Asian Market extends Wall Street Rally
04 Feb 2009 | 16:48 Asian Market extends Wall Street Rally
Stock markets in Asian region closed mostly higher on Wednesday 4 February 2009, asheartening news on the housing market in the US and a recovery in China's manufacturingactivity in January improved the outlook for the battered global economy. Following theAustralian stimulus package China's central government has launched a new stimulusplan totaling 130 billion Yuan (19 billion U.S. dollars) to boost its economy.
Stocks at Wall Street ended higher as couple of better than expected earning reports and apositive economic data pertaining to the housing industry gave a good boost to the stocks.The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended higher by 141 points at 8,078, the Nasdaq closedhigher by 22 points at 1,516 and the S&P 500 closed higher by 13 points at 838.
Among major economic reports for the day, the National Association of Realtors reportedtoday that the number of new sales contracts on existing homes jumped a seasonallyadjusted 6.3% in December. Lower mortgage rates and falling prices perhaps led to thisjump. The pending home sales index rose 6.3% in December and is now up 2.1% compared witha year earlier.
In the commodity market, crude oil rose for a second day on speculation that reduced OPECproduction in January will curb global inventories and bolster prices.
Crude oil for March delivery gained 14 cents, or 0.34%, to $40.92 a barrel in electronictrading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 9:55 a.m. London time. Yesterday, futuresrose 70 cents, or 1.8%, to settle at $40.78.
Brent crude oil for March settlement increased 0.12 cents, or 0.27%, trading at $44.20 abarrel on London's ICE Futures Europe exchange today.
Gold prices leaped $10.50 an ounce, or 1.18%, to $903.00 in Asian electronic trading onWednesday after the most active February Comex gold contract erased $14.70 an ounce, or1.6%, to $892.50 by the close of New York trading on Tuesday as investors continued tolighten safe-haven trades.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar strengthened against the Australian dollar, NewZealand dollar, South Korean won, Philippines peso, Hong Kong Dollar, Singapore dollar,Indian Rupee, while it weakened against the Japanese yen, Chinese Yuan, New Taiwan Dollarand Indonesian Rupaih.
In late Tokyo trades, the Japanese yen strengthened against the dollar. The Japanese yenwas quoted at 88.920 against the US dollar, down from Tuesday's quote of 89.4365 yen.
The Hong Kong dollar was trading at HK$ 7.7540 against the dollar. Actually The Hong Kongdollar is pegged at HK$ 7.8 to the U.S. dollar but can trade between HK$ 7.75 and HK$7.85to the U.S. dollar.
In late Sydney trades, the Australian dollar was trading at US$0.6402 down from Tuesday'sclose of US$0.6513.
In late Wellington trades, the kiwi closed the day at US51.12c from US50.97c yesterday.The currency touched a six-year low around US49.65c on Tuesday.
Coming back in Asian equities, the stock markets in Japan, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, SouthKorea, Thailand, Indonesia, India and Philippines closed the day on a higher note whileAustralia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia closed the day on a lower note.
In Japan, stock indices finished the session higher, snapped a three days of losing streakas bargain hunters chased recently battered shares and triple digit gains in Wall Streetovernight. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average index spurted 213.43 points, or 2.73%, to8,038.94, while the broader Topix rose 18.99 points, or 2.45%, to 792.78.
Banks and financials and property developers spurted after the Bank of Japan announced aplan to buy up to 1 trillion yen (11.17 billion dollars) of shares held by commercialbanks through April 2010 and upbeat housing sales figure in U.S., while shares of Tech,automakers, and exporters were higher as bargain hunters step in on hopes they may beearly winners from an economic upturn. Shipping stocks extended gains on tracking gains inBaltic Dry index.
In Mainland China, the stock market finished extended gains for third consecutive day amidhopes that an expected increase in bank lending will help boost market liquidity and onexpectations of government stimulus packages will revive growth in the world'sthird-largest economy. The market witnessed a heavy buying pressure as the mainland indexleaping widely watched technical level, buoyed of further signs that economic growth mightbe starting to bottom out. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 46.94 points, or2.3%, to 2,107.75.
