Shares rise on Wall Street gain

Asian stocks mostly rose yesterday September 29 as dealers followed a Wall Street gain while a better-than-expected survey of Japanese business confidence gave added support to sentiment in Tokyo.

However, the dollar hovered at two-week lows against the yen on expectations that the US Federal Reserve will announce a new set of monetary easing measures to boost the world’s biggest economy.

TOKYO closed up 0.67 percent, or 63.62 points, at 9,559.38 after the Bank of Japan’s closely-watched Tankan survey showed a sixth straight quarter of growth in business confidence.

Sentiment among major manufacturers rose to a higher-than-expected reading of eight in September from one in June, according to the study of more than 11,000 firms.

SHANGHAI closed flat, edging down 0.67 points at 2,610.68 and Sydney slipped 0.53 percent, or 24.8 points, to end at 4,645.0.

Dealers were given a lift by a 0.43 percent lift on the Dow in New York, which came amid hopes the Fed will introduce measures to boost the economy after two reports showing a drop in home prices and consumer confidence.

HONG KONG: Shares rose 1.22 percent yesterday as traders followed a gain on Wall Street while upbeat manufacturing data from China also lifted sentiment.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index added 268.72 points to end at 22,378.67 on turnover of HK$85.35 billion.
“Investors are buying into export-related and commodities stocks as data have shown a continued recovery in demand,” a strategist at First Shanghai Securities said.

SINGAPORE: The Straits Times Index gained 0.3 percent or 8.68 points to close at 3,106.03 points yesterday.
Sembcorp Marine gained 1.02 percent to S$3.95 and Keppel Corp advanced 0.56 percent to S$9.06.
Beyonics Technology Ltd, an electronics contract manufacturer, jumped 4.2 percent to 25 cents.
Cosco Corp Singapore Ltd, a China-based shipbuilder that also operates bulk carriers, increased 2.2 percent to S$1.84.

KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices on Bursa Malaysia remained in their consolidation mood yesterday.
The market’s overall advancing counters overwhelmed its declining counters by 430 to 283.
The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) consolidated from its intra-day high of 1,466.29 to its intra-day low of 1,459.12 yesterday.
It closed at 1,461.78 points, giving a day-on-day gain of 2.14 points, or 0.15 percent.

In other markets:

SEOUL closed 0.56 percent, or 10.48 points, higher at 1,866.45.

TAIPEI rose 0.63 percent, or 51.45 points, to 8,240.89. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing rose 0.82 percent to T$61.5 while UMC was flat at T$13.75.

JAKARTA rose 0.66 percent, or 22.75 points, to 3,495.46. Bellwether Telkom jumped 2.8 percent to 9,300 rupiah, gas and oil producer Medco rose 6.5 percent to 3,300.

MANILA closed 0.31 percent, or 12.90 points, lower at 4,111.05. Metro Pacific Investments was unchanged at 3.80 pesos and Energy Development Corp fell 3.5 percent to 6.25 pesos.

WELLINGTON closed 0.10 percent, or 3.35 points, lower at 3,226.8. Telecom finished up 2 percent at NZ$2.08 and Fletcher Building fell 2.8 percent to NZ$8.35.

BANGKOK climbed 1.08 percent, or 10.38 points, to 969.65. Banpu gained 6.00 baht to 710.00, while PTT rose 1.00 baht to 293.00.

MUMBAI fell 0.74 percent, or 148.52 points, to end at 19,956.34.

VIETNAM: The VN Index fell 2.19 points or 0.48 percent to 452.94 points.
The HNX Index shared the same situation when reducing to 127.41 points, down 2.76 points or 2.12 percent. The total market trade was estimated at 33.5 million shares, equalling to 842 billion dong in value.

EUROPE: European shares slipped to a three-week closing low yesterday, with Hennes & Mauritz leading retailers lower after it posted a weak quarterly profit margin, and as heavyweight banks fell.
H&M shed 6.5 percent after its third quarter profit margins weakened and as concerns grew over the prospect of more cost pressures in coming months.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares closed 0.6 percent lower at 1,064.88 points in the third straight session of losses.
Across Europe, the London FTSE 100 index shed 0.17 percent to close at 5,569.27 points.
In Paris, the CAC 40 lost 0.67 percent to 3,737.12 points while in Frankfurt the DAX dropped 0.42 percent to 6,246.92 points.
European markets fell as demonstrators gathered in Brussels, Spain and Ireland to protest austerity measures aimed at preventing another fiscal crisis that required a bailout of Greece earlier this year. The protests raised concerns that countries like Spain will not be able to implement policies required to heal their bloated public finances.

AMERICA: Stocks are closing lower in lackluster trading as protests against austerity measures in Europe bring new worries about the region’s financial system.
Most sectors fell on the stock market except for energy, which rose after crude oil prices gained.
With one trading day left this month, the Dow Jones industrial average is on track for its best September since 1939.
According to preliminary calculations, the Dow lost 23, or 0.2 percent, to close at 10,835.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index slipped 3, or 0.3 percent, to 1,145, and the Nasdaq composite fell 3, or 0.1 percent, to 2,377.
Rising stocks narrowly outpaced falling ones on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 1 billion shares.
Stocks slipped Wednesday as protests against austerity measures in Europe brought new worries about the region’s financial system.
The dollar fell further against other currencies on anticipation of more action by the Federal Reserve to push U.S. interest rates down. Gold continued to climb past $1,300.
Trading was relatively subdued with no major economic reports or corporate earnings due out Wednesday.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 32.74, or 0.3 percent, to 10,842.40 in late afternoon trading.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index slipped 4.05, or 0.4 percent, to 1,143.65, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 6.71, or 0.3 percent, to 2,372.88.
Bond prices edged lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note edged up to 2.51 percent from 2.47 percent late Tuesday.
There’s a growing certainty within the bond market that the Federal Reserve will attempt to spur economic activity through pushing long-term interest rates down further. To do that, the Fed would buy more Treasurys, lifting bond prices and lowering yields.
Schlumberger rose $1.43 to $61.72, while Occidental Petroleum rose $1.30 to $76.81.
Gold fell rose $2 to $1,310.30, a day after settling above $1,300 for the first time.
In currencies, the dollar fell to 83.60 yen from 83.93 yen late Tuesday in New York. The euro rose as high as $1.3638 in European trading before settling back to $1.3628.
Rising stocks narrowly outpaced falling ones on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 670 million shares.

Benchmark Currency Rates
USD 	EUR 	JPY 	GBP 	CHF 	CAD 	AUD 	HKD
HKD 	7.7586 	10.5725	0.0926 	12.2655	7.941 	7.5154 	7.5173
AUD 	1.0321 	1.4064 	0.0123 	1.6316 	1.0564 	0.9997 	 	0.133
CAD 	1.0324 	1.4068 	0.0123 	1.632 	1.0566 		1.0003 	0.1331
CHF 	0.977 	1.3314 	0.0117 	1.5446 	 	0.9464 	0.9466 	0.1259
GBP 	0.6326 	0.862 	0.0076 		0.6474 	0.6127 	0.6129 	0.0815
JPY 	83.774 	114.158 	132.438	85.744 	81.149	81.169 	10.798
EUR 	0.7338 	 	0.0088 	1.1601 	0.7511 	0.7108 	0.711 	0.0946
USD 	 	1.3627 	0.0119 	1.5809 	1.0235 	0.9687 	0.9689 	0.1289
        				                  Bloomberg

 

Category: Stocks