Asian markets whistle retreat song
05 Feb 2009 | 16:23 Asian markets whistle retreat song
Stock market in Asian region finished mostly lower on Thursday 5 February 2009, as mostof the investors booked profit following the previous day's gains amid spreadingconcerns over the global economy.
The regional market also followed a weak finish at Wall Street on Wednesday. Couple ofbetter than feared economic reports gave a good start to stocks early during the day. Butthe momentum faded after a few companies missed their earning estimates. Oil prices toogave up early gains after Energy Department reported more than expected build up in crudeinventory during last week. After trading higher by 65 points earlier during the day, TheDow Jones Industrial Average ended lower by 122 points at 7,956, the Nasdaq closed lowerby 1.2 points at 1,515 and the S&P 500 closed lower by 6.3 points at 832.
Among major economic reports for the day, the Institute for Supply Management reported hatU.S non-manufacturing sectors continued to contract but at a slower pace in January. TheISM's non-manufacturing index rose to 42.9% last month from 40.1% in December. InNovember, the index reached a record low of 37.4%. Readings below 50% indicate that morefirms are contracting than expanding.
In a separate report, the ADP employment index reported today that U.S. private sectorcompanies shed a seasonally adjusted 522,000 jobs in January 2009.
In other report, the EIA reported today that crude inventories rose for a sixth straightweek to 346.1 million barrels last week, the highest level since July 2007. Meanwhile,U.S. refineries operated at 83.5% of their operable capacity last week, up from theprevious week's 82.5%. The EIA also reported gasoline inventories rose by 300,000 barrelswhile distillate fuel, which includes diesel and heating oil, fell by 1.4 million barrels.
In the currency market, the South Korean won was trading at 1,381.85 won to the U.S.dollar on Thursday, down from Wednesday's close of 1,378.5 won.
In the commodity market, crude oil was little changed after falling on a government reportthat showed U.S. inventories of the fuel jumped. Supplies rose 7.2 million barrels to346.1 million barrels last week, the highest since July 2007, according to the EnergyDepartment yesterday. U.S. fuel demand during the past four weeks averaged 19.5 millionbarrels a day, down 2.8% from a year earlier, the report showed.
Crude oil for March delivery was at $40.47 a barrel, up 15 cents, in after-hourselectronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 2:08 p.m. Singapore time. Itearlier fell as much as 27 cents, or 0.7%, to $40.05 a barrel.
Brent crude oil for March settlement was at $44.40 a barrel, up 25 cents, on London'sICE Futures Europe exchange at 1:58 p.m. in Singapore.
Gold prices leaped $4.90 an ounce, or 0.54%, to $907.10 in Asian electronic trading onThursday after the most active April Comex gold contract gained $9.70 an ounce, or 1.1%,to $902.50 by the close of New York trading on Tuesday in response to weaker greenback.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar strengthened against the Japanese yen, SouthKorean won, Philippines peso, Hong Kong Dollar, Indian Rupee, New Taiwan Dollar andIndonesian Rupaih while it weakened against the Australian dollar, New Zealand dollar,Singapore dollar and Malaysian Ringgit.
In late Tokyo trades, the Japanese yen strengthened against the dollar. The Japanese yenwas quoted at 88.7270 against the US dollar, down from yesterday's quote of 89.4285yen.
The Hong Kong dollar was trading at HK$ 7.7539 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 Sydney trades, the Australian dollar was trading at US$0.6492 down from yesterday'sclose of US$0.6434.
In Wellington trades, the New Zealand dollar ended the week at US51.03c from US50.12cyesterday, having ranged overnight between about US51.50c and US50.20c. The currency putin a firm performance on the last day before a holiday weekend after milder than expectedemployment data.
The South Korean won was trading at 1,381.85 won to the U.S. dollar on Thursday, down fromWednesday's close of 1,378.5 won.
Coming back in Asian equities, the stock markets in Japan, China, Taiwan, South Korea,Australia, and India closed the day on a lower note while Hong Kong, New Zealand,Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Philippines closed the day on a higher note.
In Japan, the stock indices finished the session lower, as market players booked profitfollowing the previous day's gains amid spreading concerns over the Japanese economyafter a series of sluggish corporate earnings results and by the outlook at home andabroad. After opening lower the index tumbled further closing today's session innegative. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average index tumbled 89.29 points, or 1.11%, to 7,949.65,while the broader Topix dropped 6.37 points, or 0.8%, to 786.
