Asia In Broad Decline

Ivaylo
19 Jun, 2006
New York City

On Friday, China''s central bank announced it was lifted the deposit reserve requirement for commercial banks by a half-point to 8% in an attempt to cool down soaring loan growth on the mainland.That fact reverberated across the region. Japanese stocks declined slightly following a three-day gain. China''s central bank move helped push shares in Hong Kong lower. In South Korean, shares closed lower due to worries about a possible missile test by North Korea hurting sentiment.

[R]7:15 AM Asian stocks mostly decline on China’s central bank move.[/R]
Asian shares closed broadly lower. The Nikkei 225 Index fell 0.13% to 14860.35. On Friday, the index jumped 2.82%, ending a volatile week on a positive note. Traders sold electronics stocks, metals, banking and brokerage issues to make profit after their recent gains. Banks and exporters led the decliners in Japan. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group lost 2.01%. Sony shed 1.62%, while videogame rival Nintendo declined 1.22%. Sumitomo Metal Mining was off 1.35% and Daiwa Securities Group dropped 2.72%. China''s shares finished up for the third session in a row, powered by CAMC Engineering''s impressive stock debut. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index advanced 0.8% to 1586.29 after losing nearly 9% last week on speculation of tightening measures. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 0.47% to 15768.86 and in South Korean, shares settled down on profit-taking after Friday''s 3.5% rally, with concerns about a possible missile test by North Korea damaging sentiment. The Kospi Index dropped 0.8% to1251.67. banks and technology stocks led the decliners. Kookmin Bank shed 2.7% after advancing 3.7% on Friday. Its rival, Shinhan Financial Group, closed down 0.6%. Taiwan shares bucked the trend, led by food companies on hopes a rising Chinese yuan may support their earnings. The Taipei Index advanced 0.1% to 6583.04.

[R]6:30AM European bourses buoyed by Nokia and Siemens merger deal.[/R]
European stocks were higher in early trade on Monday. The FTSE 100 in London climbed 1.1% to 5,658.1, the Xetra Dax in Frankfurt was up 1.5% to 5,458.39 and the CAC-40 in Paris gained 4,751.03. In other news from the corporate front, Vinci was the worst faller on the Eurofirst 300, losing 2.7%, after Veolia Environnement, the French utility, abandoned its plan for a merger with the French construction and concessions group. Veolia, was up 4.1%, yielded to investors’ worried over a costly bid battle, saying conditions did not exist for a friendly deal.

Oil prices declined Monday, but steadied at the $69 level amid worries over Iran''s nuclear ambitions, and how that might impact oil supplies. Light, sweet crude for July delivery dropped 37 cents to $69.51 a barrel. Gold bullion opened Monday at a bid price of $570.60 a troy ounce, down from $573.50 late Friday. The euro slipped against the dollar on Monday on data posted late last week showing the U.S. trade deficit narrowed for the first three months of the year. The euro bought $1.2597, down from $1.2635 in New York on Friday. The British pound also slipped to $1.8445 from $1.8503 at the end of last week. The dollar also rose against the Japanese currency, purchasing 115.56 yen, up from 115.09.

[R]5:00AM Gold advances making amends.[/R]
Gold for August delivery ended up $11.40 at $581.70 on the NYME, but was down 5.1% for the week. The other precious metals followed suit and also posted gains except for platinum, which closed down $16.3 at $1,144.6 an ounce. Silver settled up 16 cents at $10.130 an ounce. Palladium closed 25 cents higher to $306.05 an ounce. Copper was up 7.7 cents at $3.2915 a pound.

After reaching above $70 in earlier trading, light sweet crude oil for July delivery finished up 38 cents at $69.88 a barrel Friday on the NYME. August Brent crude on London''s ICE Futures exchange declined 37 cents Friday to $68.08 per barrel. July gasoline futures dipped 1.21 cent to $2.0300 a gallon, while July heating oil prices dropped less than a cent to $1.9324 a gallon.