On the economic front, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said China'spurchasing managers' index (PMI) for January rose to 45.3 from 41.2 in December. Areading below 50 indicates a contraction.
China's central government has launched a new stimulus plan totaling 130 billion Yuan(19 billion U.S. dollars) to boost its economy, an official of the National Developmentand Reform Commission (NDRC) said.
In Hong Kong, the stock market finished the session sharply higher, snapping its two daysof losing streak as bargain hunter stepped in amid hopes that an expected increase in banklending will help boost market liquidity and on expectations of China's economic stimuluspackage may be beginning to shield it from the global slump. The Hang Seng Index spurted287 points, or 2.25%, to 13,063.89, while the Hang Seng China Enterprise Index rose2281.61 points, or 4.05% to 7,241.72.
In Australia, the stock market finished the session lower, weighed down by the flow of badnews coming from corporate and a number of capital raisings drained cash from the market.The benchmark S&P/ASX200 tumbled 70.80 points, or 2.02%, to 3,437.90, while thebroader All Ordinaries retreated 66.80 points, or 1.95%, to 3,382.30.
On the economic front, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said in a report that number ofpermits for construction of new dwellings in Australia declined in December by aseasonally adjusted 2.9% from November, while the number of dwelling approvals for thefull 2008 year to December was down a seasonally adjusted 32.9% from 2007.
In a separate release the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that the nation'sretail sales surged 3.8% in December compared to the previous month.
Australian Industry Group's latest report showed that Australia's performance ofService Index rose 1.7 points to 41.0 in January.
In New Zealand, stock market dipped even though most of the Asian markets moved forward onWednesday following gains on the Wall Street. However the share market gained in themorning today trailing behind the US markets. During the early trading hours, thebenchmark NZX-50 index was up 10.2 points to 2790.49, after ending yesterday up 8.8points. The benchmark NZX50 was down 0.42% or 11.67 points to close at 2768.618. However,the NZX 15 inched down 0.35% or 18.182 points to 5107.312.
In South Korea, stock markets closed the day sharply higher following the overnight gainson Wall Street and the extension of a currency swap facility between Seoul and Washington.Kumho Asiana Group shares rally accompanied by gains in technology stocks helped the indexto close the day sharply higher. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 32.17 pointsor 2.77% closing the day at 1,195.37.
The Bank of Korea said that the U.S. Federal Reserve has extended its US$30 billioncurrency swap facility with South Korea by six months in a move to help ease financialmarket worries over a dollar shortage. The swap line has now been extended until 30October 2009.
Among economic news, a report by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy on Wednesday said thatSouth Korea's exports of information technology products in January plunged 38.3% on-yearin January to US$6.96 billion. Meanwhile, imports during the month dropped 36.9% toUS$4.09 billion, for a surplus of US$2.87 billion.
In Singapore, the stock market wiped out morning gains finishing the session lower as theinvestors booked profit following early gains in commerce, financials, constructions,properties, manufacturing, and construction sector on tracking gains in other Asian marketand triple digit gains in Wall Street overnight. The benchmark Straits Times Index dropped4.53 points, or 0.26%, to 1,707.39.
