Asian markets were mixed yesterday Thursday JUl 2 as investors sought firm signals ahead of key US jobs data, while another strong performance in Shanghai raised fears its rally will run out of steam.
A dour report on American job losses in June sent US and Europe shares sharply lower Thursday.
TOKYO: Down 0.64 percent. The Nikkei-225 lost 63.78 points to end at 9,876.15.
"The bottom line is, investors are still worried about the health of the US economy," Hiroyuki Fukunaga, chief executive at Investrust, told Dow Jones Newswires.
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SYDNEY: Flat. The S&P/ASX 200 rose 3.3 points, or 0.09 percent, to 3,877.3, while the broader All Ordinaries was up 2.9 points or 0.07 percent at 3,875.2.
News of a ballooning trade deficit tempered early gains, dealers said.
HONG KONG: Share prices closed 1.09 percent lower yesteday, reversing early gains as investors struggled for firm buying signals, dealers said.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index lost 200.68 points to 18,178.05, after rising to 18,780.96 at the opening.
Dealers said they saw limited room for further gains in the near term but ruled out any major corrections in the weeks ahead amid continued strength in China-linked stocks.
SHANGHAI: Up 1.73 percent. The composite index rose 52.10 points to 3,060.25.
Insurance companies' higher-than-expected investment returns helped push the key index to its highest point in more than a year, dealers said.
SINGAPORE: Shares closed 1.35 percent lower in cautious trading yesterday as investors awaited US jobs data, dealers said.
The blue-chip Straits Times Index fell 31.73 points to 2,320.82.
"We're telling clients to hold off for now as the US economic numbers have not been fantastic given hopes for recovery," said an analyst .
TAIPEI: Up 1.35 percent. The weighted index rose 88.56 points to 6,667.53.
The market was buoyed by the lifting of the decades-old ban on investment here by Chinese individuals and businesses.
SEOUL: Flat. The Kospi ended down 0.18 points at 1,411.48.
"The market was mostly quiet. Investors seem to be mostly in a wait-and-see mode before the release of US employment data," Lee Sun-Yup of Goodmorning Shinhan Securities said.
JAKARTA: Up 0.28 percent. The composite index gained 5.86 points to 2,065.75.
The market was led by foreign buying in telecommunications and bank blue chips amid hopes for an interest rate cut this week, dealers said.
MANILA: Up 0.21 percent. The composite index put on 5.15 points to close at 2,438.04, while the all-shares index fell 0.29 percent, or 4.70 points, to close at 1,562.47.
"The market will continue to wait for developments in the overseas markets in the absence of major news locally," said Emmanuel Soller of Equity World Securities.
BANGKOK: Down 1.85 percent. The composite index put on 5.15 points to close at 2,438.04, while the all-share index fell 0.29 percent, or 4.70 points, to close at 1,562.47.
Analysts blamed the fall on profit-taking, particularly by local institutional investors for their mid-year window-dressing.
MUMBAI: Flat. The 30-share Sensex edged up 13.02 points or 0.09 percent to 14,658.49.
VIETNAM: The VN Index reversed to increase by 3.79 points or 0.88 percent to close at 433.79, ending three consecutive slumping sessions.
On the northern floor, HNX Index today increased by 3.5 points or 2.46 percent to close at 146 points with a total market trade of about 19.98 million shares worth 623.032 billion dong in value.
EUROPE: European stock markets suffered sharp sell-offs yesterday on news of greater-than-expected job losses in the US that dampened prospects for a smooth recovery in the world's largest economy.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index fell 2.6 percent to close at 843.0 points, the day's low.
The London FTSE 100 index fell 2.45 percent to close at 4,234.27 points while in Paris the CAC 40 lost 3.12 percent to end the session at 3,116.41 points. The Frankfurt Dax plummeted 3.81 percent to 4,718.49 points.
AMERICA: A dour report on job losses in June sent stocks sharply lower Thursday.
Major stock indexes fell more than 2.6 percent after the government said the U.S. unemployment rate hit a 26-year high. The Dow Jones industrials closed at their lowest level in six weeks.
Trading on the New York Stock Exchange was extended until 4:15 p.m. Eastern time (2015 GMT) in order to execute customer orders impacted by system irregularities, an NYSE spokeswoman said.
Recession-weary employers in the U.S. slashed 467,000 jobs in June, the Labor Department reported, far worse than the 363,000 that economists expected and a grim signal that the path to recovery will be bumpy. The jobless rate rose to 9.5 percent from 9.4 percent in May.
The report -- one of the most closely watched economic indicators -- disappointed investors who had become encouraged by positive signs recently that key areas of the economy including housing and manufacturing were showing modest signs of improvement.
The stock market rallied furiously this spring off of 12-year lows beginning in early March on hopes for a recovery, but the upward momentum stalled in mid-June as doubts began to emerge about whether the economy had really found a bottom. The June jobs report was the latest blow to the market's confidence.
The Dow Jones industrials lost 223.32, or 2.6 percent, to 8,280.74, the lowest close since May 22. It was the average's worst day since April 20.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 26.91, or 2.9 percent, to 896.42 and the Nasdaq composite index fell 49.20, or 2.7 percent, to 1,796.52.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by about 5 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange.
The dollar rose against most other major currencies, while gold prices fell.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 19.61, or 3.8 percent, to 497.85.
Benchmark Currency Rates
USD EUR JPY GBP CHF CAD AUD HKD
HKD 7.7502 10.824 0.0809 12.6762 7.1306 6.6677 6.1521
AUD 1.2598 1.7594 0.0132 2.0604 1.159 1.0838 0.1625
CAD 1.1624 1.6233 0.0121 1.9011 1.0694 0.9227 0.15
CHF 1.0869 1.518 0.0113 1.7777 0.9351 0.8628 0.1402
GBP 0.6114 0.8539 0.0064 0.5625 0.526 0.4853 0.0789
JPY 95.794 133.7859 156.678 88.1351 82.4141 76.0413 12.3601
EUR 0.716 0.0075 1.1711 0.6588 0.616 0.5684 0.0924
USD 1.3966 0.0104 1.6356 0.92 0.8603 0.7938 0.129
Bloomberg
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