Asia Rebounds

Ivaylo
09 Jun, 2006
New York City

Tokyo

[R]7:30AM Asian shares bounce back on overseas upbeat mood.[/R]
Asian markets finished higher. Tokyo''s Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 117.81 points, or 0.8%, to 14750.84 following a 462.98-point drop Thursday. Machinery stocks rose, with Komatsu soaring 6.2% and Fanuc advancing 1.2%. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index advanced 1.16% to 15628.69, with HSBC Holdings and China Mobile gaining and Cathay Pacific advancing 0.7%, following its takeover of Hong Kong Dragon Airlines. Taiwan stocks bounced back with the Weighted Price Index of the Taiwan Stock Exchange advancing 112.82 points, or 1.8%, to 6444.63 after shedding 4.2% on Thursday. South Korea’s, Kospi gained 1.02%, or 12.52 points, to 1235.65, after declining 6.6%, or 85.91 points, to a seven-month low during the previous three trading sessions. Only China bucked the trend as the Shanghai Composite Index, tracking both Class A and Class B shares, shed 2.52% to 1551.38 and the Shenzhen Composite Index lost 2% to 397.66.

[R]6:30AM Europe recoups losses from Thursday in early trading.[/R]
European markets opened higher. The FTSE 100 in London was1.45 to 5,641.8, the Xetra Dax in Frankfurt advanced 1.4% to 5,457.17 and the CAC-40 in Paris rose 1.4% to 4,749.87. Stocks among Thursday’s big decliners led the gainers. Miners outperformed their weighting more than two-fold. Xstrata advanced 3.5% and BHP Billiton rose 3.1%. Sweden’s Atlas Copco having slumped on Thursday on economic growth worries advanced 4%. Electrolux splitting off its outdoor equipment division on Thursday put up 4%. Richemont, the Swiss luxury goods group, advanced 3.9%. Disappointing full-year operating profits pushed the stock more than 12% lower on Thursday. Technology stocks also advanced. Chipmakers Infineon rose 1.7% and STMicroelectronics advanced 2% and mobile phone maker Nokia climbed 2.8%.

Crude oil had advanced 5 cents to $70.40 a barrel by 0300 GMT, after dropping 47 cents on Thursday. London Brent crude climbed14 cents to $69.19 a barrel. Gold bullion opened Friday at a bid price of $609.10 a troy ounce, lower than $612.90 late Thursday. The dollar gained against the euro. In morning European trading, the euro purchased $1.2639, lower than $1.2646 in New York on Thursday. The British pound dropped slightly to $1.8427 from $1.8428 in New York, while the dollar slid to purchase 113.88 Japanese yen from 114.21 the day before.

[R]5:00AM Gold and silver continue decline on Thursday.[/R]
August gold declined $18.80 to finish at $613.80 an ounce on NYME. It reached a low of $613, its weakest level since April 13. Gold reached an all-time peak of $739.20 an ounce on May 12. July silver declined 81.5 cents to $11.075 an ounce, after it bottomed at $11.05 an ounce - its weakest level since March 29. July platinum plunged $41.40 to $1,190.10 an ounce, while September palladium tumbled $21.10 to $322.55 an ounce. The benchmark July copper contract closed the day down 22.7 cents at $3.3570 per pound.

The July crude oil contract finished down 47 cents at $70.35 a barrel after falling to $69.10 a barrel. July gasoline closed 2.18 cents lower at $2.1022 a gallon, much higher than its earlier low of $2.0450 a gallon. On the New York Board of Trade, July Arabica coffee closed 0.45 cent higher at 96.45 cents a pound and raw sugar in foreign ports futures for July ended down 0.19 cent at 15.03 cents a pound.