On the economic front, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) extended a reciprocalcurrency arrangement of $30 billion with the United States Federal Reserve to the end ofOctober 2009. The temporary reciprocal currency arrangement (swap line) was firstestablished on 30 October 2008 to improve U.S. dollar liquidity conditions in globalfinancial markets
In Taiwan, stock market extended its post lunar holiday streak for the third session, asinvestors favor to some technology firms as set positive tone for the first quarter resultof 2009. The main Taiex share index gained 17.16 points or 0.39% at 4,389.97- the highestclosing since 14 January 2009 when marked closed at 4.521.47
In the economic news, Taiwan's council for economic planning and development announcedthat the leading index declined 2.3% month-on-month to 93 in December. Its annualizedsix-month rate of change dropped by 2 points to minus 17.2%, falling for the fourteenthconsecutive month. In December, the coincident index declined 8.2% to 81.6. Itstrend-adjusted index declined 8.4% to 75.4. The index dropped for the tenth consecutivemonth. The monitoring indicators were down 2 points to 9 in December
In other economic news, Taiwan's government has announced to offer tax breaks,subsidized loans and rent reductions on land to lure local investors back from China, theeconomics ministry said in a statement Tuesday. The government aims to attract NT$35billion ($1 billion) in 2009 from the return of Taiwanese businessmen currently operatingin China, creating 11,000 jobs from those investments, Yiin Chii-ming, Minister ofEconomic Affairs said at a press conference yesterday in Taipei.
In Philippines, stock market reversed the yesterday's losses, closing the day higherassisted by the hefty gains registered by the key heavy weight indices. The benchmarkindex PSEi augmented 1.17% or 21.42 points to 1,847.55, while the all share indexincreased 0.69% or 8.25 points to 1,201.36.
In India, key benchmark indices closed the day with marginal gains. As per the provisionalfigures, the BSE 30-share Sensex was up 41.48 points, or 0.45%, to 9,190.78. The S&PCNX Nifty rose 16.60 points, or 0.6%, to 2,800.50.
Elsewhere, Malaysia's Kula Lumpur Composite index was down 0.33% or 2.87 points to 876.80,while Indonesia's Jakarta composite increased by 2.35 points or 0.55% to 1320.36. InThailand, the Thai Stock exchange gained 2.35 points or 0.55% to 433.04. In other regionalmarket, European shares rose on Wednesday, with Aviva, BHP Billiton and Alcatel-Lucentadvancing after releasing earnings, and with oil producers also performing well. On anational level, the U.K. FTSE 100 index climbed 0.5% to 4,184.77, the German DAX 30 indexrose 0.7% to 4,404.67 and the French CAC-40 index advanced 1.1% to 3,014.22.
Stock markets in Asian region closed mostly higher on Wednesday 4 February 2009, asheartening news on the housing market in the US and a recovery in China's manufacturingactivity in January improved the outlook for the battered global economy. Following theAustralian stimulus package China's central government has launched a new stimulusplan totaling 130 billion Yuan (19 billion U.S. dollars) to boost its economy.
Stocks at Wall Street ended higher as couple of better than expected earning reports and apositive economic data pertaining to the housing industry gave a good boost to the stocks.The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended higher by 141 points at 8,078, the Nasdaq closedhigher by 22 points at 1,516 and the S&P 500 closed higher by 13 points at 838.
Among major economic reports for the day, the National Association of Realtors reportedtoday that the number of new sales contracts on existing homes jumped a seasonallyadjusted 6.3% in December. Lower mortgage rates and falling prices perhaps led to thisjump. The pending home sales index rose 6.3% in December and is now up 2.1% compared witha year earlier.
In the commodity market, crude oil rose for a second day on speculation that reduced OPECproduction in January will curb global inventories and bolster prices.
Crude oil for March delivery gained 14 cents, or 0.34%, to $40.92 a barrel in electronictrading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 9:55 a.m. London time. Yesterday, futuresrose 70 cents, or 1.8%, to settle at $40.78.
Brent crude oil for March settlement increased 0.12 cents, or 0.27%, trading at $44.20 abarrel on London's ICE Futures Europe exchange today.
Gold prices leaped $10.50 an ounce, or 1.18%, to $903.00 in Asian electronic trading onWednesday after the most active February Comex gold contract erased $14.70 an ounce, or1.6%, to $892.50 by the close of New York trading on Tuesday as investors continued tolighten safe-haven trades.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar strengthened against the Australian dollar, NewZealand dollar, South Korean won, Philippines peso, Hong Kong Dollar, Singapore dollar,Indian Rupee, while it weakened against the Japanese yen, Chinese Yuan, New Taiwan Dollarand Indonesian Rupaih.
