Japan Leads Asia Higher

Ivaylo
05 Oct, 2006
New York City

The Nikkei Average in Japan finished sharply higher Thursday, leading a region-wide rise, as investors bought blue chips such as Toyota Motor Corp. and Canon Inc. after another record close for the U.S. markets. Interest-rate-sensitive stocks were also active, led by Hong Kong-listed HSBC Holdings. All the regional markets finished higher but for New Zealand, which ended flat.

[R]7:30AM Record close for the Nikkei in Japan boosts Asian markets.[/R]
Asian markets finished higher on Thursday. The Nikkei Average of 225 companies closed with a gain of 2.3% to 16,449.3. Shares of office-equipment and digital-camera maker Canon rose 4.4% after the Nihon Keizai business daily reported the group will lift its 2008 production goal for digital-camera shipments by 13% to 26 million units.

Shares of Toyota advanced 1.7%, while Sony Corp fell 0.3% as investors struggled to digest a recent spate of bad news regarding its electronics division. Toshiba Corp plunged 5.2% on concerns related to its financial burden in the acquisition of U.S. nuclear-utility manufacturer Westinghouse Electric Co.

Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong was up 1.3% to 17,854.5. HSBC rose 1.8% to HK$144.30, while Bank of China advanced 0.6% after earlier touching a fresh all-time high. Blue-chip property developer Hang Lung Properties rose 2.5%.

Taiwan leading share index climbed 1.8% to 6,997.2. Australia S&P/ASX 200 was up 1.3%. Singapore Straits Times Index advanced as much as 1%. Malaysia leading share index edged higher 0.3%, while New Zealand traded flat.

Advances in oil prices supported energy-related shares, with Woodside Petroleum of Australia advancing 3.6%. The largest crude-oil producer in China, PetroChina rose 1.1%.

[R]6:30AM European markets buoyed by M&A, oil, and mining stocks on Thursday.[/R]
European markets were higher by mid-morning on Thursday. London FTSE 100 climbed 0.6% to 6,002.8, Frankfurt Xetra Dax gained 0.6% to 6,083.73 and the CAC 40 in Paris added 0.6% to 5,289.72.

In focus

Steelmakers are among the stocks riding high on merger speculation after rumours that Tata Steel of India was approaching Corus, the Anglo-Dutch group with an offer.

Advancers

Oil companies were higher. OMV, the Austrian oil group, rose 3%, while Finnish refiner Neste Oil gained 2.7%. Total in France gained 1.2% and Britain’s BP added 1.4%.

Commodities were also on the increase. Corus shares jumped 10.4% in Amsterdam, while Thyssenkrupp in Germany added 3.1% and Salzgitter added 1.6%.

Decliners

British Airways shares were flat after Citigroup downgraded the carrier to hold from buy, citing lighter-than-expected September traffic and the firm reduced fiscal 2007 revenue guidance.

Oil and gold

Oil leapt more than 1 percent to above $60 a barrel on Thursday. U.S. crude oil jumped 67 cents to $60.08 a barrel. London Brent rose 56 cents to $59.78, having recovered from a low of $57.70, its weakest this year. Gold was trading at $567.20 an ounce, down $9.40 an ounce from Wednesday close of $576.60.

Currencies

The euro was barely changed against the U.S. dollar Thursday ahead of a meeting at which the European Central Bank was widely expected to raise its key interest rate. The euro bought $1.2711 in morning European trading, compared with $1.2713 in New York late Wednesday.

With the Bank of England also meeting Thursday, the British pound bought $1.8861, barely below Wednesday''s level of $1.8864. The dollar slipped to 117.66 Japanese yen from 117.89 yen.

[R]5:00AM Gold retreats Wednesday on speculative selling.[/R]
December gold fell $14.80 to settle at $566.70 a troy ounce on the NYME. December silver sank 25 cents at $10.795 an ounce. October platinum closed at $1,082.40 an ounce, down $47.50. December palladium finished at $296.65 an ounce, down $9.80. December copper lost 7.70 cents to close at $3.2055 per pound.

The November crude oil contract ended 73 cents higher at $59.41 a barrel after falling as low as $57.70 a barrel, the lowest level for a front-month contract since Feb. 16. November gasoline moved up 4.11 cents to $1.4978 a gallon. November heating oil rose 2.31 cents to stop at $1.6770 a gallon. October natural gas settled up 23.6 cents at $5.995 a million British thermal units.

On the New York Board of Trade, December Arabica coffee futures closed up 0.20 cent at $1.0445 a pound and March gained 0.25 cent at $1.0835. Futures on raw sugar in foreign ports for March advanced 0.27 cent at 11.16 cents a pound.