Japan Advances, Hong Kong Declines

Ivaylo
24 May, 2006
New York City

Japanese stocks rebounded from three-month lows due to bargain-hunting in a range of stocks that raised the index which had fallen nine of the preceding 11 sessions. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index advanced nearly 2%, as investors bought metals, autos and bank shares, which had recently fallen. The South Korea

[R]7:30AM Japanese benchmark Nikkei rose while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell.[/R]
Asian markets finished mixed. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index advanced 308.00 points, or almost 2%, to close at 15907.20. Canon and Toyota Motor were among the gainers. Canon was 2.1% and Toyota Motor closed 3.2% higher. Real-estate also advanced as Sumitomo Realty & Development jumped 2.9%. Refiner shares also gained, with Nippon Oil advancing 2% and Inpex Holdings soaring 6.8%. Hong Kong shares closed lower,as the blue-chip Hang Seng dropped 41.92 points, or 0.3%, to close at 15822.64. China Mobile, the second-largest component of the benchmark was down 1.7%. Taiwan shares closed 0.5% up at 6877.01, with nontechnology stocks leading gains. Cathay Real Estate Development jumped 5.2%, and Goldsun Development & Construction surged by the daily limit of 7%. Australia''s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 finished 23.9 points higher, or 0.5%, at 5037.7 points. The South Korea’s Kospi finished up 0.3%, or 3.52 points, at 1333.38. South Korean Hyundai Engineering & Construction soared 6%. Its creditors announced that they have ended its debt-restructuring program before schedule, and plan to start selling their stakes around July.

[R]6:30AM European bourses off to a lower start on Wednesday.[/R]
European stocks started sharply lower on Wednesday. It was a day of merger and acquisition steps with some deals started to unravel. Deutsche Börse must hold a meeting in the wake of Euronext refusal to its latest offer. The New York’s bid is lower than that of Deutsche Börse but Euronext has its eyes on the bigger board as it seems to present better opportunities. Borsa Italiana will also start talks with Euronext of a possible deal. In other news, OMV soared 8.9% in early trade after the Austrian oil company its merger with Verbund was stopped by the government because of political resistance from the country provinces. ThyssenKrupp, the German engineering conglomerate stated its willingness to buy Japanese elevator company Hitachi, offering almost double of its global market share.

Oil prices lost momentum on Wednesday ahead of weekly U.S. inventory data and an international meeting on Iran''s nuclear program. Crude oil was trading down 48 cents at $71.28 a barrel and London July Brent crude oil shed 42 cents to $70.58. Gold traded lower in a narrow band on Wednesday, ttracing movements in the dollar and following closely oil prices. Spot gold was quoted at $668.20/669.00 an ounce by 0952 GMT. The dollar gained against the euro.The euro bought $1.2792 in early European trading, down from $1.2861 in New York late Tuesday. The British pound slipped to $1.8778 from $1.8843. Against the Japanese currency, the dollar advanced to 112.28 yen from 111.32 yen.

[R]5:00AM Gold and silver on the rise again.[/R]
June gold closed $16 higher at $673.70 a troy ounce. July silver soared 74 cents to $13.17 an ounce. July platinum jumped $36.90 to $1,321.50 an ounce, while June palladium advanced $21.60 to $363.35 an ounce. Benchmark July copper advanced to $3.89 per pound then later closed at $3.88 per pound, 42.4 cents higher on the day.

July crude oil rose $1.80 to $71.76 a barrel after dropping as low as $69.85 a barrel. June gasoline finished 5.06 cents up at $2.1080 a gallon. On NYME, July Arabica coffee futures closed 1.8 cents up at $1.01 a pound. July futures of raw sugar in foreign ports closed up 0.23 cent at 16.62 cents a pound.