Japan Recovers In Choppy Trading

Ivaylo
05 Sep, 2006
New York City

In Japan, investors made profits in Toshiba and other leading shares after the index notched a three-month closing high in the previous session. Australian insurance broker OAMPS rallied after getting a takeover offer, while Australia''s S&P/ASX 200 index advanced 0.4% at 5,150.60, after touching a fresh four-month high in morning trading. Shares in Singapore and Taiwan traded flat. Hang Seng in Hong Kong finished down 0.4%

[R]7:30AM Japan recovers on gains in steel sector, HK dips.[/R]
Asian markets traded mixed on Tuesday. The Nikkei 225 Average ended up 0.2% at 16,385.96, with advances countered by profit taking among leading blue chips after Monday''s sharp gains. Shares of Nippon Steel were up 2% after the business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported the steelmaker is close to a deal with South Korea''s Posco. Shares of Toshiba Corp decreased 0.7%, and Sony Corp sank 0.8%.

Hong Kong''s Hang Seng Index ended down 0.4% to 17,438.80. gains were focused among large mainland industrial and consumer shares. Mainland China electronics retailer Gome was up 2.3%, while cement maker Anhui Conch rose 1.9%. Shares of Bank of Communications dropped 0.2%. Oil refiner Sinopec added 0.2%. Lower oil prices are beneficial to Sinopec, which faces state-mandated price caps on what it can charge at the pump.
Australia S&P/ASX 200 index gained 0.4% at 5,150.60. Shares of mining company BHP Billiton advanced 1.3%, while shares of Rio Tinto ended up 1.7%. Shanghai Composite was up 0.4%, while New Zealand leading index ended 0.6% higher.

[R]6:30AM European markets are trading lower ahead of U.S. market starts again.[/R]
European markets were lower by mid-morning on Tuesday. The U.K. FTSE 100 index edged down 0.2% at 5,974, the German DAX Xetra 30 index declined 0.2% at 5,896 and the French CAC-40 index decreased 0.3% at 5,189. French car maker Peugeot declined 0.9% while peer Renault retreated 0.7%. Compagnie Generale de Geophysique, provider of equipment and services to the oil and gas industry agreed to pay $3.1 billion for Veritas DGC, provider of geophysical information and services.

London crude oil prices bounced back to around $68 a barrel on Tuesday after falling to a more than 10-week low the day before, with many dealers moving to the sidelines to await the next step in Iran''s atomic stand-off. Brent crude for October delivery traded up 29 cents at $68.00 a barrel by 0650 GMT, after dropping $1.44 on Monday.

The euro was down slightly Tuesday against the U.S. dollar after a light day of trading with markets in the United States closed for the Labor Day holiday. In morning trading the euro bought $1.2839, from $1.2863 the night before. The British pound fell to purchase $1.9036 from $1.9061 on Monday, while the dollar rose slightly to buy 115.94 Japanese yen from 115.89 the night before.