Asian markets sentiment lifted by bullish data

Asian markets ended the week on a high yesterday Friday Dec 11 as strong economic data out of China mixed with unexpectedly upbeat US trade figures, giving hope for the global recovery.

At the end of a tough week, sentiment was given a lift as China reported a surge in industrial production in November and the first increase in its imports in 13 months. It also said it had moved out of a near year-long bout of deflation.

TOKYO: Up 2.48 percent. The Nikkei-225 climbed 245.05 points to 10,107.87.

Shares were given a boost by a weakening yen, ending three straight losses.

“The market is filled with euphoria now” from the strong China data, Naoki Fujiwara, a fund manager at Shinkin Asset Management, told Dow Jones Newswires.

HONG KONG: Shares finished 0.93 percent higher yesterday with investors, encouraged by a stronger Wall Street, picking up bargains after five successive losing sessions.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 202.07 points to 21,902.11.

Next week, the index could rise on the back of stronger economic data from China. “In the next few months we could see new highs for this bull market,” Howard Gorges, vice-chairman of South China Securities, said.

SINGAPORE: Shares closed 0.68 percent higher yesterday thanks to gains in DBS bank and Singapore Airlines (SIA), dealers said.

The blue-chip Straits Times Index advanced 18.89 points to 2,800.75.

“Things will start to pick up in the new year, when more traders come back (from the year-end break),” said a dealer with a local brokerage.

SYDNEY: Up 0.62 percent. The S&P/ASX 200 Index added 28.5 points to close at 4,635.2. The rise ended a four-day losing streak for the index.

SHANGHAI: Down 0.21 percent. The composite index fell 6.95 points to 3,247.32.

The market shrugged off the trade data, with many dealers already factoring in strong figures.

SEOUL: Up 0.25 percent. The Kospi gained 4.17 points to 1,656.9, a seven-week high.

“The market is likely to continue its upswing in the coming week although the upward momentum will be weak,” SK Securities analyst Choi Sung-Rak told AFP.

TAIPEI: Up 1.53 percent. The weighted index rose 117.16 points to 7,795.07.

“Many institutional investors remained cautious. They are still waiting for further corrections before picking up bargains,” TLG Asset Management analyst Arch Shih said.

BANGKOK: Up 1.29 percent. The composite index gained 8.93 points to close at 703.64, and the blue-chip index rose 7.05 points to 494.44.

The Thai stock market will trade in a narrow range next week but is likely to be affected by Dubai’s debt crisis, an analyst said.

JAKARTA: Up 1.31 percent. The composite index gained 32.66 points to 2,519.09.

Traders expected shares to continue to gain on Monday.

KUALA LAMPUR: Share prices on Bursa Malaysia consolidated for the major part of the week. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia Composite Index (FBM KLCI) continued to stay above its critical support of 1,250 when it closed at 1,260.00 points yesterday.

The FBM KLCI was relatively unchanged at 1,270.20 points before drifting to close at the day’s low of 1,265.36 on Monday, giving a day-on-day loss of 4.84 points, or 0.38 percent.

MANILA: Up 0.82 percent. The composite index added 24.56 points to 3,031.13, while the all-share index rose 0.66 percent or 12.31 points to 1,883.00.

MUMBAI: Down 0.41 percent. The 30-share Sensex fell 70.28 points to 17,119.03.

“Expectations had built up for stronger output data. We could correct further,” said a dealer at brokerage Prabhudas Lilladher

VIETNAM:
After the last session of the week, the two indexes of VN Index and HNX Index continued dropping. The sellers pushed up offloading shares at low prices while there were not many buying orders. The market liquidity remained low.
VN Index dropped 14.56 points or 3.17 percent lower than yesterday to 444.16 points with a total matching order trade of 37.86 million shares worth 1.348 trillion dong, an increase of 3.6 percent in volume but down 2.7 percent in value.
Sharing the same scenario, HNX Index on the northern bourse plunged by 4.54 points or 3.14 percent to end at 139.99 points with a total market trade of 17.569 million shares for 445.63 billion dong in value.

