Asian markets higher on Greece deal hopes

Growing optimism that European officials are close to a plan to help Athens solve its debt crisis boosted most Asian stocks yesterday Tuesday June 28, but fears over a Greek strike weighed on sentiment.

Global market focus was on Athens, where parliament will vote this week on a batch of austerity measures that key lenders say is necessary for the release of much-needed funds to help the country avoid defaulting on its debts.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei-225 index rose 70.67 points to 9,648.98.

“Market direction will come from Greece rather than data over coming days,” Credit Agricole said in a note to clients.

Hideyuki Ishiguro, strategist at Okasan Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires: “The grounds for today’s optimism is rather shaky, and sentiment can turn quickly on any negative news or comments that come out later.”

Investors will be awaiting Japan’s quarterly Tankan business sentiment survey on Friday.

“Corporate forecasts and production restarts are pointing to a sharp V-shaped recovery in the second half of the year,” Kenichi Hirano, operating officer at Tachibana Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.

HONG KONG: Shares rose yesterday as global sentiment was lifted by hopes for a conclusion to the Greek debt crisis.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index gained 20.01 points to 22,061.78.

SINGAPORE: In Singapore, the market’s main barometer finished a tad higher, erasing early gains. The Straits Times Index closed up 2.51 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 3,050.79.

KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices on Bursa Malaysia ended higher across the board yesterday, in tandem with better performances on regional stock markets. Advancing counters outpaced declining counters by 492 to 278.
The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index rebounded from its day low of 1,561.04 to its day high of 1,570.02 yesterday. It closed at 1,570.02, giving a day-on-day gain of 7.50 points, or 0.48 per cent.

Shanghai extended gains for a sixth consecutive session, with the composite index up 0.97 points at 2,759.20.

“Expectations that inflation has peaked in June haven’t changed, and the market trend has turned decisively positive,” Zhou Xu, an analyst from Nanjing Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.

Sydney gained 0.21 per cent, or 12.5 points, to end at 4,474.3.

However, Seoul pared early gains to close 0.36 per cent, or 7.38 points, down at 2,062.91.

In other markets:

* Taipei fell 21.3 points, or 0.25 per cent, to 8,478.86.

* Manila closed flat, edging up 0.70 points to 4,289.99.

* Jakarta rose 16.85 points, or 0.44 per cent, to 3,830.27.

* Bangkok edged up 0.31 per cent, or 3.18 points, to 1,013.50.

* Mumbai rose 0.43 per cent, or 80.04 points, to 18,492.45.

VIETNAM: The VN Index stood at 432.31 points, falling 1.94 points or 0.45% day on day.
The HNX Index dropped 0.92 points or 1.22% to 74.71 pts.

EUROPE: European shares edged up yesterday as optimism on the outcome of a key vote on austerity measures by Greece’s parliament outweighed negative company news amid thin trading volumes. After an optimistic start fuelled by France’s agreement with its banks to roll over some Greek debt, nervousness had returned in midday trading.
London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index was up 0.29 per cent to 5,738.93 points in midday trade. Frankfurt’s DAX 30 dipped 0.18 per cent to 7,096.50 points as Siemens shed 3.82 per cent after the company gave a cautious forecast for orders. In Paris, the CAC 40 index advanced 0.49 per cent to 3,814.12.
The Stoxx 50 index of leading eurozone companies slipped 0.09 per cent to 2,721.66.
By 1040 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares was up 0.2 per cent at 1,075.99, after trading as high as 1,082.25 earlier in the day.

AMERICA: The Dow Jones industrial average rose more than 140 points Tuesday, thanks in part to signs that concerns of a global slowdown may be overblown.

Nike Inc.’s results came in much higher than analysts expected. That pushed the company’s stock up 10 percent and led to a rally in stocks of clothing stores, restaurants and jewelers. Those companies tend to do well when consumers are less worried about things like high gas prices and are more willing to spend money.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 145.13 points, or 1.2 percent, to 12,188.69.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 16.57, or 1.3 percent, to 1,296.67.

The Nasdaq composite index added 41.03, or 1.5 percent, to 2,729.31.

For the week:

The Dow is up 254.11, or 2.1 percent.

The S&P is up 28.22, or 2.2 percent.

The Nasdaq is up 76.42, or 2.9 percent.

For the year to date:

The Dow is up 611.18, or 5.3 percent.

The S&P is up 39.08, or 3.1 percent.

The Nasdaq is up 76.44 points, or 2.9 percent.

Benchmark Currency Rates
	USD 	EUR 	JPY 	GBP 	CHF 	CAD 	AUD 	HKD
HKD 	7.7856 	11.168 	0.0961 	12.442 	9.3487 	7.9307 	8.2103 	-
AUD 	0.9483 	1.3603 	0.0117 	1.5154 	1.1387 	0.9659 	- 	0.1218
CAD 	0.9817 	1.4083 	0.0121 	1.5689 	1.1788 	- 	1.0353 	0.1261
CHF 	0.8328 	1.1947 	0.0103 	1.3309 	- 	0.8483 	0.8782 	0.1070
GBP 	0.6258 	0.8977 	0.0077 	- 	0.7514 	0.6374 	0.6599 	0.0804
JPY 	81.039 	116.252	- 	129.506	97.309 	82.548 	85.459 	10.408
EUR 	0.6971 	- 	0.0086 	1.1140 	0.8371 	0.7101 	0.7351 	0.0895
USD 	- 	1.4345 	0.0123 	1.5981 	1.2008 	1.0186 	1.0546 	0.1284
                                                              Bloomberg

 

Category: Stocks