Asia Roundup: Down on weak China data

Asian markets fell yesterday Tuesday July 10, as weakening demand for imports in China provided new evidence of a slowdown in the region’s biggest economy and investors shrugged off a eurozone bid to help Spain.

Official data showed China’s trade surplus expanded in June as demand for imports fell more sharply than expected, adding to investor nerves before the release of more key data this week including second quarter GDP.

Tokyo ended 0.44 per cent, or 39.15 points, lower at 8,857.73, while Sydney finished 0.49 per cent, or 20.3 points, down at 4,098.0, and Seoul was off 0.36 per cent , or 6.68 points, at 1,829.45 while, Shanghai was down 0.29 per cent to 2,164.44.

Regional bourses tracked declines in the US and Europe, extending heavy losses they made on Monday.

“The market is currently holding a very negative view on China’s economy,” Ben Kwong, chief operating officer at KGI Asia, told Dow Jones Newswires.

The trade surplus widened last month to 42.9 percent compared to the same period the previous year, according to figures from the General Administration of Customs.

HONG KONG: STOCKS closed 0.16 per cent lower yesterday on renewed concerns about a slowdown in China after trade data signalled weakening demand for imports in Asia’s biggest economy.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index gave up 31.73 points to finish at 19,396.36 on turnover of HK$37.86 billion, the lowest volume since June 25 as investors took to the sidelines amid uncertainty over China.
China’s trade surplus rose 42.9 per cent year-on-year in June as imports fell more sharply than expected, raising fresh concerns about faltering growth, official data showed.

SINGAPORE: THE FTSE Straits Times Index (STI) lost 1.66 per cent to end at 2,929.08 yesterday. This brought the overall STI 2012 year-to-date performance up to 10.68 per cent.
Both the FTSE ST Mid Cap Index and the FTSE ST Small Cap Index fell 1.16 per cent and one per cent respectively. Of the 30 stocks that make up the index, there were 2 gainers, 27 losers and one was flat.
Of the actives, Capitaland fell 3.02 per cent, Genting SP declined 1.42 per cent, Noble Group shed 2.64 per cent, Keppel Corp slipped 1.83 per cent and DBS lost 0.99 per cent.

KUALA LUMPUR: SHARE prices on Bursa Malaysia closed higher yesterday in line with the rally in regional bourses with the FBM KLCI touching a new all-time high of 1,625.04, dealers said. The index hit a high of 1,624.29 after it opened 0.7 point higher at 1,621.01.
Vice president and head of retail research of Affin Investment Bank, Dr Nazri Khan, said the local bourse’s uptrend was prompted by gains in plantation counters like KL Kepong, IJM Plantations and Tradewinds Plantation.
A dealer said investors’ sentiment was also lifted by new progress on the eurozone after their finance ministers agreed to grant Spain an extra year to reach its deficit reduction targets. However, weak China import data has stopped investors from taking major positions as the data signaled slower consumer demand in the country, he said.

In other markets:

* Taipei fell 0.80 per cent to 7,251.35. Hon Hai Precision lost 1.96 per cent to T$90.1 while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co ended 1.13 per cent lower at T$79.1.

* Wellington fell 0.44 per cent to 3,464.72. Fletcher Building was down 1.6 per cent at NZ$6.10, Telecom Corp was up 0.4 per cent at NZ$2.25 and Air New Zealand held steady at NZ$0.91.

* Manila closed 0.45 per cent lower at 5,240.28. Ayala Land fell 2.55 per cent to 21.05 pesos while Banco de Oro remained unchanged at 62.25 pesos.

VIETNAM: Vietnamese stocks continued to close down today as investors sold shares to cut loss fearing further decline on gloomy earnings seasons.
The benchmark VN Index lost 2.73 points or 0.67% to 405.39. Volume fell by 10% to 28.7 million shares worth of VND474 billion. Put through trading contributed 4.95 million shares worth of VND158.65 billion.
The VN30 lost 2.91 points or 0.6%, to 479.58. Amongst its 30 members, 3 gained, 19 lost and 8 unchanged.
On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX lost 0.31 point or 0.45% to 67.89. Trading volume fell 16% to 23.1 million shares worth VND220.9 billion.
HNX30, which was launched on July 9, lost 0.87 point or 0.69% to 126.46.

EUROPE: European shares rallied yesterday and the euro pulled away from a two-year dollar low, as investors cautiously approved a eurozone deal to help Spain, and shrugged off weak Chinese data.
London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index of leading shares gained 0.71 per cent to 5,667.53 points in morning trading, Frankfurt’s DAX 30 won 1.16 per cent to 6,461.5 points and the Paris CAC 40 jumped 1.08 per cent to 3,190.88.
Madrid’s IBEX 35 index rebounded 1.26 per cent to 6,775.10 points and Rome’s FTSE Mib soared 1.56 per cent to 14,028.42.
The euro steadied at US$1.2313, one day after striking US$1.2251 – the lowest point since July 1, 2010 – on heightened concerns over soaring Spanish bond yields.

AMERICA: Stocks are dropping for the fourth straight day following a profit slump at technology companies and a steep decline in oil prices.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 83 points to close at 12,653 on Tuesday. The Standard & Poor’s 500 was down 11 points at 1,341. It was the longest slump for the S&P since May 18.

The Nasdaq composite index fell 29 points to 2,902.

Chip maker Advanced Micro Devices fell sharply after reporting that a slowdown in China and Europe led to an 11% drop in second-quarter revenue.

Oil fell $2 to $84 a barrel. Major energy companies fell as a result.

Two stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was lighter than average at 3.4 billion shares.

Benchmark Currency Rates (Bloomberg)

	USD	EUR	JPY	GBP	CHF	CAD	AUD	HKD
USD	–	1.2254	0.0126	1.5517	1.0203	0.9780	1.0185	0.1290
EUR	0.8160	–	0.0103	1.2661	0.8326	0.7981	0.8311	0.1052
JPY	79.2900	97.1600	–	123.0260	80.9000	77.5470	80.7440	10.2260
GBP	0.6444	0.7898	0.0081	–	0.6576	0.6302	0.6564	0.0831
CHF	0.9801	1.2011	0.0124	1.5208	–	0.9586	0.9983	0.1264
CAD	1.0225	1.2530	0.0129	1.5866	1.0433	–	1.0414	0.1318
AUD	0.9818	1.2031	0.0124	1.5235	1.0017	0.9603	–	0.1266
HKD	7.7546	9.5027	0.0978	12.0328	7.9119	7.5843	7.8981	–

 

Category: FinanceAsia