Asian markets higher but Shanghai odd one out
Tokyo stocks jumped to a seven-month high as Asian markets mostly rose yesterday Thursday Dec 9, but persistent concerns about expected economic tightening by China weighed on Shanghai shares.
TOKYO’s Nikkei index ended the session up 0.52 percent, or 53.55 points, at 10,285.88, its highest since May, while SYDNEY’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.88 percent, or 41.4 points, to 4,741.3.
SHANGHAI: The Shanghai Composite Index, however, fell 1.32 percent, or 37.60 points, to 2,810.95.
Tokyo’s rise was led by banks and insurers, boosted by a surge in financial stocks on Wall Street.
Chinese shares slid on investor caution ahead of November inflation data due tomorrow, amid expectations of an interest rate increase or other measures to damp down the mainland economy.
“The rate hike overhang may continue to drag China stocks until a move is confirmed by the People’s Bank of China,” said Haitong Securities.
In Tokyo, Japanese stocks, particularly exporters, were helped by a relatively weak yen, although the dollar was slightly off from earlier highs.
“Investors are mainly hunting for laggard shares,” Yutaka Yoshii, general manager at Mito Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.
Sydney enjoyed a boost as data showed unemployment eased to 5.2 percent in November from 5.4 percent in October
“It’s quite positive for the share market,” said Anthony Anderson, a senior trader at MF Global. “If there’s still some strength in employment, I think that’s a good sign for equities.”
HONG KONG: Shares ended 0.34 percent higher yesterday as dealers took their cue from rises on Wall Street.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 79.28 points to 23,171.80. The index was supported by a 3.4 percent rise in China Unicom and a 1 percent increase in index heavyweight HSBC.
Turnover was the lowest of the past eight sessions as investors kept to the sidelines ahead of China’s Central Economic Work Conference and economic data this weekend, Daiwa Capital traders said in a note to clients
SINGAPORE: Most Southeast Asian stock markets eked out small gains yesterday, with Indonesia hitting a record high.
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index rose 0.23 percent, or 7.40 points, to 3,210.20.
City Developments (CityDev) rose 3.02 percent to S$12.96, while banking house DBS Group gained 0.14 percent to S$14.06.
KUALA LAMPUR: The FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (FBM KLCI) staged a follow-through technical rebound yesterday.
The FBM KLCI rebounded from its intra-day low of 1,511.01 to its intra-day high of 1,521.29. It closed at 1,521.29, giving a day-on-day gain of 11.23 points, or 0.74 percent.
In other markets:
MANILA fell 0.28 percent, or 11.67 points, to 4,209.42.
TAIPEI rose 0.58 percent, or 50.05 points, to 8,753.84.
SEOUL rose 1.70 percent, or 33.24 points, to 1,988.96.
JAKARTA rose 0.43 percent, or 16.10 points, to 3,786.10.
BANGKOK gained 1.05 percent, or 10.77 points, to 1,035.85.
MUMBAI fell 2.31 percent, or 454.12 points, to 19,242.36.
VIETNAM: The VN Index surged 7.62 points or 1.68 percent to 460.45 points. Meanwhile, the index of Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) rose 1.63 points or 1.48 percent to 112.13 points.
EUROPE: European shares hit a 26-month high yesterday on optimism US tax cuts would boost consumption, with technology stocks boosted after ASML lifted its booking forecast.
By 1012 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares was 0.3 percent higher at 1,122.96 points.
“Anything with good exposure to the U.S. is obviously going to have a huge benefit, especially on the consumer side,” Ben Critchley, sales trader at IG Index, said.
European stocks are looking cheaper than U.S. equities. The STOXX Europe 600 carries a one-year forward price-to-earnings of 9.9 times versus S&P 500′s 12.7 times, according to Thomson Reuters Datastream.
However, S&P 500 has gained more than 10 percent so far this year, while the STOXX Europe 600 is up 8.7 percent.
Across Europe, the FTSE 100 index was up 0.2 percent, Germany’s DAX was down 0.2 percent and France’s CAC 40 was 0.2 percent higher.
AMERICA: Stocks are closing mixed as traders wait to see whether a tax compromise brokered by the White House and Republicans will pass the Democratic-controlled House.
House Democrats pledged Thursday to reject the tax deal as it is currently written. The compromise reached by President Barack Obama and Republican leaders would extend tax cuts for all income levels for two years.
According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones Industrial average fell 2, or less than 0.1 percent, to 11,370. The Standard and Poor’s 500 index rose 5 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,233. The Nasdaq composite rose 8, or 0.3 percent, to 2,617.
Four stocks rose for every three that fell on the New York Stock Exchange. Trading volume came to 1.1 billion shares.
Benchmark Currency Rates
USD EUR JPY GBP CHF CAD AUD HKD
HKD 7.7714 10.2837 0.0928 12.2517 7.9050 7.6862 7.6486 -
AUD 1.0161 1.3445 0.0121 1.6018 1.0335 1.0049 - 0.1307
CAD 1.0111 1.3379 0.0121 1.5940 1.0285 - 0.9951 0.1301
CHF 0.9831 1.3009 0.0117 1.5499 - 0.9723 0.9676 0.1265
GBP 0.6343 0.8394 0.0076 - 0.6452 0.6274 0.6243 0.0816
JPY 83.7300 110.797 - 132.000 85.1694 82.8116 82.4062 10.7741
EUR 0.7557 - 0.0090 1.1914 0.7687 0.7474 0.7438 0.0972
USD - 1.3233 0.0119 1.5765 1.0172 0.9890 0.9842 0.1287
Bloomberg
Category: Stocks
