Asian marts mostly up on US data Aug 3
Asian markets were broadly higher Monday Aug 3 as dealers welcomed news that the US economy contracted at a slower than expected pace in the second quarter.
Optimism was also carried over after a number of companies revealed earnings for the three months to June showing they seemed to be emerging from the global slump.
TOKYO: Flat. The Nikkei-225 slipped 4.36 points, or 0.04 percent, to 10,352.47.
Investors decided to take a breather after the market ended last week at a near 10-month high on growing optimism about the global economy.
SYDNEY: Up 0.46 percent. The S&P/ASX 200 was 19.4 points higher at 4,263.4.
Burrell Stockbroking analyst Bruce McLeary said banks benefited from optimism that the worst of the global financial crisis may be over, with broker Goldman Sachs JBWere upgrading the four major lenders.
SHANGHAI: Up 1.48 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index, which covers A and B shares, was up 50.53 points at 3,462.59.
The key index ended at its highest since May 23 last year, when it closed at 3,473.09.
HONG KONG: Stocks rose 1.14 percent to a near 11-month high yesterday, boosted by another surge on the mainland despite some dealers staying on the sidelines ahead of first-half corporate results.
The Hang Seng Index rose 233.93 points to 20,807.26, its third consecu-tive gain. Turnover was HK$77.89 billion.
The index registered its best finish since September 8, when it closed at 20,794.
SINGAPORE: Shares closed 0.84 percent up yesterday on gains in selected blue-chips, dealers said.
The main Straits Times Index rose 22.44 points to 2,681.64.
Volume totalled 2.37 billion shares worth S$1.86 billion.
There were 363 rising issues, 159 losers and 740 that were even.
TAIPEI: Down 0.30 percent. The weighted index fell 21.00 points to 7,056.71.
Large cap electronics firms sent the market lower on concerns over earnings, dealers said.
SEOUL: Up 0.49 percent. The Kospi gained 7.69 points to close at 1,564.98.
The market is at its highest point so far this year.
KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices on Bursa Malaysia ended the day mixed yesterday amid hopes that the world economic recession is easing, said dealers.
They said the industrial and plantation stocks were the most attractive as optimism rose in the market with anticipation of increasing demand.
The FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (FBM KLCI), however, eased to 1,171.31, losing 3.59 points after opening 0.56 of a point lower at 1,174.34 in the morning.
JAKARTA: Up 0.67 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index gained 15.57 points to 2,338.80. On-year inflation eased to 2.71 percent in July from 3.65 percent a month earlier, leading to hopes that interest rates may be cut soon.
BANGKOK: Up 2.79 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand added 17.43 points to close at 641.43.
MANILA: Up 1.31 percent. The composite index added 36.78 points to 2,835.11.
“Investors are positioning ahead of second quarter results, especially of companies that (have) reportedly done well,” Astro del Castillo of First Grade Holdings said.
MUMBAI: Up 1.62 percent. The 30-share Sensex rose 253.92 points to 15,924.23.
The index is at its highest level since June 3 last year.
VIETNAM: VNX Index continued increasing slightly by 1.17 points or 0.25 percent to close at 467.93 points August 03 with a total matching order trade of 34.21 million shares worth 1.305 trillion dong, a rise of 10.3 percent in volume and 8 percent in value in comparison with July 31 session.
The HNX Index of the northern bourse today slightly dipped by 3.01 points or 1.96 percent to end at 150.9 points with a total market trade of about 17.157 million shares for 563.857 billion dong in value.
EUROPE: European stock markets rallied yesterday after upbeat data from the US and the 16-nation eurozone raised hopes about the prospects for a recovery from a crippling economic crisis.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares closed up 1.4 percent at 941.93 points after touching 947.01.
London’s FTSE 100 index ended the day up 1.61 percent at 4,682.46 points after hitting its highest point so far this year.
The Paris CAC 40 rose 1.50 percent to 3,477.80 and the Frankfurt DAX jumped 1.78 percent to 5,426.85.
AMERICA: The Standard & Poor’s 500 index is four digits again now that the stock market’s rally has blown into August.
The widely followed stock market measure broke above 1,000 on Monday for the first time in nine months as reports on manufacturing, construction and banking sent investors more signals that the economy is gathering strength.
Wall Street’s big indexes all rose more than 1 percent, including the Dow Jones industrial average, which climbed 115 points.
The market extended its summer rally on the type of news that might have seemed unthinkable when stocks cratered to 12-year lows in early March. A trade group predicted U.S. manufacturing activity will grow next month, the government said construction spending rose in June and Ford Motor Co. said its sales rose last month for the first time in nearly two years.
Major stock indicators pushed to fresh highs for the year. The Dow rose for the third day, advancing 114.95, or 1.3 percent, to 9,286.56.
The S&P 500 index rose 15.15, or 1.5 percent, to 1,002.63, its first move above 1,000 since Nov. 4. The index first closed above that mark in February 1998 and is up 48.2 percent since its recent low on March 9.
The Nasdaq composite index rose 30.11, or 1.5 percent, to 2,008.61, its first close above 2,000 since October.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 9.07, or 1.6 percent, to 565.78.
Light, sweet crude soared $2.13 to settle at $71.58 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Benchmark Currency Rates
USD EUR JPY GBP CHF CAD AUD HKD
HKD 7.75 11.1651 0.0814 13.1208 7.3114 7.2677 6.5329
AUD 1.1863 1.7091 0.0125 2.0084 1.1192 1.1125 0.1531
CAD 1.0664 1.5363 0.0112 1.8054 1.006 0.8989 0.1376
CHF 1.06 1.5271 0.0111 1.7946 0.994 0.8935 0.1368
GBP 0.5907 0.8509 0.0062 0.5572 0.5539 0.4979 0.0762
JPY 95.17 137.1067 161.122 89.783 89.2467 80.2236 12.2799
EUR 0.6941 0.0073 1.1752 0.6548 0.6509 0.5851 0.0896
USD 1.4406 0.0105 1.693 0.9434 0.9378 0.843 0.129
Bloomberg
Category: Stocks
