Asia markets higher Jul 15 on recovery hopes boost

Better-than-expected second-quarter results from US banking titan Goldman Sachs sent Asian markets higher Wednesday Jul 15 for a second straight session yesterday as economic recovery hopes were boosted.

Hong Kong surged more than 2 percent, while Sydney put on 1.48 percent, Singapore 3.41 percent and Seoul 2.55 percent. Mumbai jumped 2.88 percent.

Dealers decided to buy into the market for a second day after several weeks of selling.

Investors were anticipating more positive earnings results from US corporate giants including JPMorgan Chase and IBM, dealers said.

TOKYO: Flat. The Nikkei-225 climbed 7.44 points, or 0.08 percent, to 9,269.25.
Many investors locked in profits following a sharp rally in the previous session.

SYDNEY: Up 1.48 percent. The S&P/ASX 200 gained 57.4 points to 3,924.5.
IG Markets analyst Ben Potter said a positive lead from Wall Street and optimism about the Chinese economy lifted the market.

HONG KONG: Share prices closed 2.09 percent higher yesterday, boosted by gains in property stocks ahead of the launch of a major residential project.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index ended up 372.93 points at 18,258.66, after trading between 18,030.10 and 18,289 during the session. Turnover was HK$60.69 billion.
Although the blue-chip index rose for a second consecutive day, traders said it still lacks trading direction. -

SHANGHAI: Up 1.38 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index, which covers A and B shares, rose 43.39 points to 3,188.55.
Blue-chip steel makers and coal producers led the rise on hopes for increasing demand in the second half.

SINGAPORE: Shares closed 3.41 percent higher yesterday, mirroring gains in regional markets following better-than-expected earnings at US financial giant Goldman Sachs.
The blue-chip Straits Times Index advanced 78.87 points to 2,389.42.
Volume totalled 1.79 billion shares worth S$1.67 billion, with 427 rising issues, 116 losers and 708 issues were even.

TAIPEI: Up 1.49 percent. The weighted index rose 99.19 points to 6,738.60.
The market was also boosted by buying in tech shares on Intel’s optimistic earnings outlook, said Andrew Teng, an assistant vice president at Taiwan International Securities.

SEOUL: Up 2.55 percent. The KOSPI ended up 35.30 points at 1,420.86.
Goldman’s results and rising expectations for earnings improvements for local banks in the second half gave a boost to bank issues.

KUALA LUMPUR: hare prices on Bursa Malaysia ended broadly higher yesterday with strong gains recorded in banking and plantation-related stocks after Wall Street posted another increase overnight, dealers said.
At the close, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI jumped 17.61 points or 1.63 percent to 1,097.24 after trading as high as 1,104.87. It had opened unchanged at 1,079.63.

BANGKOK: Up 1.75 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand rose 10.11 points to close at 587.86.

JAKARTA: Up 3.24 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index gained 66.69 points to 2,123.27.

MANILA: Up 0.95 percent. The composite index rose 23.65 points to 2,515.95.

“This is in line with what is going on globally,” said George Ching of Citiseconline.

WELLINGTON: Up 0.57 percent. The NZX-50 gained 15.58 points to 2,764.08.

MUMBAI: Up 2.88 percent. The 30-share Sensex rose 399.54 points to 14,253.24.

VIETNAM: The VN Index reversed by 8.5 points or 2.03 percent to 427.05 points, putting an end to the previous six declining sessions with a total matching trade order of 22.23 million shares worth 786 billion dong, down 30 percent both in volume and value compared with July 14 session.
The HNX Index increased by 2.22 points or 1.58 percent to close at 142.9 marks with a total market trade of about 11.426 million shares for 352.678 billion dong in value.

EUROPE: European shares closed higher yesterday, boosted by better-than-expected results by Goldman Sachs and Intel, with banking stocks the biggest gainers.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares was 2.8 percent higher at 863.32 points, its best close in two weeks.

Banking stocks added the most points to the index as results from Goldman Sachs on Tuesday helped push banking stocks higher.

London’s FTSE 100 gained 2.57 percent to close at 4,346.46 points.

AMERICA: Stocks surged Wednesday for the second time in three days, propelling all the major indexes up about 3 percent and the Dow Jones industrials up 257 points for their biggest one-day gain in nearly four months. An upbeat forecast from Intel Corp. and the Federal Reserve’s more positive take on the economy built on momentum that began Monday when an analyst issued an optimistic forecast for Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

The news had investors believing again that the economy may not be as weak as many have feared. Wall Street had drifted lower over the past month, putting its big spring rally on hold as hopes for a quick recovery faded.

The Dow jumped 256.72, or 3.1 percent, to 8,616.21, its biggest gain since March 23. The Dow is up 5.8 percent in three days, its best run since a three-day period ended April 2. The Dow is now down only 163 points from where it closed on June 12, when stocks began to slide after their surge in March and April.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 26.84, or 3 percent, to 932.68, while the technology-laden Nasdaq composite index gained 63.17, or 3.5 percent, to 1,862.90, responding to Intel’s news. The Nasdaq has now advanced for six straight days, giving it a gain of 6.7 percent over that stretch.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 18.22, or 3.7 percent, to 514.74.

Nine stocks rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 5.5 billion shares, compared with 4.2 billion Tuesday.

Benchmark Currency Rates
	USD	EUR	JPY	GBP	CHF	CAD	AUD	HKD
HKD	7.7502	10.9067	0.0822	12.7139	7.1961	6.927	6.2083
AUD	1.2484	1.7568	0.0132	2.0479	1.1591	1.1158	 	0.1611
CAD	1.1188	1.5745	0.0119	1.8354	1.0389	 	0.8963	0.1444
CHF	1.077	1.5156	0.0114	1.7668	 	0.9626	0.8627	0.139
GBP	0.6096	0.8579	0.0065	 	0.566	0.5448	0.4883	0.0787
JPY	94.32	132.7346	154.727	87.5766	84.3008	75.555	12.17
EUR	0.7106	 	0.0075	1.1657	0.6598	0.6351	0.5692	0.0917
USD	 	1.4073	0.0106	1.6404	0.9285	0.8938	0.801	0.129

                                                              Bloomberg

 

Category: Stocks