In Mainland China, the stock indices came off from the morning highs to finish the sessionlower, snapping three days of winning streak as investors booked profits across the boardfollowing a three day of positive rally sparked by government stimulus plans. Thebenchmark Shanghai Composite Index, erased 9.73 points, or 0.46%, to 2,098.02.
In Hong Kong, the markets hold up morning gains to finish the session higher, extendingwinning streak for second consecutive day as bargain hunter stepped in amid hopes that anexpected increase in bank lending will help boost market liquidity and on expectations ofChina's economic stimulus package may be beginning to shield it from the globalslump. The Hang Seng Index spurted 115.01 points, or 0.9%, to 13,178.9, while the HangSeng China Enterprise Index rose 214.09 points, or 2.96% to 7,455.81.
In Australia, the stock market finished the session lower, weighed down by the flow of badnews coming from corporate and rekindled worries over liquidity crunch as a number ofdiscounted capital raisings drained cash from the market. The benchmark S&P/ASX200tumbled 9.30 points, or 0.27%, to 3,428.60, while the broader All Ordinaries retreated9.70 points, or 0.29%, to 3,372.60.
In New Zealand, the equity market ended the last trading day of the week in the positiveregion prior to a long weekend in New Zealand on account of Waitangi Day that iscelebrated by the county as the national day on 6 February every year. The benchmark NZX50edged forward 0.18% or 4.877 points to close at 2773.495. However, the NZX 15 moved ahead0.47% or 24.007 points to 5131.319.
On the economic front, figures released by statistics New Zealand today revealed that thelabour market in seasonally adjusted terms, showed further signs of weakening as theunemployment rate continued to increase.
The December 2008 quarter saw the number of people unemployed rise by 10,000 and theunemployment rate increase to 4.6%, the highest rate in six years. The unemployment rateincreased steadily throughout 2008. However, New Zealand's unemployment rate still remainslow relative to many other countries.
Data also revealed that the New Zealand employees worked fewer hours last year registeringthe first such drop in nine years. The total paid hours in the country, when seasonallyadjusted, decreased by 1.4 percent in the year to December 2008.
Moreover, the labour cost index (LCI), released, showed that salary and wage ratesincluding overtime were 3.3 percent higher in the December 2008 quarter than in theDecember 2007 quarter.
In South Korea, stock markets gave up some of its gains, as banks stocks fail on continuedworries about their financial health. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index retreated17.49 points or 1.46% closing the day at 1,177.88.
On the economic front, a government report said that South Korea's economy faces a growingrisk of falling into recession as domestic demand and exports take a steep downturn amidthe global economic slump. The monthly economy-assessment report by the finance ministrycalled on the government to step up efforts to safeguard jobs and stimulate thefast-slowing economy by frontloading its fiscal spending this year.
Meanwhile, the delinquency rate of South Korean credit card firms rose in the fourthquarter from the preceding third quarter, hit by the slowing economy, the FinancialSupervisory Service said Thursday. The financial watchdog said that the default ratio ofSamsung Card Co. and four other card firms came in at 3.43% at the end of 2008, up 0.15percentage point from three months earlier.
In Singapore, the stock market finish the session lower, dragged down by banks andfinancials on persistent worries over slowing domestic loan growth, mounting losses frombad debts, and falling fee income from slumping capital markets overshadowing upbeatoutlook by China economic stimulus efforts to boost the Chinese economy. The benchmarkStraits Times Index slipped 2.79 points, or 0.16%, to 1,704.60.
In Taiwan, stock markets snapped its three-day winning streak on Thursday 5 February 2009,after some foreign analyst issued a gloomy outlook for Taiwan's economy, saying theeconomy will shrink by 11% in 2009. Though the government sources condemned theprediction, its fail to regain investor's confidence in today's trading session as aboutall major sectoral indices showed a correction. The fall can also be attributed to theprofit booking done by investors as the index touched 3 week's high in yesterday'ssession. The main Taiex share index closed down 26.72 points or 0.61% at 4,363.25, showinga retreat from the three week closing high reached in the previous session.
In Philippines, the stock market sustained its upward rally for the second consecutiveday, closing higher, buoyed by the positive investors sentiment in tandem with positivenews on the economic facade. Moreover a positive show of strength by the key heavy weightindex also dragged the benchmark index higher. The benchmark index soared 2.40% or 44.52points to 1,892.07, highest since 20 January 2009, while the all share index rose 1.60% or19.31 points to 1,220.67.
The local market took the cue from inflation figures, which fell almost 1-percentagepoints, to its lowest in 10 months in January at 7.1% from 8.0% in December 2008 and apeak of 12.5% in August last year.
