Asian markets mixed as caution prevails

Asia-Pacific stock markets were mixed yesterday Monday July 5 with caution prevailing during the US holiday against a background of continued global economic worries, while Shanghai hit a 15-month low.

TOKYO: The stock market edged 0.69 percent higher on bargain hunting but many investors stayed on the sidelines as US markets were closed for the Independence Day holiday.

The headline Nikkei index, which hit a seven-month low on Thursday, gained 63.07 points to close at 9,266.78. The Topix index of first-section shares added 0.71 percent.

SYDNEY closed down 0.39 percent, or 16.6 points, at 4,222.1 on worries about the US and Chinese economies and fears of a “double-dip” recession, despite a flurry of takeover activity.

SHANGHAI: The Shanghai Composite Index closed down 0.80 percent at 2,363.95, its lowest since April 8 last year, amid concerns the country’s phenomenal growth may be slowing.

“Liquidity has been sapped due to new listings and Bank of China’s plans for further capital raising, so, coupled with worries about slowing economic growth, shares are likely to remain sluggish,” Wang Junqing, an analyst from Guosen Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.

HONG KONG: Shares fell 0.32 percent yesterday, dragged down by pared-back mainland prospects and earlier falls on Wall Street.
H-shares again outperformed their mainland counterparts in a sign that foreign investors perceive the slide in Chinese shares overdone.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index closed down 63.12 points at 19,842.2.
Turnover stayed low with investors on the sidelines ahead of a holiday in US markets.

SINGAPORE: Stocks ended flat yesterday with the benchmark Straits Times Index little changed at 2,844.02. Five stocks fell for every four that rose on the 30-member gauge.
Wilmar International gained 13 cents to S$5.88 after agreeing to buy the giant sugar and renewable energy arm of Australian manufacturer CSR.
Singapore-listed shares of Thailand’s Total Access jumped 4.2 percent.

KUALA LAMPUR: Share prices on Bursa Malaysia continued to consolidate in tandem with the mixed performances on the regional stock markets yesterday. Declining counters outpaced advancing ones by 425 to 182.
The FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (FBM KLCI) fell from its intra-day high of 1,306.03 to its intra-day low of 1,298.14 yesterday. It closed at 1,299.50 points, with a day-on-day loss of 7.94 points, or 0.61 percent.

In other markets:

MANILA rose 0.63 percent, or 20.76 points, to 3,311.74 after central bank officials said they expected growth in the second quarter of the year to better the first quarter’s 7.3 percent.

SEOUL closed 0.21 percent higher, with the benchmark Kospi gaining 3.55 points to reach 1,675.37.

TAIPEI rose 1.49 percent, or 109.22 points, to reach 7,439.96, reflecting the agreement of a historic trade pact with China.

JAKARTA rose 0.20 percent, or 5.75 points, to 2,877.30 supported by gains in finance-related stocks and a central bank decision to keep its key interest rate at 6.5 percent.

BANGKOK edged up 0.18 percent, or 1.46 points, to 804.03.

MUMBAI edged down 0.11 percent in lacklustre trade, as business in the financial capital was hit by an opposition-led strike over fuel price rises.

VIETNAM: The VN index rose at 506.24 points, an increase of 2.89 points or 0.57 percent against the previous session with total matching order trade of over 35.6 million shares for 1.038 trillion dong.
The index of Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) fell by 0.11 point or 0.07 percent to 158.28 points with total market trade of 26.9 million shares worth 792.29 billion dong.

EUROPE: European shares fell to their lowest close in nearly six weeks yesterday, with miners weaker on a gloomier economic outlook and volumes thin as Wall Street was closed for the Independence Day holiday.

A rise for BP helped stem losses for major indexes.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares fell 0.3 percent to 966.52 points, the lowest close since May 25. The index lost 4.3 percent last week, weighed down by persistent worries over the pace of global economic recovery, and is down more than 13 percent from a mid-April peak.

Volume was less than half the 90-day average.
In London, the FTSE 100 index shed 0.30 percent to close at 4,823.53 points while in Paris the CAC 40 lost 0.48 percent at 3,332.46 points. In Frankfurt, the DAX fell 0.31 percent to 5,816.20 points.

Benchmark Currency Rates
	USD	EUR	JPY	GBP	CHF	CAD	AUD	HKD
HKD 	7.7903 	9.7305 	0.089 	11.7554 7.3069 	7.3018 	6.4963 	
AUD 	1.1992 	1.4978 	0.0137 	1.8095 	1.1248 	1.124 	 	0.1539
CAD 	1.0669 	1.3326 	0.0122 	1.6099 	1.0007 	 	0.8897 	0.137
CHF 	1.0662 	1.3317 	0.0122 	1.6088 	 	0.9993 	0.8891 	0.1369
GBP 	0.6627 	0.8277 	0.0076 	 	0.6216 	0.6211 	0.5526 	0.0851
JPY 	87.54 	109.342  	132.096 82.1085 82.0508 72.9996 11.2371
EUR 	0.8006 	 	0.0091 	1.2081 	0.7509 	0.7504 	0.6676 	0.1028
USD 	 	1.249 	0.0114 	1.509 	0.938 	0.9373 	0.8339 	0.1284
                                                              Bloomberg

 

Category: Stocks