inflation) number came within expectations,” United Securities analyst Pei Xiaoyan told Dow Jones Newswires.

Sydney closed flat, dipping 3.2 points to 4,483.4 and Seoul fell 0.40 per cent, or 7.67 points, to 1,925.59.

HONG KONG:  SHARES ended virtually flat yesterday, following a weak lead from Wall Street and as dealers await the release of Chinese growth data later in the week.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 11.82 points to 21,148.25 .
“We keep the view that the market’s recent rally has priced in a lot of positives, and the Hang Seng Index may consolidate around 21,000 this week,” said Alvin Cheung, associate director at Prudential Brokerages.
And UOB KayHian analyst Fan Zhang said: “We expect at least one more reserve-requirement ratio cut and one interest rate cut in the remaining time of this year.”

SINGAPORE:  MOST Southeast Asian stock markets edged slightly higher in light trade yesterday.
In Singapore, stocks closed flat. The Straits Times Index edged up 1.30 points to 3,043.05.
Among the active stocks, United Overseas Bank fell 0.58 per cent to S$18.89 and Wilmar International shed 0.32 per cent to S$3.16.
On the economic front, official data released yesterday showed Singapore’s private home sales in September surged 83.7 per cent over the previous month to the highest level in over three years, despite a series of government measures to cool the property market.

KUALA LUMPUR:  SHARE prices on Bursa Malaysia ended mixed yesterday amid a lack of fresh leads coupled with last-minute buying that pushed the key index into positive territory, dealers said.
At at 5pm yesterday, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 1.08 points to 1,654.44, tracking gains in major blue chips.
Dealers said investors took the opportunity to buy shares at lower prices after the stock market saw consecutive losses last week.
“Investors are reluctant to take major position on riskier assets on concerns over the global economy,” a dealer said.The Plantation Index rose 9.84 points to 8,185.64 and the FBM Mid 70 Index decreased 18.771 points to 12,159.68.
The Finance Index fell 23.11 points to 14,682.46 and the Industrial Index was up 7.32 points to 2,853.82 and the FBM Ace declined 7.75 points to 4,193.20.
The FBM Emas Index was 1.36 points higher at 11,243.82.
Losers outnumbered gainers by 389 to 285, while 338 counters were unchanged, 634 untraded and 25 others suspended.
Turnover increased to 1.002 billion shares valued at RM981.601 million from 780.94 million shares valued at RM1.21 billion last Friday.
Meanwhile, FBM KLCI futures contracts on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives closed higher yesterday in tandem with a better cash market performance, dealers said.
October 2012 added four points to 1,657.0, November 2012 gained 5.5 points to 1,657.5, December 2012 rose five points to 1,657.5 and March 2013 earned two points to 1,653.
Turnover rose to 3,630 lots from the 3,406 lots registered last Friday while open interest was up to 32,577 contracts from 31,700 contracts, previously.

In other markets:

* Taipei fell 0.24 per cent, or 18.14 points, to 7,418.90.

* Manila added 0.25 per cent, or 13.50 points, to 5,383.22.

* Bangkok eased 0.49 per cent, or 6.42 points, to 1,290.56.

* Jakarta was also broadly flat, nudging 2.13 points higher to 4,313.52.

* Mumbai rose 0.21 per cent, or 38.37 points, to 18,713.55.

VIETNAM: Vietnamese shares closed lower for a third day in a row on lack of supporting news, liquidity drained as investors chose to stay on the sidelines.
The benchmark VN Index lost 0.98 point or 0.25% to 391.56. Volume fell 35% to 36 million shares worth of VND418.1 billion.
Put through trading contributed 0.4 million shares worth of VND18.9 billion.
Today’s market breadth remained negative on the primary bourse where 64 stocks advanced, 159 declined, 46 closed unchanged.
The VN30 bucked trend to close up 1.15 points or 0.25%, to 461.34 thanks to VNM ceiling performance. Among its 30 members 4 gained, 23 lost the ground and 3 unchanged.
VN Index opened in the green with 1.8 million shares changed hands, selling pressure was seen. Trading was sluggish and selling pressure rose higher as market progressed. Market breadth narrowed and the index closed near the low of the day.
On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX lost 0.5 point or 0.9% to 55.94.
Trading volume fell 15.6% to 24.9 million shares worth VND178.8 billion.
The market breadth was negative where 62 rallied, 118 declined, 66 closed unmoved, the rest untraded.
The HNX30 lost 1.93 points or 1.85% to 102.31. Of its 30 members, 1 gained, 9 unchanged, 20 lost.