Moreover the Bangko Sentral Ng Pilipinas (BSP)- central bank- is optimistic the inflow offoreign direct investment (FDI) will remain strong despite the worsening global economicconditions. The BSP expects the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, includingcall centers, and the manufacturing sector to post the highest FDI inflows this year,citing that the BPO sector still had much room for growth this year and over the mediumterm.
In India, key benchmark indices followed the regional trend with some volatility. Despiteof lowering inflation rate market to retreat as it closed the day in negative. As per theprovisional figures, the BSE 30-share Sensex was down 103.74 points, or 1.13%, to9,098.11. The Sensex rose 45.24 points at the day's high of 9,247.09 in early trade. TheSensex fell 184.77 points at the day's low of 9,017.08 in mid-afternoon trade. The S&PCNX Nifty was down 17.35 points, or 0.62%, to 2,785.70 as per the provisional figures.
On the economic front, Inflation based on the wholesale price index rose 5.07% in 12months to 24 January 2009, below the previous week's annual rise of 5.64%, data releasedby the government today, 5 February 2009, showed on Thursday. It was the slowest annualrise since 9 February 2008 when inflation was at 4.98%. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)said in its monetary policy review on 27 January 2009 it expected annual inflation to bebelow 3% by the end of the 2008/09 fiscal year in March 2009.
Elsewhere, Malaysia's Kula Lumpur Composite index was up 0.36% or 3.15 points to 879.95,while Indonesia's Jakarta composite increased by 7.71 points or 0.58% to 1328.08. InThailand, the Thai Stock exchange gained 0.40 points or 0.09% to 433.44.
In other regional market, European shares fell sharply as investors eyed the latest roundof results from some of Europe's top companies ahead of interest rate decisions from boththe European Central Bank and the Bank of England. The U.K. FTSE 100 index fell 1.3% to4,172.52, the German DAX 30 index declined 1.7% to 4,417.99 while the French CAC-40 indexslid 1.9% to 3,010.95.
The day ahead is scheduled to release interest rate decisions from European Central Bankand Bank of England. The 10-year-old European Central Bank is expected to hold its firewhen the rate-setting Governing Council meets today, reluctant to immediately push thekey-lending rate below the record low of 2% matched last month.
On the other hand, the 314-year-old Bank of England is widely expected to cut its key rateby half of a percentage point to 1%, having pushed the official bank rate to 1.5% andbelow its longstanding record low of 2% in January
Stock market in Asian region finished mostly lower on Thursday 5 February 2009, as mostof the investors booked profit following the previous day's gains amid spreadingconcerns over the global economy.
The regional market also followed a weak finish at Wall Street on Wednesday. Couple ofbetter than feared economic reports gave a good start to stocks early during the day. Butthe momentum faded after a few companies missed their earning estimates. Oil prices toogave up early gains after Energy Department reported more than expected build up in crudeinventory during last week. After trading higher by 65 points earlier during the day, TheDow Jones Industrial Average ended lower by 122 points at 7,956, the Nasdaq closed lowerby 1.2 points at 1,515 and the S&P 500 closed lower by 6.3 points at 832.
Among major economic reports for the day, the Institute for Supply Management reported hatU.S non-manufacturing sectors continued to contract but at a slower pace in January. TheISM's non-manufacturing index rose to 42.9% last month from 40.1% in December. InNovember, the index reached a record low of 37.4%. Readings below 50% indicate that morefirms are contracting than expanding.
In a separate report, the ADP employment index reported today that U.S. private sectorcompanies shed a seasonally adjusted 522,000 jobs in January 2009.
In other report, the EIA reported today that crude inventories rose for a sixth straightweek to 346.1 million barrels last week, the highest level since July 2007. Meanwhile,U.S. refineries operated at 83.5% of their operable capacity last week, up from theprevious week's 82.5%. The EIA also reported gasoline inventories rose by 300,000 barrelswhile distillate fuel, which includes diesel and heating oil, fell by 1.4 million barrels.
In the currency market, the South Korean won was trading at 1,381.85 won to the U.S.dollar on Thursday, down from Wednesday's close of 1,378.5 won.
In the commodity market, crude oil was little changed after falling on a government reportthat showed U.S. inventories of the fuel jumped. Supplies rose 7.2 million barrels to346.1 million barrels last week, the highest since July 2007, according to the EnergyDepartment yesterday. U.S. fuel demand during the past four weeks averaged 19.5 millionbarrels a day, down 2.8% from a year earlier, the report showed.
Crude oil for March delivery was at $40.47 a barrel, up 15 cents, in after-hourselectronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 2:08 p.m. Singapore time. Itearlier fell as much as 27 cents, or 0.7%, to $40.05 a barrel.