In late Tokyo trades, the Japanese yen strengthened against the dollar. The Japanese yenwas quoted at 88.920 against the US dollar, down from Tuesday's quote of 89.4365 yen.
The Hong Kong dollar was trading at HK$ 7.7540 against the dollar. Actually The Hong Kongdollar is pegged at HK$ 7.8 to the U.S. dollar but can trade between HK$ 7.75 and HK$7.85to the U.S. dollar.
In late Sydney trades, the Australian dollar was trading at US$0.6402 down from Tuesday'sclose of US$0.6513.
In late Wellington trades, the kiwi closed the day at US51.12c from US50.97c yesterday.The currency touched a six-year low around US49.65c on Tuesday.
Coming back in Asian equities, the stock markets in Japan, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, SouthKorea, Thailand, Indonesia, India and Philippines closed the day on a higher note whileAustralia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia closed the day on a lower note.
In Japan, stock indices finished the session higher, snapped a three days of losing streakas bargain hunters chased recently battered shares and triple digit gains in Wall Streetovernight. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average index spurted 213.43 points, or 2.73%, to8,038.94, while the broader Topix rose 18.99 points, or 2.45%, to 792.78.
Banks and financials and property developers spurted after the Bank of Japan announced aplan to buy up to 1 trillion yen (11.17 billion dollars) of shares held by commercialbanks through April 2010 and upbeat housing sales figure in U.S., while shares of Tech,automakers, and exporters were higher as bargain hunters step in on hopes they may beearly winners from an economic upturn. Shipping stocks extended gains on tracking gains inBaltic Dry index.
In Mainland China, the stock market finished extended gains for third consecutive day amidhopes that an expected increase in bank lending will help boost market liquidity and onexpectations of government stimulus packages will revive growth in the world'sthird-largest economy. The market witnessed a heavy buying pressure as the mainland indexleaping widely watched technical level, buoyed of further signs that economic growth mightbe starting to bottom out. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 46.94 points, or2.3%, to 2,107.75.
On the economic front, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said China'spurchasing managers' index (PMI) for January rose to 45.3 from 41.2 in December. Areading below 50 indicates a contraction.
China's central government has launched a new stimulus plan totaling 130 billion Yuan(19 billion U.S. dollars) to boost its economy, an official of the National Developmentand Reform Commission (NDRC) said.
In Hong Kong, the stock market finished the session sharply higher, snapping its two daysof losing streak as bargain hunter stepped in amid hopes that an expected increase in banklending will help boost market liquidity and on expectations of China's economic stimuluspackage may be beginning to shield it from the global slump. The Hang Seng Index spurted287 points, or 2.25%, to 13,063.89, while the Hang Seng China Enterprise Index rose2281.61 points, or 4.05% to 7,241.72.
In Australia, the stock market finished the session lower, weighed down by the flow of badnews coming from corporate and a number of capital raisings drained cash from the market.The benchmark S&P/ASX200 tumbled 70.80 points, or 2.02%, to 3,437.90, while thebroader All Ordinaries retreated 66.80 points, or 1.95%, to 3,382.30.
On the economic front, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said in a report that number ofpermits for construction of new dwellings in Australia declined in December by aseasonally adjusted 2.9% from November, while the number of dwelling approvals for thefull 2008 year to December was down a seasonally adjusted 32.9% from 2007.
In a separate release the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that the nation'sretail sales surged 3.8% in December compared to the previous month.
Australian Industry Group's latest report showed that Australia's performance ofService Index rose 1.7 points to 41.0 in January.
In New Zealand, stock market dipped even though most of the Asian markets moved forward onWednesday following gains on the Wall Street. However the share market gained in themorning today trailing behind the US markets. During the early trading hours, thebenchmark NZX-50 index was up 10.2 points to 2790.49, after ending yesterday up 8.8points. The benchmark NZX50 was down 0.42% or 11.67 points to close at 2768.618. However,the NZX 15 inched down 0.35% or 18.182 points to 5107.312.