EUROPE:
LONDON: European equities advanced for a second straight session yesterday, boosted by mining shares, after US reports showed November retail sales rose more than expected and consumer sentiment improved in early December.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares provisionally closed 0.6 percent higher at 1,010.55 points.

The London FTSE 100 index added 0.33 percent to close at 5,261.57 points. In Paris the CAC 40 rose 0.14 percent to 3,803.72 while in Frankfurt the Dax gained 0.83 percent to 5,756.29 points.

AMERICA:
Encouraging news about how consumers feel about the economy and how much they’re spending sent stocks higher on Friday.

The strong showing in retail sales last month raised hopes that consumers are starting to feel more comfortable opening their wallets after months of building savings. The 1.3 percent increase was more than double the gain that analysts had forecast.

The Dow rose 0.8 percent for the week, its second straight weekly gain. The S&P 500 index rose for a third straight week, edging up less than 0.1 percent. The Nasdaq slipped 0.2 percent for the week.

Friday’s gains in stocks came even as the dollar rose. The ICE Futures US dollar index rose 0.7 percent.

For months, stocks and commodities have moved in the opposite direction of the dollar. The dollar has been falling for much of this year as low interest rates make other assets like stocks and commodities more attractive. A weaker dollar makes commodities cheaper for foreign buyers and helps boost the profits at companies that do business overseas.

Gold fell $6.30 to $1,119.80 an ounce. Oil slumped for an eighth day, sliding 67 cents to $69.87 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

A steep drop in the number of employers who cut jobs last month and other signs of improvement in the economy have brought expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates sooner than later. That would boost the dollar and initially hurt stocks as investors look for better returns elsewhere.

Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist at Schaeffer’s Investment Research, expects the stock market will see more days when it rises alongside the dollar because gains in the greenback signal confidence in the U.S. economy is improving. That could trump concerns that the Fed will raise borrowing costs.

“Higher interest rates down the road probably would not derail this bull market mainly because the economy is on better footing than people think,” Detrick said.

Next week, investors will be looking to the policy statement that follows a two-day meeting of the Fed’s interest rate committee for clues on the direction of interest rates. Reports are also due on housing and industrial production, and companies including Best Buy Co. and FedEx Corp. are scheduled to post quarterly earnings.

Treasury prices mostly fell Friday after the encouraging economic reports weakened demand for safe-haven investments. That pushed yields higher. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 3.55 percent from 3.50 percent late Thursday.

Two stocks rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume totaled 3.9 billion shares, in line with Thursday.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 4.99, or 0.8 percent, to 600.37.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed the week up 82.60, or 0.8 percent, at 10,471.50. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 0.43, or less than 0.1 percent, to 1,106.41. The Nasdaq composite index fell 4.04, or 0.2 percent, to 2,190.31.

The Russell 2000 index, which tracks the performance of small company stocks, fell 2.42, or 0.4 percent, for the week to 600.37.

Benchmark Currency Rates
	USD	EUR	JPY	GBP	CHF	CAD	AUD	HKD
HKD	7.7506	11.3277	0.087	12.6039	7.493	7.311	7.074	 
AUD	1.0957	1.6013	0.0123	1.7817	1.0592	1.0335	 	0.1414
CAD	1.0601	1.5494	0.0119	1.724	1.0249	 	0.9676	0.1368
CHF	1.0344	1.5118	0.0116	1.6821	 	0.9757	0.9441	0.1335
GBP	0.6149	0.8987	0.0069	 	0.5945	0.5801	0.5613	0.0793
JPY	89.103	130.226	 	144.897	86.1406	84.0483	81.3243	11.4962
EUR	0.6842	 	0.0077	1.1127	0.6615	0.6454	0.6245	0.0883
USD	 	1.4615	0.0112	1.6262	0.9668	0.9433	0.9127	0.129
                                                              Bloomberg

 

Category: Stocks