Brent crude oil for March settlement was at $44.40 a barrel, up 25 cents, on London'sICE Futures Europe exchange at 1:58 p.m. in Singapore.
Gold prices leaped $4.90 an ounce, or 0.54%, to $907.10 in Asian electronic trading onThursday after the most active April Comex gold contract gained $9.70 an ounce, or 1.1%,to $902.50 by the close of New York trading on Tuesday in response to weaker greenback.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar strengthened against the Japanese yen, SouthKorean won, Philippines peso, Hong Kong Dollar, Indian Rupee, New Taiwan Dollar andIndonesian Rupaih while it weakened against the Australian dollar, New Zealand dollar,Singapore dollar and Malaysian Ringgit.
In late Tokyo trades, the Japanese yen strengthened against the dollar. The Japanese yenwas quoted at 88.7270 against the US dollar, down from yesterday's quote of 89.4285yen.
The Hong Kong dollar was trading at HK$ 7.7539 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 Sydney trades, the Australian dollar was trading at US$0.6492 down from yesterday'sclose of US$0.6434.
In Wellington trades, the New Zealand dollar ended the week at US51.03c from US50.12cyesterday, having ranged overnight between about US51.50c and US50.20c. The currency putin a firm performance on the last day before a holiday weekend after milder than expectedemployment data.
The South Korean won was trading at 1,381.85 won to the U.S. dollar on Thursday, down fromWednesday's close of 1,378.5 won.
Coming back in Asian equities, the stock markets in Japan, China, Taiwan, South Korea,Australia, and India closed the day on a lower note while Hong Kong, New Zealand,Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Philippines closed the day on a higher note.
In Japan, the stock indices finished the session lower, as market players booked profitfollowing the previous day's gains amid spreading concerns over the Japanese economyafter a series of sluggish corporate earnings results and by the outlook at home andabroad. After opening lower the index tumbled further closing today's session innegative. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average index tumbled 89.29 points, or 1.11%, to 7,949.65,while the broader Topix dropped 6.37 points, or 0.8%, to 786.
In Mainland China, the stock indices came off from the morning highs to finish the sessionlower, snapping three days of winning streak as investors booked profits across the boardfollowing a three day of positive rally sparked by government stimulus plans. Thebenchmark Shanghai Composite Index, erased 9.73 points, or 0.46%, to 2,098.02.
In Hong Kong, the markets hold up morning gains to finish the session higher, extendingwinning streak for second consecutive day as bargain hunter stepped in amid hopes that anexpected increase in bank lending will help boost market liquidity and on expectations ofChina's economic stimulus package may be beginning to shield it from the globalslump. The Hang Seng Index spurted 115.01 points, or 0.9%, to 13,178.9, while the HangSeng China Enterprise Index rose 214.09 points, or 2.96% to 7,455.81.
In Australia, the stock market finished the session lower, weighed down by the flow of badnews coming from corporate and rekindled worries over liquidity crunch as a number ofdiscounted capital raisings drained cash from the market. The benchmark S&P/ASX200tumbled 9.30 points, or 0.27%, to 3,428.60, while the broader All Ordinaries retreated9.70 points, or 0.29%, to 3,372.60.
In New Zealand, the equity market ended the last trading day of the week in the positiveregion prior to a long weekend in New Zealand on account of Waitangi Day that iscelebrated by the county as the national day on 6 February every year. The benchmark NZX50edged forward 0.18% or 4.877 points to close at 2773.495. However, the NZX 15 moved ahead0.47% or 24.007 points to 5131.319.
On the economic front, figures released by statistics New Zealand today revealed that thelabour market in seasonally adjusted terms, showed further signs of weakening as theunemployment rate continued to increase.
The December 2008 quarter saw the number of people unemployed rise by 10,000 and theunemployment rate increase to 4.6%, the highest rate in six years. The unemployment rateincreased steadily throughout 2008. However, New Zealand's unemployment rate still remainslow relative to many other countries.
Data also revealed that the New Zealand employees worked fewer hours last year registeringthe first such drop in nine years. The total paid hours in the country, when seasonallyadjusted, decreased by 1.4 percent in the year to December 2008.
Moreover, the labour cost index (LCI), released, showed that salary and wage ratesincluding overtime were 3.3 percent higher in the December 2008 quarter than in theDecember 2007 quarter.
In South Korea, stock markets gave up some of its gains, as banks stocks fail on continuedworries about their financial health. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index retreated17.49 points or 1.46% closing the day at 1,177.88.
