Asia Tracks Global Decline

Ivaylo
18 May, 2006
New York City

Japanese shares declined for the seventh consecutive trading session with blue-chip and automotive stocks leading the decliners. The Nikkei 225 shed 1.4%. South Korea

[R]7:30AM Asian-Pacific markets ended lower across the region.[/R]
Asian markets closed lower. Japanese benchmark Nikkei 225 shed 220.49 points to settle at 16087.18 points , its lowest closing since March 9. Decliners were led by Canon , down 2.3% and Honda Motor, falling 1.9%. Nippon Oil plunged 3.4% and Ebara, a machinery maker, fell 6.1%. Bank shares also declined, among them Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group posting 3.5%. Korean index Kospi also fell 2.6%, finishing 36.32 points down, at 1365.15. Financial stocks and construction shares led the decliners. Kookmin Bank dropped 4.5% and Shinhan Financial Group lost 3.8%. Construction dived 6.3%. Hyundai Engineering & Construction plummeted 9.3%. Daewoo Engineering & Construction took a 6.3% dive. Hong Kong''s benchmark Hang Seng Index dropped 349.03 points to finish at 16266.52. Clothes producer Esprit was one of the biggest losers, ending 4.71% down. China stocks finished slightly lower, led by nonferrous-metal companies. Shanghai Composite Index, China’s blue-chip finished 0.5% lower at 1617.28. Australia''s index S&P/ASX 200 closed at 5119.3, off 1.9%, its biggest percentage fall since last October. Taiwan’s Weighted Price Index dropped 82.80 points, or 1.2%, to settle at 7034.03.

[R]6:30AM European markets fight back an early retreat.[/R]
The FTSE 100 gained 0.5 %, Xetra Dax traded in Frankfurt 0.5 % higher and the CAC-40 in Paris rose 0.4 %. On the corporate front, Societe Generale topped expectations, up 0.7%, on record-breaking first-quarter net earnings, while Air France beat the estimate only just, its stocks remained flat. Arcelor was among the decliners, shedding 2.6% in the wake of the takeover bid from Mittal Steel, which also fell 3.6%. Alstom lost 0.3% despite ING lifting its price target, after it reversed to profit. Man AG dropped 1.2% while Sandvik’s stocks advanced 1.5%.

Light crude oil was trading 14 cents down at $68.55 a barrel by 0742 GMT, continuing yesterday’s 84-cent loss. London Brent gained 3 cents to $69.07. Gold declined in early trade to $687.50 an ounce, down from $696.70, along with silver which also lost ground to$13.10 an ounce, down from $13.30 an ounce. The dollar fell against the euro. The euro bought $1.2792, up from $1.2741 late Wednesday. The British pound traded at US$1.8880, up from US$1.8816 and the yen was slightly stronger. The dollar traded at 110.65 Japanese yen, down from 110.96 yen.

[R]5:00 AM Gold fails to meet price expectations.[/R]
The most-traded June gold finished $1.10 lower at $691.80 a troy ounce after hitting an earlier session high of $712.50. The rebound in early trading came after a rise was reported in U.S. inflation. Silver dashed to a trading high of $13.74 an ounce but ended down 30 cents at $13.240 an ounce. July platinum closed $13.50 higher at $1,316.40 an ounce as did palladium which also settled $6.10 up on the day at $383.10 an ounce. Copper finished down, losing 17.05 cents end at $3.6715 per pound.

June crude oil shed 84 cents to settle at $68.69 a barrel and June gasoline fell 5.10 cents to finish at $1.9751 a gallon. July Arabica coffee closed 1.2 cent down at $1.0140 a pound and raw sugar in foreign ports ended down 0.10 cent at 16.93 cents a pound.