Nikkei Slumps on Financial Stocks

Ivaylo
23 May, 2006
New York City

Japan''s Nikkei Average plunged on weak financial shares, especially at the world''s biggest bank by assets, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., which declined 6.1%. Shares in Taiwan lost as much as 1.4% while South Korea''s Kospi index edged 0.7% lower. Singapore bucked the downtrend to advance 0.53%.

[R]7:30AM Asian Markets close mixed. Japanese Nikkei slumps.[/R]
Asian markets closed mixed. Japanese benchmark, Nikkei 225 Average plunged 1.6% to close at 15,599.20 on weak financial stocks, especially at the world's biggest bank by assets, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., which declined 6.1% after releasing a guidance predicting a decline in 2006 profit. Japan's No. 2 lender Mizuho Financial shed 4.8%. South Korean benchmark Kospi index edged 0.7% lower. Singapore bucked the downtrend to advance 0.53%. The late rally also boosted Jakarta's Composite Index 1.32% and Kuala Lumpur which was up 0.11%. Australia S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.3% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index advanced 0.37%. Hong Kong’s oil companies advanced, after Monday''s sharp declines. Australia’s leading blue chips declined on continuing anxiety and volatility in commodity markets, with opinion split on whether the washout had come to an end.

[R]6:30AM European stocks bounce back on bargain hunting.[/R]
On the corporate front in early trading, Statoil, the Norwegian oil producer, advanced 4.6%, and Norsk Hydro, oil and metal corporation, edged 4% up. Likewise, Saipem, Italian oilfield group, climbed 3.3% and Atlas Copco, Swedish toolmaker advanced 4.4%. Euronext, European stock exchange operator, added 3.5% up, in the wake of Deutsche Börse, its peer, revealing a cash and stock merger plan. Technology stocks also performed well, ASML, Dutch maker of memory chips, climbed 5.1% and Telenor, Norwegian telecom, gained 2.7%.

Crude oil for July delivery advanced 34 cents to $70.30 a barrel and London July Brent gained 35 cents at $69.70. Gold hit a high of $663.30 an ounce and was quoted at $661.50/652.30. The dollar gained against the euro. The euro bought $1.2834, lower than $1.2864 late Monday. The British pound slipped to $1.8821 from US$1.8863 on Monday, though the dollar edged down to 111.44 Japanese yen from 111.50.

[R]5:00AM Gold and silver advanced slightly on Monday.[/R]
June gold advanced 20 cents to $657.70 an ounce, from a low of $636.80, which had been its bottom price since April 28. July silver finished up 7 cents at $12.43 after hitting a low of $11.88 overnight, its lowest level since April 25. Platinum closed $28.80 down to $1,284.60 an ounce, while palladium shed $10.05 to $341.75 an ounce. July copper finished at $3.4615, 0.75 cent lower, after hitting as low as $3.2760 per pound in after-hours trade.

Crude oil closed 70 cents higher at $69.23 a barrel. up 70 cents on the day, while gasoline finished up 1.90 cents at $2.0574 a gallon. Coffee futures hit new 5-month lows before industry buying stopped the retreat. July finished 1.05 cents down at 99.6 cents a pound. Raw sugar in foreign ports closed 0.03 cent down at 16.39 cents a pound.