EUROPE: European equities were higher around midday yesterday, reversing the previous session’s losses, lifted by expectations that struggling Spain will request a bailout.
At 1030 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.6 per cent at 1,100.00 points, after losing 0.5 per cent on Friday. The eurozone’s blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index was 1.0 per cent higher at 2,494.26.
Around Europe, Germany’s DAX index was up 0.7 per cent, France’s CAC 40 up 1.2 per cent, while the UK’s FTSE 100 index was up 0.4 per cent.
“The mood is improving, but we need the details about how Spain will be bailed out and how policymakers will avoid repeating the mistakes made when Greece was rescued. That would help the market break out of its current range,” Agilis Gestion fund manager Arnaud Scarpaci said.

AMERICA: Stocks rose on Monday after a strong gain in retail spending suggested that consumers could be getting more confident about the economy. Bank stocks rose broadly after Citigroup delivered a strong earnings report.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 95.38 points to close at 13,424.23, its biggest gain since Sept. 13. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was up 11.54 points at 1,440.13 and the Nasdaq composite index rose 20.07 points to 3,064.18.

Companies that rely on consumer spending, like Lowe’s, TJX Cos. and Yum Brands, rose after the government reported that retail sales rose 1.1 percent in the U.S. last month. The Commerce Department also revised August growth up to 1.2 percent, marking the two largest gains since October 2010.

Sales rose in most major categories. Electronics and appliances jumped 4.5 percent with help from the new iPhone. Sales at auto dealers increased 1.3 percent. Building materials and garden supplies, furniture and clothing sales all gained, too.

“The retail sales numbers tell us that the economy in general, and consumer spending in particular, probably did better than most expected in the third quarter,” said Hugh Johnson, chairman and chief investment officer of Johnson Illington Advisors.

Citigroup rose $1.91, or 5.5 percent, to $36.66 after beating beat Wall Street earnings estimates. Most other financial stocks followed Citi higher. Bank of America rose 3.5 percent, and JPMorgan Chase rose 1.8 percent. However, Wells Fargo continued to struggle after reporting a record profit on Friday. Analysts warned it might have trouble making money on interest payments for loans. Its stock fell 1 percent on Monday, after dropping on Friday, too.

Economic figures from China helped support markets in Europe at the start of a week that could offer greater clarity on the economic fates of Greece and Spain. China’s inflation rate fell to 1.9 percent in September from 2 percent the month before, reinforcing investor hopes for more stimulus in the world’s second-largest economy.

Good news for two major drugmakers boosted pharmaceutical stocks and pushed the whole health sector to the biggest gains among 10 industry groups in the S&P 500. Eli Lilly said a potential stomach cancer treatment met goals for improved patient survival. It hasn’t yet submitted the drug, ramucirumab, for government approval.

And Abbott Laboratories said an experimental drug regimen cured 99 percent of patients with hepatitis C. Patients in the trial had genotype 1 hepatitis C, the most common type in the Western world, and the hardest to treat.

Eli Lilly rose $2.08, or 4 percent, to $52.53. Abbott rose $2.77, also 4 percent, to $72.05. Other drugmakers also rose. Pfizer and Merck rose more than 1 percent and Bristol-Myers Squibb rose 2.5 percent.

Telecommunications stocks were the only declining industry among the 10 in the S&P 500. Travel deals website operator Travelzoo Inc. fell again after warning on Friday that its poorly-performing hotel search business will hurt third-quarter results. On Monday, its stock fell 85 cents, or 4.2 percent, to $19.17.

Home health care provider Amedisys Inc. fell $1.25, or 9.4 percent, to $12.08 after saying revenue from health insurer Humana Inc. will shrink.

Investors sold government bonds and drove yields slightly higher. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose to 1.67 percent from 1.66 percent Friday.

The price of crude oil fell a penny to finish at $91.85 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Benchmark Currency Rates

	USD	EUR	JPY	GBP	CHF	CAD	AUD	HKD
USD	–	1.2955	0.0127	1.6062	1.0717	1.0179	1.0248	0.1290
EUR	0.7719	–	0.0098	1.2398	0.8272	0.7857	0.7911	0.0996
JPY	78.8100	102.1100	–	126.6120	84.4630	80.2360	80.7880	10.1692
GBP	0.6225	0.8066	0.0079	–	0.6672	0.6338	0.6381	0.0803
CHF	0.9332	1.2090	0.0118	1.4990	–	0.9499	0.9567	0.1204
CAD	0.9824	1.2727	0.0125	1.5779	1.0527	–	1.0069	0.1267
AUD	0.9757	1.2640	0.0124	1.5672	1.0456	0.9931	–	0.1259
HKD	7.7513	10.0418	0.0983	12.4506	8.3060	7.8903	7.9443	–

 

Category: FinanceAsia