Asian stock markets end July on bullish note

Rising oil prices and another set of better-than-expected corporate results sent Asian stocks higher yesterday, helping some markets mark up massive gains for July.

TOKYO: Up 1.89%. The Nikkei-225 climbed 191.62 points to 10,356.83, the highest finish since October 6, 2008. Investors took in their stride news that Japan’s jobless rate hit a six-year high of 5.4 percent in June and deflation deepened.

SYDNEY: Up 1.28%. The S&P/ASX 200 closed up 53.6 points at 4,244.0. “The standout sector again is the financials, which is bursting,” said Burrell Stockbroking director Richard Herring.
SHANGHAI: Up 2.72%. The Shanghai Composite Index, which covers A and B shares, was up 90.50 points at 3,412.06. “Looking forward to the second half of 2009, we expect continued earnings improvement” among China’s independent power producers, Yan Shi, an analyst at UOB Kay Hian, said.

HONG KONG: Share prices closed 1.68 percent higher yesterday, matching strong performances across the region, dealers said.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index closed up 339.25 points at 20,573.33. The index ended the week 9.4 percent higher and rose 11 percent in July.

SINGAPORE: Shares closed 0.87 percent higher yesterday but were off highs after banking stocks trimmed gains following a recent rally, dealers said.

The Straits Times Index rose 23.01 points to 2,659.20.
TAIPEI: Up 0.72%. The weighted index rose 50.60 points to 7,077.71. The market opened up 1.20 percent but profit-taking pressure emerged to erode early gains with the index moving past the resistance level of 7,100, dealers said.

SEOUL: Up 1.47%. The Kospi gained 22.55 points to a new yearly record of 1,557.29. The market was boosted by stronger-than-expected industrial output data.

KUALA LUMPUR: SHARE prices on Bursa Malaysia consolidated in the first four trading days of this week before staging a sharp rebound yesterday. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (FBM KLCI) continued to stay above its critical support of 1,100 points when it closed at 1,174.90 s yesterday.
The FBM KLCI opened marginally lower on Monday before slipping to its intra-day low of 1,148.26. It closed at 1,156.43 points, giving a day-on-day gain of 0.55 point, or 0.05%.

JAKARTA: Up 1.09%. The composite index gained 25.10 points to 2,323.23. “If inflows continue next week, I think the main index could test the important level of 2,400,” a trader told Dow Jones Newswires.

BANGKOK: Up 0.33%. The composite index added 2.05 points to close at 624.00. Profit-taking in the afternoon session erased earlier gains amid a large-scale political protest in Bangkok, an analyst said.

MANILA: Up 1.21%. The composite index rose 33.15 points to 2,798.33 while the all-share index gained 0.71 percent to 1,768.16 points. “The run-up is a confluence of factors,” said Erwin Balita of SB Equities Inc. “There is an influx of foreign funds. There is also added liquidity from the low interest rate environment. People have reverted to more riskier investments like equities.”

MUMBAI: Up 1.83%. The 30-share Sensex rose 282.35 points to 15,670.31. The buying momentum is improving. We could see further gains on overseas fund buying,” said Bhaskar Kapadia, partner at brokerage Pyramid Securities.

VIETNAM: The VN Index on July 31 reversed by increasing 14.85 points or 3.29 percent to end at 466.76 points with a total matching order trade of over 38 million shares for about 1.419 trillion dong in value, up 22 percent in volume and 27 percent in value against the previous session.

The HNX Index rose by 5 points or 3.36 percent to close at 153.91 marks with a total market trade of 23.623 million shares worth 774.772 billion dong.

euro OPE: European stock exchanges edged down yesterday as investors digested a report on second quarter US economic growth that showed a smaller contraction than expected but weakness in consumer spending.

London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index of leading shares closed down 0.50 percent at 4,608.36 points, the CAC 40 in Paris slipped 0.26 percent to 3,426.27 and the Dax in Frankfurt fell 0.53 percent to 5,332.14.

AMERICA: US stocks edged higher on Friday, helped by an improving outlook for business activity in the US Midwest in July.

Trading was volatile as investors assessed a mixed report on the US gross domestic product for the first half of 2009.

The Institute for Supply Management-Chicago business barometer rose to 43.4 from 39.9 in June, its best showing since September. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a reading of 43.0. A reading above 50 indicates expansion.

The report came shortly after government data indicated the US economy contracted less than expected in the second quarter of the year, spurring optimism the recession may be moderating. But the US Commerce Department also said GDP tumbled 6.4 percent in the January-March quarter, the biggest decline since a matching fall in the first quarter of 1982.

The Dow Jones industrial average (DJI) was up 1.13 points, or 0.01 percent, at 9,155.59. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPX) was down 1.60 points, or 0.16 percent, at 985.15. The Nasdaq Composite Index (IXIC) was down 1.13 points, or 0.06 percent, at 1,983.17.

 

Category: Stocks