Asian shares sentiment lifted by rally on Wall Street
Renewed optimism over an improving global economic picture helped most Asian shares rise yesterday Thursday Jan 14 following a stronger lead from Wall Street, but fears lingered over China’s monetary policy.
Asia followed Wall Street’s lead after the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.50 percent to close at 10,680.77 on Wednesday.
Sentiment was boosted by strong Australian jobs data and Wall Street’s more positive outlook on the earnings season, shrugging off earlier disappointment.
After a broad sell-off in the previous session was sparked by Beijing’s move to raise the amount banks must hold in reserves, China gained 1.35 percent.
The Shanghai Composite Index closed up 42.89 points at 3,215.55.
Shares were also lifted by plans to encourage consolidation between telecom, broadcast and Internet firms.
Sydney closed 0.61 percent higher, with sentiment buoyed by stronger-than-expected jobs data and record-breaking quarterly iron ore sales from mining giant Rio Tinto.
The S&P/ASX200 index gained 29.9 points to 4,898 on a bigger-than-expected fall in Australia’s unemployment rate to 5.5 percent in December, down from November’s revised figure of 5.6 percent.
Tokyo gained 1.61 percent as troubled Japan Airlines pulled out of a tailspin after several days of big losses, rising 1 yen to 8 yen.
The Nikkei-225 index climbed 172.65 points to 10,907.68.
Seoul closed 0.86 percent higher, with the Kospi up 14.36 points at 1,685.77.
In other markets:
Taipei closed up 93.42 points, or 1.14 percent, at 8,289.98. The bourse recovered much of the ground lost in the previous session, indicating the upward trend of the market remains unchanged, said Chen Yu-yu of Capital Securities.
Indonesia gained 0.47 percent, or 12.31 points, to 2,645.18. “Late profit-taking by foreign funds in resources-related shares offset some gains of the main index,” a trader said.
Bangkok added 0.36 percent, or 2.68 points, to close at 749.42.
Manila closed 0.81 percent, or 25.21 points, higher at 3,121.91.
Mumbai rose 0.43 percent, or 75.07 points, to 17,584.87. Metal, oil and commodity stocks were main gainers.
HONG KONG: Shares closed 0.15 percent lower yesterday, falling back from earlier gains amid lingering concerns over China’s monetary policy after Beijing moved to tighten liquidity.
The Hang Seng Index ended 31.65 points lower at 21,716.95 after being up 0.65 percent at midday,
Investors snapped up shares in consumer stocks and airlines, betting on an improving outlook, even though dealers said interest in these sectors would be for the short term.
SINGAPORE: Stocks closed almost 1 percent higher yesterday as fears receded that China’s policy tightening would slow its demand.
The Straits Times Index closed 0.73 percent, or 21.14 points, higher at 2,909.52.
Singapore Press Holdings was up 16 cents, or 4.37 percent, at S$3.82.
KUALA LAMPUR: Share prices on Bursa Malaysia resumed their technical rebound in tandem with the rebound on the regional stock markets yesterday. Its overall advancing counters outpaced its declining counters by 575 to 230.
The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) opened higher at 1,290.50 before closing at its intra-day high of 1,294.94 yesterday. It ended at 1,294.71 points, giving a day-on-day gain of 5.20 points, or 0.40 percent.
VIETNAM:
After positive signals from the previous trading session, ending the trading session January 14, the index on both floors Hochiminh Stock Exchange (STC) and Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) continued to increase.
The VN Index gained another 3.72 points or 0.73 percent to 512.33 pts. The market liquidity fell when the trading volume reached only 33.85 million shares valued at 1.437 trillion dong, down 36 percent in volume and 37 percent in value day on day.
Similarly, the HNX Index bounced 1.35 points or 0.77 percent to end at 175.69 pts. Total trading volume reached 28.59 million shares worth 1.138 trillion dong, decreasing 17 percent in volume and 15.5 percent in value against previous session.
EUROPE:
Europe’s main stock markets closed slightly firmer yesterday, with London’s FTSE 100 index of leading shares gaining 0.45 percent to 5,498.20 points.
In Paris, the CAC 40 rose 0.37 percent to 4,015.77 points while in Frankfurt, the DAX added 0.43 percent to 5,988.88 points.
Earlier in the day, the shares rose supported by gains in banks and drugmakers, after the European Central Bank kept interest rates on hold as expected, while investors awaited earnings from US firms.
Banks were higher, with Barclays, Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse and BNP Paribas up 0.9 to 2.2 percent.
AMERICA:
The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 10,700 for the first time in 15 months on Thursday as investors bet that the corporate earnings season would overcome a rocky start.
The advance was slightly uneven, with technology stocks rising ahead of quarterly earnings from chip maker Intel Corp. and financials climbing before a profit report from JPMorgan Chase & Co. due Friday. Safe havens like utilities and consumer staples stocks fell. The Dow industrials gained 30 points, and broader indexes also rose.
The Dow rose 29.78, or 0.3 percent, to 10,710.55, its highest close since Oct. 1, 2008. Even with a gain of 63.6 percent since March, the index is still down 24.4 percent from its record high of 14,164.53 in October 2007.
The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 2.78, or 0.2 percent, to 1,148.46, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 8.84, or 0.4 percent, to 2,316.74.
Demand for the safety of government debt rose following the economic reports and a successful Treasury Department auction of $13 billion in 30-year bonds. Treasury prices rose, pushing yields lower. The yield on the benchmark 10-year note fell to 3.74 percent from 3.80 percent late Wednesday.
SAP rose much of the day but ended down 23 cents at $50.16. Intel rose 52 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $21.48 and gained 1 percent in after-hours electronic trading following the release of its results.
JPMorgan rose 44 cents to $44.69.
The dollar was mixed again other major currencies. Gold rose modestly.
Crude oil fell 26 cents to $79.39 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Three stocks rose for every two that fell on the New York Stock Exchange. Consolidated volume, which has been light since late 2009, fell to 3.9 billion shares from 4.2 billion Wednesday.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 2.87, or 0.5 percent, to 646.43.
Benchmark Currency Rates
USD EUR JPY GBP CHF CAD AUD HKD
HKD 7.7582 11.2493 0.085 12.676 7.6133 7.5759 7.2221
AUD 1.0742 1.5576 0.0118 1.7552 1.0542 1.049 0.1385
CAD 1.024 1.4849 0.0112 1.6732 1.0049 0.9533 0.132
CHF 1.019 1.4776 0.0112 1.665 0.9951 0.9486 0.1313
GBP 0.612 0.8874 0.0067 0.6006 0.5977 0.5697 0.0789
JPY 91.239 132.296 149.075 89.536 89.0962 84.9353 11.7604
EUR 0.6897 0.0076 1.1268 0.6768 0.6735 0.642 0.0889
USD 1.45 0.011 1.6339 0.9813 0.9765 0.9309 0.1289
Bloomberg
Category: Stocks
