Bargain hunters spark rally in Asian markets

Investor concerns that China will move to further rein in lending were brushed aside in Asia yesterday Friday Jan 15 as bargain-hunters moved in following losses in the morning.

Technology plays were big gainers after US bellwether Intel, the world’s biggest chipmaker, posted a profit surge of almost 900 percent.

Chinese shares fell early on but ended 0.27 percent higher as investors picked up cheap property and banking stocks.

The Shanghai Composite Index was up 8.60 points at 3,224.15.
“It is just a technical rebound, and the upside is likely limited as concerns over monetary tightening are still lingering,” Guoyuan Securities analyst Simon Wang told Dow Jones Newswires.

Huatai Securities analyst Dai Shuang said: “There are expectations that the government may take fresh administrative measures to rein in rapid bank lending growth near term.”

Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.68 percent, or 79.42 points, to 10,982.10, its best since October 2 2008.

Shares in cosmetics maker Shiseido soared 5.04 percent to 2,040 yen on news it will spend US$1.7 billion to buy Bare Escentuals of the US.

And troubled Japan Airlines, which has lost around 90 percent this week over fears it is about to apply for bankruptcy, fell 1 yen to 7 yen.

Sydney closed flat after spending much of the day in the red.

The S&P/ASX200 was up 1.6 points at 4,899.6, thanks to a late rally after Commonwealth Bank of Australia said it expected a big rise in first-half cash profit.

In other markets:

Seoul was 0.95 percent, or 16.03 points, up at 1,701.80.

Jakarta was flat, rising 1.91 points to 2,647.09.

Bangkok gave up 0.39 percent, or 2.90 points, to close at 746.52.

Manila lost 0.11 percent, or 3.44 points, to 3,118.47 on profit-taking.

Mumbai eased 0.17 percent, or 30.57 points, to 17,554.30. Dealers unwound stocks ahead of the weekend, on growing concerns the central bank could tighten monetary policy to curb inflation.

HONG KONG: Shares fell yesterday as investors remained wary of possible further monetary tightening moves from Beijing.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index reversed early gains to fall 0.29 percent, or 62.79 points, to 21,654.16.

“Worries about more possible tightening measures from Beijing and concerns over Chinese lenders’ fundraising needs are likely to weigh on local shares in the near term,” Alvin Cheung, an associate director at Prudential Brokerage said.

SINGAPORE: Share prices ended flat yesterday, with the Straits Times Index edging down 1.10 points, or 0.04 percent, to 2,908.42.

“The muted reaction to Intel’s good results suggests that the market is more afraid of bad news than reacting to good news,” said AmFraser senior vice president of equity sales Gabriel Gan.

KUALA LAMPUR: Share prices on Bursa Malaysia trended rangebound over the last five trading days. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia Composite Index (FBM KLCI) continued to stay above its critical support of 1,250 points when it closed at 1,298.58 yesterday.

On Monday, the FBM KLCI opened marginally higher at 1,293.59 before rebounding to its intra-day high of 1,296.54. It closed at 1,294.51 points, giving a day-on-day gain of 1.53 points, or 0.12 percent.

VIETNAM:
After two positive point gaining sessions, the two indexes reversed to slump in the last trading session of the week.
At the end of Jan 15 session, VN Index on Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange fell by 6.91 points or 1.35 percent to close at 505.42 points. The market transparency slightly increased with total matching order trade of 36.3 million shares worth 1.55 trillion dong, an increase of 8 percent in both volume and value against the previous session.
Sharing the same scenario, HNX Index reduced by 4.32 points or 2.46 percent to end at 171.37 points with a total market trade of 20.297 million shares valued at 691.466 billion dong.

EUROPE:
European shares fell on yesterday after US consumer sentiment figures fell short of expectations and JPMorgan loan losses overshadowed higher fourth quarter profit, with banks in Europe weighing.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares provisionally closed down 1.1 percent at 1,051.95 points.

Across the globe, London’s FTSE 100 index of leading shares was down 0.78 percent at 5,455.37 points.

In Paris, the CAC 40 lost 1.53 percent to 3,954.38 points, dropping back below the key 4,000 points level for the first time this year, and in Frankfurt the DAX tumbled 1.89 percent to 5,875.97 points.

AMERICA:
The Dow Jones industrial average had its first triple-digit drop of 2010 as mounting losses from loans at JPMorgan Chase & Co. and a disappointing consumer sentiment reading sent investors rushing from stocks.

Financial stocks led the market lower Friday, pulling major stock indexes down about 1 percent from 15-month highs. The Dow lost almost 101 points, its steepest drop since Dec. 31. Interest rates fell in the bond markets as investors bought Treasurys in search of safety.

The Dow fell 100.90, or 0.9 percent, to 10,609.65, the biggest drop since it lost 120 points on the final day of 2009. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 12.43, or 1.1 percent, to 1,136.03, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 28.75, or 1.2 percent, to 2,287.99.

Bond prices rose, pushing their yields lower. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell to 3.68 percent from 3.74 percent late Thursday.

The dollar rose against most major currencies. That hurt commodities, which are priced in dollars. A stronger greenback makes commodities like oil more expensive to foreign buyers.

Crude oil fell $1.39 to settle at $78 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold fell.

The day’s slide as investors await earnings next week from Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo & Co.

Jim Herrick, director of equity trading at Baird & Co. in Milwaukee, said JPMorgan’s report prompted selling because the bank is seen as stronger than other banks and because financial stocks have been the biggest drivers of the market’s climb since March.

“The concern is that this is a harbinger of things to come as far as earnings,” he said. “It’s only smart to take chips off the table after the run we’ve had and sit on the sides and wait for earnings to come out.”

After a strong start to the year, the market’s advance slowed during week and the modest gains were eaten by Friday’s slide. Caution about earnings from the final three months of 2009 grew after aluminum producer Alcoa Inc. posted disappointing results.

For the week, the Dow slipped 0.1 percent, the S&P 500 index fell 0.8 percent and the Nasdaq lost 1.3 percent.

Among banks, JPMorgan fell $1.01, or 2.3 percent, to $43.68. Morgan Stanley fell 82 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $30.38, while Citigroup fell 9 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $3.42.

Two stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 4.8 billion shares as options contracts expired on some stocks. Volume Thursday came to 3.9 billion shares.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 8.47, or 1.3 percent, to 637.96.

Benchmark Currency Rates
	USD	EUR	JPY	GBP	CHF	CAD	AUD	HKD
HKD	7.7604	11.1648	0.0855	12.6215	7.5689	7.5408	7.1611	 
AUD	1.0837	1.5591	0.0119	1.7625	1.0569	1.053	 	0.1396
CAD	1.0291	1.4806	0.0113	1.6738	1.0037	 	0.9497	0.1326
CHF	1.0253	1.4751	0.0113	1.6676	 	0.9963	0.9461	0.1321
GBP	0.6149	0.8846	0.0068	 	0.5997	0.5975	0.5674	0.0792
JPY	90.77	130.591	 	147.629	88.5302	88.2016	83.7607	11.6966
EUR	0.6951	 	0.0077	1.1305	0.6779	0.6754	0.6414	0.0896
USD	 	1.4387	0.011	1.6264	0.9753	0.9717	0.9228	0.1289
                                                              Bloomberg

 

Category: Stocks