Taiwan Leads Indexes Higher

Ivaylo
18 Sep, 2006
New York City

A surge in gains in technology shares boosted markets across Asia, with indexes in Taiwan and South Korea hitting fresh multi-month highs on Monday. In Taiwan, stocks closed at their highest level in more than three months after weekend rallies in Taipei opposing and supporting the president were largely peaceful. Shares in Hong Kong were led higher by property stocks and South Korea stocks finished higher due to a large volume of program buying.

[R]7:30AM Asian markets finished higher, led by Taipei tech stocks.[/R]
Asian markets finished higher on Monday. Markets in Japan were closed for a national holiday. Taiwan Weighted Price Index surged 201.39 points, or 3%, to 6,882.5. Domestic demand-related shares led the advancers, as investors expect to benefit from an easing of political tension. Tech companies also tracked advancers, as Hon Hai Precision Industry increased 3.8%, after a newspaper reported it plans to buy a 30% stake in Sunfar Computer.

Hong Kong Hang Seng Index advanced 0.87% to close at 17387.21. Shares were led higher by property stocks after the U.S. released moderate inflation data Friday that signaled the Federal Reserve will leave interest rates untouched when it meets Wednesday. Hang Lung Properties advanced 2%, Henderson Land gained 2% and Sino Land added 1.7%.

The Kospi Index in South Korea rose 0.97% to 1374.30. Samsung Electronics advanced 2.6% and Hynix Semiconductor added 2.6% on increasing memory-chip prices. Shipbuilders moved ahead on a solid earnings outlook through 2009 amid full order books. Samsung Heavy Industries jumped 2.9% and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering rose 1%.

In China, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.7% to close at 1732.99 The Beijing Olympics led the advancers in China. Retailer Beijing Xidan Market advanced 4.9%, China Sports Industry gained 4.6% and Beijing Urban Construction rose 4.4%.

Australia S&P/ASX 200 ended 0.72% higher at 5072.80. The stock market rebounded from early weakness to finish strongly, as most sectors finished in positive territory. BHP Billiton rose 0.8%. Oil stocks were higher with Woodside Petroleum up 2.4%, Santos rising 3.1% and Oil Search adding 2.7%. Banks were the strongest contributor to the strength in the market, with National Australia Bank increasing 1.6% and Commonwealth Bank ahead 1.2%.

[R]6:30AM European markets were slightly higher Monday on Scania, commodities.[/R]
European markets were slightly higher by mid-morning on Monday. The U.K. FTSE 100 index gained 0.1% at 5,880, the German DAX Xetra 30 index was unchanged at 5,938 and the French CAC-40 index edged up 0.1% at 5,150. Merger and acquisition activity was also a focus in the auto sector after German truck maker Man AG said that it made a 9.6 billion euro ($12.2 billion) offer for Swedish counterpart Scania, a move Scania rejected. Man shares dipped 2.6%, while Scania gained 5.5%.

Oil company BP advanced 0.7% following a report on the Web Site of the Financial Times newspaper said that the company is set to launch a root and branch review of its global operations. French car maker PSA Peugeot Citroen slipped 0.6% after it announced that it has signed a letter of intent with Proton to consider possible co-operation between the companies. J.P. Morgan upgraded French software firm Atos Origin overweight from underweight on valuation, with the company''s shares down over 25% since the start of the year. Atos Origin shares gained 2.8%.

Oil prices edged higher for a second day on Monday, struggling to end their steepest slump in more than a decade. October delivery was up 2 cents at $63.35 a barrel in Globex electronic trading. Brent crude rose 14 cents to $63.47.

Gold traded on Monday at $580.80 an ounce, down $2.80 an ounce from Friday close of $578.00. The euro rose slightly against the U.S. dollar on Monday. In morning European trading, the euro climbed to $1.2684, up from $1.2658 late Friday in New York. The British pound advanced to $1.8836 from $1.8798. The dollar rose to 117.76 yen from 117.59 yen on Friday.

[R]5:00AM Precious metal extended their decline on Friday on strong dollar.[/R]
December gold ended down $3 to $583 a troy ounce on the NYME on Friday, while December silver closed down 7.5 cents to $ 10.875. October platinum lost $15.80 to settle at $1,163.70 an ounce. December palladium finished down $12.40 to $314.80.The most active December copper contract shed 6.30 cents to end at $3.3115 per pound.

The front-month October light, sweet crude oil contract finished up 11 cents at $63.33 a barrel. October unleaded gasoline settled up 2.28 cents to $1.5750 a gallon and October heating oil was off 0.87 cent to $1.7023 gallon. October natural gas declined 9.0 cents to close at $4.982 a million British thermal units.

On the New York Board of Trade, December Arabica coffee ended 1.30 cents lower at $1.0210 a pound. October futures on raw sugar in foreign ports settled up 0.28 cent at 12.44 cents a pound.