Asia: Mostly higher

Asian markets were mostly higher and the euro enjoyed strong support yesterday Friday August 17 as spirits were lifted by comments from German Chancellor Angela Merkel reasserting her desire to save the eurozone.

Tokyo stocks jumped 0.77 per cent to close at a three-month. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index added 69.74 points to 9,162.50, its highest close since May 8, as a weakening yen also fed buying appetite. The broader Topix index rose 0.88 per cent, or 6.69 points, to 765.81.

Nomura analyst Shoichiro Yamauchi said technical charts movements suggest the index had room to rise.

“The next key juncture is around August 30. The rally should continue until then,” he told Dow Jones Newswires. “If things go well, the Nikkei should rise to test 9,500,” he said.

Chinese shares closed up 0.13 per cent. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 2.69 points to 2,114.89.

The index dropped 3 per cent for the week after data for July released last week pointed to continued weakness in the economy, while traders have been disappointed by a lack of policy easing to kickstart growth.

“The stock market is clouded by a strong wait-and-see sentiment,” Shenyin Wanguo Securities analyst Li Xiaoxuan told Dow Jones Newswires.

Sydney climbed 0.92 per cent, or 39.9 points, to 4,370.1 but Seoul eased 0.58 per cent, or 11.37 points, to 1,946.54.

HONG KONG: STOCKS climbed 0.77 per cent yesterday, in line with a regional rally after German Chancellor Angela Merkel reasserted her support for the under-pressure euro.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 153.12 points to end at 20,116.07. On the week, the index eased just 0.1 per cent, having traded in a tight 240-point range for most of the past two weeks.
“Funds are waiting for new buying opportunities and earnings will give an indication of how things will be for the second half of the year,” said Alan Lam, Julius Baer’s Greater China equity analyst.

SINGAPORE: SOUTHEAST Asian stock markets ended mostly flat to lower yesterday as investors cashed in earlier gains ahead of market holidays early next week, with easing oil prices weighing on commodities stocks such as Golden Agri Resources Ltd and Thai Oil Pcl.
In Singapore, the benchmark Straits Times Index ended down 0.03 per cent, or 0.78 points, at 3,062.11, just a shy of its one-year closing high hit early in the week. It rose 0.26 per cent on the week, after a combined 1.9 per cent gain of the previous two weeks.

KUALA LUMPUR: SHARE prices on Bursa Malaysia closed mixed yesterday ahead of the long weekend for the Hari Raya celebrations, dealers said.
The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) lost 0.30 point to 1,649.79.
The market will be closed on Monday and Tuesday for the Hari Raya holidays. The stock exchange will resume operations on Wednesday.
The Finance Index rose 43.73 points to 14,804.82. The Industrial Index slipped 19.21 points to 2,877.32 and the Plantation Index declined 49.14 points to 8,641.49.
The FBM Emas Index decreased 5.681 points to 11,282.31 and the FBMT100 Index eased 8.17 points to 11,101.12. The FBM70 Index decreased 37.86 points to 12,402.88 but the FBM ACE Index increased 15.61 points to 4,541.00.

In other markets:

* Taipei slipped 0.30 per cent, or 22.29 points, to 7,467.92.

* Manila closed 0.24 per cent lower, shedding 12.70 points to 5,206.81.

* Bangkok was flat, easing 0.49 points to 1,223.91.

* Mumbai’s Sensex index rose 0.19 per cent or 33.87 points to 17,691.08.

* Jakarta was closed for a public holiday.

VIETNAM: Vietnamese shares on the primary bourse continued to close marginally up today as heavy weighs outperformed, but stocks on the smaller cap bourse fell on caution, liquidity shrank.
The benchmark VN Index added 0.06 point or 0.01% to 430.83, just enough to be in the green. Volume fell further by 32.5% to 26.76 million shares worth of VND488.19 billion. Put through trading contributed 2.54 million shares worth of VND69.16 billion.
The VN30 lost 1.58 points or 0.31%, to 514.47.  Amongst its 30 members, 5 gained, 18 lost and 7 unchanged.
On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX bucked trend, falling further 0.21 point or 0.3% to 69.94. Trading volume edged up 2.1% to 33.87 million shares worth VND315.69 billion.
HNX30 lost 0.54 point or 0.4% to 133.39.

EUROPE: Europe’s top share index hit a 13-month high yesterday and was on track to record its best weekly winning streak in seven years on expectations that eurozone policymakers might resolve their differences and work closely to tackle the debt crisis.

At 1110 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index was up 0.3 per cent at 1,107.24 points after rising to 1,109.69, the highest since July 2011.

Frankfurt’s DAX gained 0.21 per cent to 7,011.3 points in morning deals.

Elsewhere, London’s FTSE 100 index was up 0.22 per cent at 5,847,50 points and in Paris the CAC 40 won 0.24 per cent to 3,488.98. Madrid rallied 1.98 per cent and Milan grew 1.62 per cent.

“Markets continue to drift higher on expectations of the prospect of additional central bank easing, with trading volumes remaining well below seasonal averages,” said Michael Hewson, senior analyst at CMC Markets.

AMERICA: Stocks rose slightly on Friday after positive news from retailers including Gap and Ann Inc. Meanwhile, Facebook touched $19 a share, marking the loss of half of its value since its initial public offering, although it closed at $19.05. Apple set a new high.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 25.09 points, or 0.19 percent, to close at 13,275.20.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 2.65 points, or 0.19 percent, to 1,418.16.

The Nasdaq composite rose 14.20 points, or 0.46 percent, to 3,076.59.

For the week:

The Dow is up 67.25 points, or 0.51 percent.

The S&P 500 is up 12.29 points, or 0.87 percent.

The Nasdaq is up 55.73 points, or 1.84 percent.

For the year so far:

The Dow is up 1,057.64 points, or 8.66 percent.

The S&P 500 is up 160.56 points, or 12.77 percent.

The Nasdaq is up 471.67 points, or 18.10 percent.
Benchmark Currency Rates

	USD	EUR	JPY	GBP	CHF	CAD	AUD	HKD
USD	–	1.2335	0.0126	1.5697	1.0267	1.0111	1.0419	0.1289
EUR	0.8108	–	0.0102	1.2727	0.8325	0.8197	0.8447	0.1045
JPY	79.5600	98.1400	–	124.8720	81.7020	80.4530	82.9050	10.2570
GBP	0.6370	0.7859	0.0080	–	0.6542	0.6443	0.6638	0.0821
CHF	0.9739	1.2012	0.0122	1.5287	–	0.9845	1.0147	0.1256
CAD	0.9890	1.2203	0.0124	1.5524	1.0155	–	1.0305	0.1275
AUD	0.9597	1.1837	0.0121	1.5063	0.9856	0.9704	–	0.1237
HKD	7.7568	9.5669	0.0975	12.1765	7.9648	7.8434	8.0827	–

 

Category: FinanceAsia