Thursday, March 11, 2010
Foreign Market Wrap
Asian markets ended mixed on Thursday, with several markets paring gains as resource stocks fell after Chinese economic data sparked fresh worries of further tightening measures from Beijing.
The Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo rocketed up 101.03 points, or 1%, to 10,664.95
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong gained 19.91 points, or 0.1%, to 21,228.20.
Resource sector shares were hurting on concerns any policy tightening measures from Beijing may hamper Chinese demand for commodities. BHP Billiton and Woodside Petroleum gave up 0.5% in Sydney, Posco dropped 0.9% in Seoul, Nippon Steel Corp.shed 1.2% in Tokyo.
Honda Motor Co. rose 0.8% and Sony Corp. climbed 1.9%, with Mizuho Financial Group rising 1.1% and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group gaining 0.9%. The market was also supported by shipping stocks on hopes of strong earnings growth, which lifted Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha by 1.4%, while Mitsui O.S.K. Lines gained 1.3%.
In Seoul trading, Hyundai Motor Co. dropped 2.2% and Kia Motors shed 1.8% on profit-taking.
Bucking the market was Korea Exchange Bank, which climbed 4.8% after an official said Wednesday that Dallas-based private equity firm Lone Star Funds planned to hire an adviser for the sale of its stake in the bank.
Earlier in the day, the Bank of Korea left its interest rates unchanged at 2%, saying the economy "continued on a recovering trend." But the central banks' monetary policy committee also warned that uncertainty over economic growth remains because of "problems of excessive government debt in some countries."
In addition to the Chinese economic data, Sydney shares were also weighed down by news that domestic employment for February rose by 400 jobs, compared with expectations for an increase of 15,000.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand had earlier Thursday left its key interest rate unchanged at a record-low 2.5%. The central banks' quarterly monetary policy statement was generally supportive of equities, said some experts.
Economic data released earlier in the day revised down Japan's fourth-quarter gross domestic product to an annualized growth of 3.8%, from a preliminary reading of 4.6%.
CHINA
Shanghai's CSI 300 Index lost another 2.99 points, or 0.1%, to 3,276.70.
China's consumer price index rose a faster-than-expected 2.7% in February from the year earlier period, quickening from January's 1.5% rise. The rise in CPI and a robust 20.7% jump in January-February industrial output fueled concerns of further credit tightening.
Chinese commodity stocks were also hurt, with Aluminum Corp. of China dropping 0.9% in Hong Kong and 1.1% in Shanghai, while Jiangxi Copper dropped 1.1% in Hong Kong and 1.5% in Shanghai.
Chinese property stocks weakened, with Agile Property Holdings sliding 2% and Guangzhou R&F Properties Co. dropping 1.6% in Hong Kong, while Poly Real Estate Group Co. dropped 0.7% in Shanghai.
Elsewhere;
Korea's Kospi index stumbled 5.62 points, or 0.3%, to 1,656.62
Singapore's Straits Times Index advanced 11.62 points, or 0.4%, to 2,873.91
Taiwan's Taiex Index dropped 29.42 points, or 0.4%, to 7,749.66
New Zealand's NZX Index faded 2.75 points, or 0.1%, to 3,223.45
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moved down 5.80 points, or 0.1%, to 4,814.20
