Asian markets stronger, thanks to Spain

A successful bond sale by the Spanish government lifted confidence in Asian trade yesterday Friday June 18, with most markets posting gains, although sentiment was tempered by disappointing US data.

The upbeat news out of Spain boosted the euro, while dealers also welcomed the fact that European leaders had agreed to go public with the results of stress tests on their banks.

TOKYO: Nikkei ended flat, edging down 4.38 points to 9,995.02.

SYDNEY rose 0.54 percent, or 24.6 points, to 4,551.9.

The Spanish Treasury raised ?3.479 billion in a bond sale on Thursday, albeit at higher rates as investors sought more reward for lending after recent debt scares.
The euro, which has soared from lows below US$1.19 earlier this month, picked up to US$1.2409 in the Tokyo morning, from US$1.2388 on Thursday in New York. But the single unit edged down to 112.63 yen compared with 112.70 yen in New York.

“Gains in the euro against the US dollar after the successful Spanish bond auction will likely help keep sentiment positive as that’s a sign of easing risk aversion,” Woori Investment & Securities analyst Lee Kyoung-min told Dow Jones Newswires in Seoul.

But the weak US data tempered the optimism. New claims for jobless benefits unexpectedly rose for the second consecutive week.

SHANGHAI fell 1.84 percent, losing 47.02 points to end at 2,513.22 due to liquidity concerns ahead of Agricultural Bank of China’s planned initial public offering, which could be the world’s biggest.

HONG KONG: Shares ended their best week since April yesterday, shrugging off a slide in the Shanghai market, as investor confidence slowly returns to global markets after a fierce sell-off in May.
The Hang Seng Index closed up 148 points at 20,286.7, its ninth straight winning session.
“Investor confidence has not fully returned, as seen in the thin volume, but underlying sentiment is improving bit by bit,” Linus Yip, a strategist at First Shanghai Securities said.

SINGAPORE: Stocks fell yesterday after faring better over the week as regional economic optimism shielded investors from nagging worry over European debt and mixed global economic data.
The benchmark Straits Times Index shed 0.37 percent, or 10.55 points, to 2,833.40.
Singapore Airlines fell 2.33 percent to S$14.26, DBS dropped 1.02 percent to S$13.58 but Singapore Telecom was 1.31 percent higher at S$3.10.

KUALA LAMPUR: THE FTSE Bursa Malaysia Composite Index (FBM KLCI) resumed its r technical rebound following last week’s sideways consolidation. It stayed above its psychological resistance of 1,300 points when it closed at 1,317.69 yesterday.

In other markets:

SEOUL gained 0.24 percent, or 4.03 points, to end at 1,711.95.

TAIPEI fell 0.30 percent, or 22.67 points, to 7,493.11.

JAKARTA rose 1.33 percent, or 38.48 points, to 2,929.58.

MANILA rose 0.67 percent, or 21.96 points, to close at 3,335.48.

BANGKOK rose 0.32 percent, or 2.51 points, to close at 791.85.

MUMBAI fell 0.26 percent, or 45.87 points, to 17.570.82.

VIETNAM: The VN Index slightly gained 0.42 point or 0.08 percent to 511.18 points with the total matching order trade of over 50.8 million shares valued at over 1.614 trillion dong.
THe HNX Index rose 1.1 points or 0.68 percent to 163.55 points with total market trade of over 44 million shares for 1.37 trillion dong in value.

EUROPE: European stock markets were narrowly mixed at the end of trade yesterday, with investors more confident about the European outlook after a successful Spanish bond issue and plans to publish the results of bank “stress tests”.
Analysts said sentiment appeared to be steadying after a roller-coaster few months when share prices lurched lower as the Greek debt crisis unfolded and tainted many of its weaker eurozone peers, chief among them Spain.
In London, the benchmark FTSE index was stable, slipping just 0.06 percent to finish at 5,250.84 points.
In Paris the CAC 40 edged up 0.11 perc ent to 3,687.21 while in Frankfurt the DAX fell 0.11 perc ent to end the week at 6,216.98.
Elsewhwere, there were gains of 0.89 percent in Milan, 0.44 percent in Brussels and 2.22 percent in Madrid.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares closed up 0.3 percent at 1,044.52 points and was its highest close since May 13.

AMERICA: Stocks rose for a fourth straight day Friday, led by shares of minerals companies after gold prices settled at another record high.

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow rose 16.47, or 0.2 percent, to close at 10,450.64. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 1.47, or 0.1 percent, to 1,117.51. The Nasdaq composite index edged up 2.64, or 0.1 percent, to 2,309.80.

All three indicators posted solid gains for the week. The Dow is up 2.3 percent, the S&P 500 2.4 percent and the Nasdaq 3 percent.

Advancing stocks narrowly outpaced those that fell on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 1.8 billion shares versus 1.2 billion the day before. Volume was heavier because of the simultaneous expiration of four kinds of futures and options contracts, which occurs once every quarter.

Trading was relatively quiet considering the options and futures expirations, which can often bring volatility as traders adjust their portfolios. The week that follows the June expiration is often a losing one for investors. The Dow has posted a loss during that week for the past 11 years, according to the Stock Trader’s Almanac.

Bond prices slipped, pushing interest rates higher. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 3.23 percent from 3.20 percent late Thursday.

The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while the euro fell to $1.2383.

Crude oil rose 39 cents to settle at $77.18 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Gold settled up $1,258.30 an ounce, a gain of $9.60. Barrick Gold rose $1.56, or 3.5 percent, to $46.38, and Newmont Mining climbed $1.57, or 2.6 percent, to $61.25.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 1.07, or 0.2 percent, to 666.92.

Benchmark Currency Rates
	USD	EUR	JPY	GBP	CHF	CAD	AUD	HKD
HKD	7.7825	9.6406	0.0858	11.5364	7.0206	7.6163	6.7864	 
AUD	1.1468	1.4206	0.0126	1.6999	1.0345	1.1223	 	0.1474
CAD	1.0218	1.2658	0.0113	1.5147	0.9218	 	0.891	0.1313
CHF	1.1085	1.3732	0.0122	1.6432	 	1.0848	0.9666	0.1424
GBP	0.6746	0.8357	0.0074	 	0.6086	0.6602	0.5883	0.0867
JPY	90.707	112.363	 	134.459	81.8271	88.77	79.0974	11.6553
EUR	0.8073	 	0.0089	1.1966	0.7282	0.79	0.7039	0.1037
USD	 	1.2388	0.011	1.4824	0.9021	0.9786	0.872	0.1285
                                                              Bloomberg

 

Category: Stocks