Asian equities start week on bearish note
12 Jan 2009 | 15:46 Asian equities start week on bearish note
Asian equities turned in a mostly bearish performance on the very first session of the week as weak cues from the US markets and continued concerns over the global economic conditions hurt the sentiments. On Friday, the US non-farm payrolls printed a loss of 524000 in December, close to previous estimates of 525,000. For the month of December, unemployment in the world's largest economy rose to a whopping 7.2 percent, the highest rate not seen since 1993. The rise stemmed from losses in every sector category including financial services and manufacturing, the latter, which incidentally showed a trimming of 149,000 positions.
The data also wrapped up the government's layoff count for the year 2008, marking it as the worst for labor since World War II ended in 1945. The US equity markets extended their losing spree and Dow Jones industrial average was down 143.28, or 1.64%, to 8,599.18. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 19.38, or 2.13%, to 890.35, and the Nasdaq composite index by 45.42, or 2.81%, to 1,571.59 on Friday.
Needless to say that the sentiments were somber in Asia. In China, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A shares and B shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, eased 4.51 points, or 0.24%, to 1,900.34, off the day's high of 1,924.44 and low of 1,886.83. Banks and financials and property developers turned lower as investors locked profit following recent gains.
In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 lost 52.40 points, or 1.4%, to 3,683.30 and the broader All Ordinaries by 56.40 points, or 1.53%, to 3,624. The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group said in its survey report December job postings in Australia declined by 9.7% from November to a weekly average of 190,66.
The Hang Seng Index erased 406.44 points, or 2.8%, to 13,971.0 as Airlines were under pressure after But China Eastern Airlines forecast a significant net loss in 2008 due to fuel hedging losses and weak demand. Energy-related shares also dropped after crude oil prices extended losses overnight on worries over US economy and deepening global recession.
Japanese markets were closed for a holiday while the Indian equity markets ended down nearly 3%. India's industrial output rose 2.4% in November 2008 over November 2007, data showed on Monday. The figure rebounded from the previous month's revised decline of 0.3%.
In other regional indices, the Philippines PSEi was an aberration as the index mounted 0.65% or 12.95 points to 1,997.83, as mining & oil index gained on hopes that the central bank is about to cut the borrowing costs very soon.
Meanwhile, Crude oil prices extended their selloff in the early Asian trades today as the global markets continued to reel under pressure and the worries on global economic front continued to have an effect. Light, sweet crude oil succumbed to constant selling pressure in tune with the debilitating equity markets and plummeted to a low of $39.21 per barrel. The commodity was last seen quoting at $39.48, down $1.35 per barrel with traders expecting more losses given the firm undertone in the US dollar.
The US Department of Energy said last Wednesday that stockpiles of crude increased 6.7 million barrels last week, far higher than predictions from analysts for a gain of only 700,000 barrels.
Asian equities turned in a mostly bearish performance on the very first session of the week as weak cues from the US markets and continued concerns over the global economic conditions hurt the sentiments. On Friday, the US non-farm payrolls printed a loss of 524000 in December, close to previous estimates of 525,000. For the month of December, unemployment in the world's largest economy rose to a whopping 7.2 percent, the highest rate not seen since 1993. The rise stemmed from losses in every sector category including financial services and manufacturing, the latter, which incidentally showed a trimming of 149,000 positions.
The data also wrapped up the government's layoff count for the year 2008, marking it as the worst for labor since World War II ended in 1945. The US equity markets extended their losing spree and Dow Jones industrial average was down 143.28, or 1.64%, to 8,599.18. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 19.38, or 2.13%, to 890.35, and the Nasdaq composite index by 45.42, or 2.81%, to 1,571.59 on Friday.
Needless to say that the sentiments were somber in Asia. In China, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A shares and B shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, eased 4.51 points, or 0.24%, to 1,900.34, off the day's high of 1,924.44 and low of 1,886.83. Banks and financials and property developers turned lower as investors locked profit following recent gains.
In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 lost 52.40 points, or 1.4%, to 3,683.30 and the broader All Ordinaries by 56.40 points, or 1.53%, to 3,624. The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group said in its survey report December job postings in Australia declined by 9.7% from November to a weekly average of 190,66.
The Hang Seng Index erased 406.44 points, or 2.8%, to 13,971.0 as Airlines were under pressure after But China Eastern Airlines forecast a significant net loss in 2008 due to fuel hedging losses and weak demand. Energy-related shares also dropped after crude oil prices extended losses overnight on worries over US economy and deepening global recession.
Japanese markets were closed for a holiday while the Indian equity markets ended down nearly 3%. India's industrial output rose 2.4% in November 2008 over November 2007, data showed on Monday. The figure rebounded from the previous month's revised decline of 0.3%.
In other regional indices, the Philippines PSEi was an aberration as the index mounted 0.65% or 12.95 points to 1,997.83, as mining & oil index gained on hopes that the central bank is about to cut the borrowing costs very soon.
Meanwhile, Crude oil prices extended their selloff in the early Asian trades today as the global markets continued to reel under pressure and the worries on global economic front continued to have an effect. Light, sweet crude oil succumbed to constant selling pressure in tune with the debilitating equity markets and plummeted to a low of $39.21 per barrel. The commodity was last seen quoting at $39.48, down $1.35 per barrel with traders expecting more losses given the firm undertone in the US dollar.
The US Department of Energy said last Wednesday that stockpiles of crude increased 6.7 million barrels last week, far higher than predictions from analysts for a gain of only 700,000 barrels.
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