Japan Down, China Up

Ivaylo
15 Sep, 2001
New York City

The weaker finish of U.S. stocks overnight triggered a round of profit-taking in Japan. Stocks ended down as investors cut long positions in exporter stocks such as Toshiba and Honda before the weekend. Hong Kong was led higher by property companies, while in China, stocks hit a two-month closing high, as airlines advanced on hopes of a stronger yuan. Taiwan and South Korea also gained, while Australia slipped.

[R]7:30AM Asian markets close mixed, Japan falls on profit-taking.[/R]
Asian markets closed mixed on Friday. The Nikkei 225 Average ended the day 0.47% lower at 15866.93. Toshiba slipped 1.1%, TDK lost 1.5% and Sony declined 0.8%. Toyota closed 0.3% lower and Honda fell 0.3%. Hitachi shed 3.1% as the company revised down its earnings outlook for this fiscal year to March shortly before the market close.

Hong Kong Hang Seng Index advanced 0.32% to close at 17237.65. Shares in Hong Kong finished higher supported by property companies on hopes that interest rates would not be hiked and earnings in the sector will be solid. Kerry Properties gained 3.3% and Sun Hung Kai Properties advanced 0.5% after both companies posted increases in net profit. Blue chip Hang Lung Properties climbed 1.3% and Henderson Land gained 1%.

South Korea''s Kospi Index gained 0.17% to 1361.10. Stocks ended higher as institutional buying toward the end of the session counteres earlier losses, with gains led by automobile and brokerage shares. Hyundai Motor was up 1.8%, Kia Motors advanced 1.3% and Hyundai Mobis climbed 2%. Shanghai Composite Index jumped 1.9% to finish at 1721.05. Air China soared by the daily limit of 10%, China Southern Airlines jumped 6.3% and Shanghai Airlines rose 6.2%.

Taiwan ended 1.25% higher at 6681.09, while Australia S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.67% to 5036.40. Shares in Taiwan advanced on possible support from government funds, led by financial and technology companies, while Australian shares dipped as commodity prices remained weak. BHP Billiton shed 2.3%, Rio Tinto fell 1.5% and Woodside Petroleum sagged 2.8%.

[R]6:30AM European markets edge into positive territory on Friday.[/R]
European markets were higher by mid-morning on Friday. The U.K. FTSE 100 index gained 0.04% at 5,880, the German DAX 30 index added 0.1% at 5,912 and the French CAC 40 index advanced 0.2% at 5,134. Veolia Environnement advanced 1.2% after it said first-half net profit rose 40.3% as sales climbed 13.7%.

The auto sector was in demand after data showed that new car registrations in European shed 1.4% in August and after reports that truck maker Man AG could unveil the terms of its takeover offer for Swedish peer Scania as early as next week. Shares in Man and Scania both rose around 0.5%.

SEB erased early gains to slip 1.2%. The Swedish bank advanced 5% on Thursday on speculation of a merger between it and Nordic bank Nordea, which added 3.2% yesterday, but was down 1.3% this morning. German tyremaker Continental rose 2.6% after JP Morgan started coverage of the stock with a overweight.

Crude oil prices were unchanged Friday after natural gas prices plummeted to a two-year low overnight, and supply concerns were relieved after Nigerian oil workers prematurely ended a strike. Light, sweet crude for October on the NYME was down 2 cents to $63.20 a barrel on Friday.

Gold opened Friday at a bid price of $577.30 a troy ounce, down from $587.60 late Thursday. The euro was down slightly on the U.S. dollar Friday before the release of U.S. inflation data, which could signal what the Fed next interest rate move will be. In morning trading, the euro bought $1.2722, down from $1.2729 late Thursday in New York. The British pound advanced to $1.8873 from $1.8864 in New York, while the dollar rose to purchase 117.56 Japanese yen from 117.49 the day before.

[R]5:00AM Gold and silver fell Thursday on enrgy prices.[/R]
December gold shed $10.30 to settle at $586 a troy ounce on the NYME. December silver plunged 25 cents, to finish at $10.95 an ounce. October platinum fell $6.30 to settle at $1,179.50 an ounce. The December palladium contract settled $8.85 stronger at $327.20 an ounce. December copper dropped 1.05 cents to end at $3.3745 per pound.

The front-month October light, sweet crude oil contract closed 75 cents lower at $63.22 a barrel, its lowest close since March 22. October unleaded gasoline futures finished virtually unchanged at $1.5531 a gallon, while front-month October heating oil declined 0.0318 cent to $1.7110 a gallon. October natural gas contracts lost 55.7 cents, or 10% of their value, to settle at $4.89 per million British thermal units.

December Arabica coffee ended 1 cent lower at $1.0340 a pound, and March fell 1 cent to finish at $1.0730 a pound. Futures on raw sugar in foreign ports declined after producer selling capped an early advance. The October contract closed 0.21 cents lower at 12.16 cents a pound.