Market Updates
Asia Tumbles on N. Korea Scare
Ivaylo
04 Oct, 2006
New York City
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Asian stocks largely declined on Wednesday after North Korea stated it would test a nuclear bomb and commodities stocks such as BHP Billiton and Mitsubishi Corp. were hit by a fall in oil and metals prices. The influence of North Korea nuclear news is likely to be limited as there will be some short-term risks, but it is unlikely to reverse the stock market trend. Hong Kong bucked the downtrend and advanced.
[R]7:30AM Asian markets fell Wednesday on N. Korea nuclear test plans.[/R]
Asain stocks were mostly lower on Wednesday. The Nikkei 225 Index finished down 0.98% at 16082.55 after erasing morning gains. Sumitomo Metal Mining shed 5.29% and Mitsui & Co. sank 5.53%. Electronics shares also moved lower, with Sony slipping 3.26% following its announcement on Tuesday that its next-generation Blu-ray DVD recorders would would be released later than those of rival Matsushita Electric Industrial, which markets electronic products under the Panasonic and Technics brand names.
Kospi in South Korea closed 1.6% lower at 1352.00 after dropping to a low of 1345.83 earlier in the afternoon. S&P/ASX 200 in Australia gave up 0.8% as slipping oil and metal prices took a toll on energy and mining stocks. Shares of Woodside Petroleum were off by 2.9 % and BHP Billiton declined 4.6%. Taiex index in Taiwan fell 1.2%. Chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing dipped 2.5% amid a broad decline in tech shares.
Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong bucked the trend and advanced 0.13% to 17629.21. Airline stocks roseon lower oil prices. Cathay Pacific shares gained 1.3% and Air China rose 2.6%. But Hong Kong-listed mainland oil producer Cnooc shed 3.6%, also on the crude moves.
[R]6:30AM European stocks were mostly higher Wednesday on bank shares.[/R]
European markets were higher by mid-morning on Wednesday. The FTSE 100 in London gained 0.1% to 5,939.4, Frankfurt Xetra Dax added 0.3% to 6,010.55 and in Paris, the CAC 40 was 0.2% higher at 5,227.92.
In focus
Oil company British Petrolium declined in London after reporting expected lower margins while EADS announced late Tuesday that it will push back the already-delayed delivery schedule of A380 superjumbo jets by up to another year.
Advancers
Banks advanced after the US bank Citigroup was reported to be setting out on an acquisition course. Among those identified as targets, BNP Paribas of France gained 1.6%, Société Générale added 1.6% and BBVA of Spain gained 1.5%.
Companies that benefited from the decline in oil prices included British Airways with its shares up 2.4%, and cruise operator Carnival, which gained 1.4%. Chipmaker Infineon Technologies was also up 2.4% following an upgrade to buy from neutral from Goldman Sachs.
Decliners
EADS led the decliners. The aerospace group fell 6.7% after it announced further delays to its troubled Airbus A380 superjumbo, prompting top buyer Emirates to put its purchases under review.
DaimlerChrysler shares slipped 0.8%. The automaker last night also posted a narrower-than-expected 2.3% monthly drop in U.S. auto sales on strength from its Mercedes. Mining stocks moved lower on commodity exchanges. BHP Billiton lost 3.4% and Rio Tinto shed 3.3%.
Oil and gold
Oil prices fell for a third day Wednesday. Light sweet crude oil for November delivery fell 18 cents to $58.50 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. November Brent crude fell 41 cents to $58.02 at London''s ICE Futures exchange. Gold traded in London at $578.50, down from $581.80 late Monday.
Currencies
The U.S. dollar advanced against other major currencies in European trading Wednesday morning. The euro traded at $1.2696, down from $1.2727 late Tuesday in New York. The British pound traded at $1.8824, down from $1.8872. The dollar bought 118.05 Japanese yen, up from 117.89.
[R]5:00AM Gold and silver futures fell Tuesday due to the crude oil price plunge.[/R]
The most-active December gold sank $21.80 at $581.50 an ounce and the most-active December silver contract slipped to $11.02 an ounce, its lowest level since Sept. 21. The contract closed at $11.045, down 59.5 cents. January platinum moved dowwn $29.30 to end at $1,129.90 an ounce while December palladium settled $7.70 lower at $306.45 an ounce. The December copper contract fell 14.70 cents to finish at $3.2825 per pound.
The front-month November crude oil contract lost $2.35 to $58.68 a barrel, its lowest close since Feb. 16. November heating oil declined 4.79 cents to $1.6539 a gallon and November unleaded gasoline was off 4.567 cents to $1.455 a gallon, also a seven-month low. October natural gas advanced 11.6 cents at $5.759 a million British thermal units.
On the New York Board of Trade, December Arabica coffee futures closed up 0.70 cent at $1.0425 a pound and March gained 0.70 cent to $1.0810. Futures on raw sugar in foreign ports for March sagged 0.43 cent to end at 10.89 cents a pound and May lost 0.38 cent to 11.12 cents.
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