Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's call yesterday for a weaker yen boosted sentiment but fears of credit tightening in China lingered in a mixed day for Asian stocks.
Hatoyama told a session of parliament that the world's second largest economy was not as strong as the yen's value might suggest and called for "firm steps" to prevent it from strengthening further.
A strong yen hurts the competitiveness of Japanese exporters and erodes their overseas earnings when they are repatriated.
TOKYO: Nikkei finished at its best level since January 21, with the index 0.81 per cent, or 86.31 points, higher at 10,751.26.
The market will now focus on a Bank of Japan meeting next week that could herald further moves to boost the economy.
HONG KONG: Stocks closed flat in quiet trade yesterday as investors stayed cautious following China's revelation a day earlier that inflation had jumped in February.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index dipped 18.46 points to 21,209.74.
"The market is waiting to see if China will announce any tightening measures, such as a reserve-requirement-ratio hike, over the weekend," Ernie Hon, a strategist at ICBC International, told Dow Jones Newswires.
SINGAPORE: Share prices rose for a sixth day yesterday.
The benchmark Straits Times Index gained 7.45 points, or 0.26 per cent, to 2,881.36.
Shares in Chinese shipbuilding firm Cosco Corp fell 2.4 per cent on news it would be dropped from the benchmark index starting March 22.
SYDNEY edged 3.9 points higher to 4,818.1.
SEOUL rose 0.37 per cent, or 6.12 points, to 1,662.74.
SHANGHAI fell 1.24 per cent, or 37.87 points, to 3,013.41 on increasing concern Beijing will further tighten monetary policy to cap the economy's strong growth after figures showed inflation continued to accelerate.
"The last time a hike in the reserve requirement ratio was announced on a Friday evening, so investors are remaining on the sidelines in case something similar happens later," Southwest Securities analyst Zhang Gang told Dow Jones Newswires.
KUALA LAMPUR: The FTSE Bursa Malaysia Composite Index (FBM KLCI) staged a follow-through rebound in cracking through its psychological support of 1,300. It continued to stay above its psychological support of 1,300 when it closed at 1,311.20 points yesterday.
The FBM KLCI gapped up at 1,313.43 points before rebounding to its intra-day high of 1,325.68 on Monday. It closed higher at 1,324.22 points, giving a day-on-day gain of 24.44 points.
In other markets:
TAIPEI ended flat, edging down 1.33 points to 7,748.33.
JAKARTA lost 0.37 per cent, or 10.01 points, to 2,666.51. Profit-taking on recent rally offset news of Indonesia's ratings upgrade by Standard & Poor's. "It's good news, because it confirms the good fundamentals of our economy, but shares are already overbought," a trader said.
MANILA closed 1.68 per cent, or 52.65 points, lower at 3,072.91. Jomar Lacson of Campos, Lanuza and Co. said dealers were "reacting to the central bank's withdrawal of emergency liquidity-enhancing measures, which signals they'll soon raise interest rates".
BANGKOK closed 1.02 per cent, or 7.39 points, higher at 733.34, despite demonstrations in the capital ahead of a mass anti-government rally this weekend.
MUMBAI closed flat, edging down 1.34 points to 17,166.62.
VIETNAM: The VN Index rebounded 6.87 points or 1.31 percent to end at 549 pts. The liquidity was improved with total trading volume of 53.68 million shares valued at 2.435 trillion dong, a day on day gain of 5.3 percent in volume and 12 percent in value.
The HNX Index also regained 1.91 points or 1.11 percent to close at 173.45 pts with the total market trade of 31.43 million shares worth 1.029 trillion dong, increasing 15.4 percent in volume and 9.7 percent in value against the previous session.
EUROPE: European shares ended at their highest level in more than seven weeks yesterday as positive retail sales data boosted sentiment, while banks rose as US Senate negotiations to overhaul financial regulation collapsed.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares provisionally ended 0.3 per cent higher at 1,058.98 points, the highest closing since January 19. The index rose 0.8 per cent this week and is up 64 per cent since hitting a record low in March last year.
The London FTSE 100 index added 0.15 per cent to close at 5,625.65 yesterday. The Paris CAC 40 slipped 0.04 per cent to finish at 3,927.40 while in Frankfurt the Dax rose 0.28 per cent to 5,945.11.
AMERICA: Mixed economic reports held the stock market to only modest moves Friday but gains for the week were strong.
Uneven figures on retail sales and consumer confidence gave investors little new insight into the economy.
The Dow rose 12.85, or 0.1 percent, to 10,624.69. The broader S&P 500 index slipped 0.25, or less than 0.1 percent, to 1,149.99. The Nasdaq composite index fell 0.80, or less than 0.1 percent, to 2,367.66. It stands at an 18-month high.
For the week, the Dow rose 0.6 percent, the S&P 500 index rose 1 percent and the technology-dominated Nasdaq climbed 1.8 percent.
Bond prices were mixed. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.70 percent from 3.73 percent late Thursday.
Crude oil fell 87 cents to settle at $81.24 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The dollar mostly fell against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.
The S&P 500 index is up 8.8 percent from its recent low on Feb 8. A gain of that size might typically come in a year.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 0.63, or 0.1 percent, to 676.59.
Benchmark Currency Rates
USD EUR JPY GBP CHF CAD AUD HKD
HKD 7.7572 10.681 0.0857 11.794 7.3331 7.6102 7.0998
AUD 1.0926 1.5044 0.0121 1.6612 1.0329 1.0719 0.1408
CAD 1.0193 1.4035 0.0113 1.5498 0.9636 0.9329 0.1314
CHF 1.0578 1.4565 0.0117 1.6083 1.0378 0.9682 0.1364
GBP 0.6577 0.9056 0.0073 0.6218 0.6453 0.602 0.0848
JPY 90.558 124.689 137.683 85.6065 88.8416 82.8832 11.674
EUR 0.7263 0.008 1.1042 0.6866 0.7125 0.6647 0.0936
USD 1.3769 0.011 1.5204 0.9453 0.981 0.9152 0.1289
Bloomberg
|
