Tokyo and Sydney Boost Asia

Ivaylo
28 Sep, 2006
New York City

Investors focused on Honda Motor Corp., BHP Billiton Ltd. and energy-related shares after crude-oil prices rebounded. The Japanese stock market advanced moderately, recovering from the sharp fall the previous day as traders wondered whether the market had overreacted to recent concerns about US growth. In Japan, share prices of consumer finance companies increased as well.

[R]7:30AM Asian stocks advance Thursday on energy-related stocks.[/R]
Asian markets were broadly higher on Thursday. Japan''s Nikkei 225 Average ended the session 0.5% higher to 16,024.9. shares of Japanese oil and gas company Inpex Holdings gained 1.7%, while refiner AOC Holdings Inc gained 2.9%. Mining, which includes upstream oil stocks such as Inpex, climbed 2.1%. Nippon Steel rose 1.7%. Rival JFE rose 1.5%. Sumitomo Metal Mining climbed 2.3%.

Australia S&P ASX/200 advanced 0.4% to 5,115.2, as the mining sector rose for a second day following recent weakness in the commodity sector. Miners advanced with BHP Billiton Ltd up 1.2%, while smaller rival Rio Tinto Ltd. firmed up 1.3%. Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong edged up 0.2% to 17,551.5.

The China Enterprises Index, or Hong Kong-listed shares in mainland-incorporated companies, was up 0.6% at 7,113.8. The largest oil producer in China PetroChina climbed 1.5%; offshore oil producer CNOOC rose 1.4%. Kospi Index in South Korea was up 0.8%, while the Shanghai Composite Index advanced 0.7%. The Weighted Index in Taiwan fell 0.9% to 6,885.1, to rank as the lead declining market.

[R]6:30AM European markets driven higher on Thursday by profit-taking[/R]
European markets were slightly higher by mid-day on Thursday. The U.K. FTSE 100 index added 0.1% to 5,937, the German DAX Xetra 30 added 0.1% to 5,995.08 and the French CAC-40 index climbed 0.25 to 5,253.89.

Advancers

German truckmaker MAN gained 3.6% on rumours that Volkswagen, the German carmaker, was poised to make a bid for the company. MAN has been trying to buy Scania, its Swedish rival in which VW has a major stake. Shares in Scania were up 1.1%. Dutch chemicals group DSM gained 4% after it announced the launch of a share buyback programme and a loyalty dividend. TNT gained 2.4%, while KPN remained flat.

Decliners

VW fell 0.7% and Novartis slipped 0.1%.The company showed that its experimental treatment offered sustained relief for patients with relapsing MS, with up to 77% remaining free of relapses for over two years. Iberdrola fell 5.6% having gained nearly 18% over the previous two sessions after construction group ACS built a 10% stake.

Endesa fell 1.7% having risen more than 19% in the two previous days after Germany’s Eon raised the stakes in the bid for the company following the purchase of a 10% holding by Acciona, the Spanish conglomerate.

Other news

In Brussels, the European Court of Justice ruled that the Dutch state broke EU laws by holding golden shares in telecoms group KPN and parcel delivery company TNT. The court stated that by holding the shares the Dutch government restricted the free movement of capital. The ruling effectively restricts measures for member states to protect companies from foreign takeovers.

Oil and gold

Light, sweet crude oil for November delivery added 6 cents to $63.02 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. November Brent crude on London''s ICE Futures exchange fell 11 cents to $62.10 a barrel. Gold traded around $600 for the first time in more than two weeks on Thursday after a recovery in crude oil prices sparked buying from investors.

Currencies

The U.S. dollar was lower against the euro but gained against other major currencies in European trading Thursday morning. The euro bought $1.2710, up $1.2704 late Wednesday in New York. The British pound traded at $1.8782, down from $1.8885. The dollar bought 117.67 Japanese yen, up from 117.45

[R]5:00AM Gold and silver futures advanced on Wednesday.[/R]
December gold advanced $6.20 to $603.30 a troy ounce on the NYME, while December silver added 20.5 cents to $11.70. October platinum rose $7.40 to $1,139 an ounce, while the January futures gained $3.90 to $1,147. December palladium gained $1.35 to $320 an ounce. Most-active December copper was up 2.10 cents at $3.4870 per pound.

November crude oil settled up $1.95 at $62.96 a barrel after hitting an intraday high of $63.10 a barrel. October heating oil rose 5.63 cents to end at $1.7141 a gallon. October gasoline moved 4.81 cents higher to $1.5399 a gallon. October natural gas settled down 32.5 cents at $4.201 a million British thermal units.

On the New York Board of Trade, December Arabica coffee futures closed unchanged at $1.0690 a pound and March settled flat at $1.1075. Futures on raw sugar in foreign ports for October sank 0.04 cent at 10.15 cents a pound and March gained 0.06 cent to 11.17 cents.