On the economic front, a government report said that South Korea's economy faces a growingrisk of falling into recession as domestic demand and exports take a steep downturn amidthe global economic slump. The monthly economy-assessment report by the finance ministrycalled on the government to step up efforts to safeguard jobs and stimulate thefast-slowing economy by frontloading its fiscal spending this year.
Meanwhile, the delinquency rate of South Korean credit card firms rose in the fourthquarter from the preceding third quarter, hit by the slowing economy, the FinancialSupervisory Service said Thursday. The financial watchdog said that the default ratio ofSamsung Card Co. and four other card firms came in at 3.43% at the end of 2008, up 0.15percentage point from three months earlier.
In Singapore, the stock market finish the session lower, dragged down by banks andfinancials on persistent worries over slowing domestic loan growth, mounting losses frombad debts, and falling fee income from slumping capital markets overshadowing upbeatoutlook by China economic stimulus efforts to boost the Chinese economy. The benchmarkStraits Times Index slipped 2.79 points, or 0.16%, to 1,704.60.
In Taiwan, stock markets snapped its three-day winning streak on Thursday 5 February 2009,after some foreign analyst issued a gloomy outlook for Taiwan's economy, saying theeconomy will shrink by 11% in 2009. Though the government sources condemned theprediction, its fail to regain investor's confidence in today's trading session as aboutall major sectoral indices showed a correction. The fall can also be attributed to theprofit booking done by investors as the index touched 3 week's high in yesterday'ssession. The main Taiex share index closed down 26.72 points or 0.61% at 4,363.25, showinga retreat from the three week closing high reached in the previous session.
In Philippines, the stock market sustained its upward rally for the second consecutiveday, closing higher, buoyed by the positive investors sentiment in tandem with positivenews on the economic facade. Moreover a positive show of strength by the key heavy weightindex also dragged the benchmark index higher. The benchmark index soared 2.40% or 44.52points to 1,892.07, highest since 20 January 2009, while the all share index rose 1.60% or19.31 points to 1,220.67.
The local market took the cue from inflation figures, which fell almost 1-percentagepoints, to its lowest in 10 months in January at 7.1% from 8.0% in December 2008 and apeak of 12.5% in August last year.
Moreover the Bangko Sentral Ng Pilipinas (BSP)- central bank- is optimistic the inflow offoreign direct investment (FDI) will remain strong despite the worsening global economicconditions. The BSP expects the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, includingcall centers, and the manufacturing sector to post the highest FDI inflows this year,citing that the BPO sector still had much room for growth this year and over the mediumterm.
In India, key benchmark indices followed the regional trend with some volatility. Despiteof lowering inflation rate market to retreat as it closed the day in negative. As per theprovisional figures, the BSE 30-share Sensex was down 103.74 points, or 1.13%, to9,098.11. The Sensex rose 45.24 points at the day's high of 9,247.09 in early trade. TheSensex fell 184.77 points at the day's low of 9,017.08 in mid-afternoon trade. The S&PCNX Nifty was down 17.35 points, or 0.62%, to 2,785.70 as per the provisional figures.
On the economic front, Inflation based on the wholesale price index rose 5.07% in 12months to 24 January 2009, below the previous week's annual rise of 5.64%, data releasedby the government today, 5 February 2009, showed on Thursday. It was the slowest annualrise since 9 February 2008 when inflation was at 4.98%. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)said in its monetary policy review on 27 January 2009 it expected annual inflation to bebelow 3% by the end of the 2008/09 fiscal year in March 2009.
Elsewhere, Malaysia's Kula Lumpur Composite index was up 0.36% or 3.15 points to 879.95,while Indonesia's Jakarta composite increased by 7.71 points or 0.58% to 1328.08. InThailand, the Thai Stock exchange gained 0.40 points or 0.09% to 433.44.
In other regional market, European shares fell sharply as investors eyed the latest roundof results from some of Europe's top companies ahead of interest rate decisions from boththe European Central Bank and the Bank of England. The U.K. FTSE 100 index fell 1.3% to4,172.52, the German DAX 30 index declined 1.7% to 4,417.99 while the French CAC-40 indexslid 1.9% to 3,010.95.
The day ahead is scheduled to release interest rate decisions from European Central Bankand Bank of England. The 10-year-old European Central Bank is expected to hold its firewhen the rate-setting Governing Council meets today, reluctant to immediately push thekey-lending rate below the record low of 2% matched last month.
On the other hand, the 314-year-old Bank of England is widely expected to cut its key rateby half of a percentage point to 1%, having pushed the official bank rate to 1.5% andbelow its longstanding record low of 2% in January
Comments