In South Korea, stock markets closed the day sharply higher following the overnight gainson Wall Street and the extension of a currency swap facility between Seoul and Washington.Kumho Asiana Group shares rally accompanied by gains in technology stocks helped the indexto close the day sharply higher. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 32.17 pointsor 2.77% closing the day at 1,195.37.
The Bank of Korea said that the U.S. Federal Reserve has extended its US$30 billioncurrency swap facility with South Korea by six months in a move to help ease financialmarket worries over a dollar shortage. The swap line has now been extended until 30October 2009.
Among economic news, a report by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy on Wednesday said thatSouth Korea's exports of information technology products in January plunged 38.3% on-yearin January to US$6.96 billion. Meanwhile, imports during the month dropped 36.9% toUS$4.09 billion, for a surplus of US$2.87 billion.
In Singapore, the stock market wiped out morning gains finishing the session lower as theinvestors booked profit following early gains in commerce, financials, constructions,properties, manufacturing, and construction sector on tracking gains in other Asian marketand triple digit gains in Wall Street overnight. The benchmark Straits Times Index dropped4.53 points, or 0.26%, to 1,707.39.
On the economic front, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) extended a reciprocalcurrency arrangement of $30 billion with the United States Federal Reserve to the end ofOctober 2009. The temporary reciprocal currency arrangement (swap line) was firstestablished on 30 October 2008 to improve U.S. dollar liquidity conditions in globalfinancial markets
In Taiwan, stock market extended its post lunar holiday streak for the third session, asinvestors favor to some technology firms as set positive tone for the first quarter resultof 2009. The main Taiex share index gained 17.16 points or 0.39% at 4,389.97- the highestclosing since 14 January 2009 when marked closed at 4.521.47
In the economic news, Taiwan's council for economic planning and development announcedthat the leading index declined 2.3% month-on-month to 93 in December. Its annualizedsix-month rate of change dropped by 2 points to minus 17.2%, falling for the fourteenthconsecutive month. In December, the coincident index declined 8.2% to 81.6. Itstrend-adjusted index declined 8.4% to 75.4. The index dropped for the tenth consecutivemonth. The monitoring indicators were down 2 points to 9 in December
In other economic news, Taiwan's government has announced to offer tax breaks,subsidized loans and rent reductions on land to lure local investors back from China, theeconomics ministry said in a statement Tuesday. The government aims to attract NT$35billion ($1 billion) in 2009 from the return of Taiwanese businessmen currently operatingin China, creating 11,000 jobs from those investments, Yiin Chii-ming, Minister ofEconomic Affairs said at a press conference yesterday in Taipei.
In Philippines, stock market reversed the yesterday's losses, closing the day higherassisted by the hefty gains registered by the key heavy weight indices. The benchmarkindex PSEi augmented 1.17% or 21.42 points to 1,847.55, while the all share indexincreased 0.69% or 8.25 points to 1,201.36.
In India, key benchmark indices closed the day with marginal gains. As per the provisionalfigures, the BSE 30-share Sensex was up 41.48 points, or 0.45%, to 9,190.78. The S&PCNX Nifty rose 16.60 points, or 0.6%, to 2,800.50.
Elsewhere, Malaysia's Kula Lumpur Composite index was down 0.33% or 2.87 points to 876.80,while Indonesia's Jakarta composite increased by 2.35 points or 0.55% to 1320.36. InThailand, the Thai Stock exchange gained 2.35 points or 0.55% to 433.04. In other regionalmarket, European shares rose on Wednesday, with Aviva, BHP Billiton and Alcatel-Lucentadvancing after releasing earnings, and with oil producers also performing well. On anational level, the U.K. FTSE 100 index climbed 0.5% to 4,184.77, the German DAX 30 indexrose 0.7% to 4,404.67 and the French CAC-40 index advanced 1.1% to 3,014.22.
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