Asia Climbs on U.S. Job Growth

Ivaylo
04 Sep, 2006
New York City

The advance was broad-based with tech stocks as Nikon and Canon jumping after a strong U.S. jobs report on Friday eased concerns of further interest rate hikes. Japanese stocks were also supported by data showing capital spending by Japanese corporations surged 16.6% in the April to June quarter from a year ago.

[R]7:30AM Asain markets closed higher Monday, led by Japan and Taiwan.[/R]
Asian markets closed higher on Monday. The Nikkei 225 Average advanced 1.39% to 16358.07. Shares of office-equipment maker Canon gained 1.5% while precision equipment maker Nikon surged 4%. Semiconductor-related firms also gained, with Tokyo Electron and Advantest up 2.7% and 2% respectively. Clothing-chain operator Fast Retailing added 2.68% and internet provider Softbank was up 1.92%.

Hong Kong''s Hang Seng ended today’s session up 0.52% at 17513.88. Shares of China Mobile advanced 2.1%, defying brokers’ expectations for a decline after the share went ex-dividend. Taiwan''s Weighted index advanced 1.49% to 6,750.58. Shares of Hon Hai Precision Industry soared 4.2%, upbeat by news Friday that a related unit will be added to Hong Kong''s blue chip industrial index as early as this week. Shares of Taiwan Semi gained 0.5%.

The other major markets finished also in the positive. The Shanghai Composite was up 0.4%, Australia''s S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.4% and South Korea''s Kospi gained 0.5%. Indonesia''s Jakarta Composite advanced 0.9%, while Malaysia KLSE Composite nudged higher 0.7%.

[R]6:30AM European markets started the week higher on U.S. job data.[/R]
European markets were higher on Monday. The U.K. FTSE 100 index rose 0.1% to 5,954, the German DAX Xetra 30 index gained 0.4% to 5,898 and the French CAC-40 advanced 0.2% to 5,195. In corporate news, French satellite operator Eutelsat advanced 1.3% after it reversed to a fiscal 2006 profit of 30.4 million euros from a fiscal 2005 loss of 52.3 million euros, while U.K. satellite company Inmarsat rose 1.1%, having signed a deal to collaborate with ACeS to offer low-cost hand-held and fixed voice services, initially in the Asian market.

The leading sector, though, was forestry and paper, up 2%, with Stora Enso rising 2.2% and UPM-Kymmene 1.7% higher. Deutsche Telekom advanced 0.2% after the telecoms group announced a restructuring of its management responsibilities at the weekend after the German telecoms group had been forced to cut its growth and profit guidance a month ago.

Crude oil dropped close to $68 a barrel, an 11-week low, as the U.S. summer travel season drew to a close and traders speculated a dispute with Iran about nuclear research may be resolved without reducing oil exports. Crude oil for October delivery fell 88 cents to $68.31 a barrel, while Brent crude oil for October settlement fell $1.10 to $68.05 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures exchange.

Gold opened Monday at a bid price of $626.60 a troy ounce, up from $623.20 late Friday. The euro started the week up against the U.S. dollar Monday, building on gains from the week before. In morning European trading the euro bought $1.2861, up from $1.2836 on Friday in late trading in New York. The dollar slid to purchase 116.49 Japanese yen from 117.06 on Friday, while the British pound rose to $1.9076 from $1.9059 in New York.

[R]5:00AM Silver and copper futures advanced Friday, while gold retreated.[/R]
December gold declined $1.60 to $632.60 a troy ounce on the NYME, up from a low of $628. December silver managed to end up 4 cents to $13.07 after an earlier low of $12.825. October platinum rose $3.60 to $1,254.80 an ounce, while December palladium gained 90 cents to $349.60. December copper gained 0.50 cent to settle at $3.4610 per pound.

Crude oil futures in New York dropped below $70 a barrel Friday after widely watched hurricane forecaster Colorado State University cut its 2006 Atlantic tropical storm season forecast for the second time. The front-month October light, sweet crude contract finished $1.07 lower at $69.19 a barrel. October gasoline closed down 4.87 cents to $1.7344 a gallon, while September natural gas settled down 17.1 cents at $5.877 a million British thermal units.

On the New York Board of Trade, September Arabica coffee closed down 0.60 cent at $1.0340 a pound while December lost 0.40 cent to $1.0760. October futures of raw sugar in foreign ports retreated, breaking Thursday''s low as funds sold in late action and sinking to a new 9-month low of 11.26 cents per pound. October finished 0.41% at 11.39 cents a pound.