Asia Shakes off N.Korea Scare

Ivaylo
10 Oct, 2006
New York City

The Japanese government said it was weighing a variety of responses, including expanded financial and other sanctions that could be enforced by military action. Otherwise, blue chips Canon Inc., Toyota Motor Corp. and resource company BHP Billiton were in focus. Energy-related shares gained after crude-oil prices advanced in the U.S. South Korea Composite Stock Price Index, or Kospi recovered from a slump in the previous session.

[R]7:30AM Asian markets recover from N.Korea scare, end higher on Tuesday.[/R]
Asian markets ended higher on Tuesday.The Nikkei 225 Average in Japan finished up 0.3% at 16,477.3. Shares of Canon gained 0.9, while automaker Toyota''s shares rose 0.7%. Shares of Toshiba Corp gained 2% after the company said it will invest 5.5 billion yen ($46 million) in a venture to produce LCD panels with a Polish subsidiary of South Korea''s LG.Philips LCD Co.

South Korea''s Composite Stock Price Index, or Kospi, was up 0.7%, at 1,328.37, rebounding from a 2.4% slump in the previous session. South Korean steelmaker Posco Co. advanced as much as 2.1% on expectations of further industry consolidation in the wake of Tata Steel of India bid for the Anglo-Dutch Corus Group Plc. Shares of Samsung Electronics Co ended up 0.2%.

Hong Kong Hang Seng Index gained 0.8% to 17,823.7. The China Enterprises Index rose 1.3% and shares listed in Malaysia, New Zealand and Shanghai traded nearly flat. Singapore Straits Times Index edged up 1%, while Indonesia Jakarta Composite was up 0.7%.

Australia S&P/ASX 200 index advanced 1%. BHP Billiton advanced 3.1%. Upbeat oil prices inspired shares of oil and gas producers. Inpex Holdings Inc gained 1.5%. Australian Woodside Petroleum advanced 1.6%

[R]6:30AM European markets advanced, recovering from political concerns.[/R]
European markets were higher by mid-morning on Tuesday. London FTSE 100 gained 0.3% to 6,048.0, Frankfurt Xetra Dax added 0.5% to 6,111.41, and the CAC 40 in Paris climbed 0.4% to 5,306.83.

Advancers

EADS, the French aerospace group, rose 3.9% after the new chief executive of the company troubled Airbus unit said there would be painful job cuts. The U.K. index got a boost from mobile phone giant Vodafone shares of which climbed 2.4%.

French aero-engine maker, Safran, gained 3.3% after it revealed late on Monday its CFM56 engine set a new sales record at the company. Ras Holding gained 1.6% and French group Axa rose 1.1%

Banca Intesa in Italy rose 1.5% as it neared agreement on a sale of a number of its branches to Credit Agricole in order to meet regulatory terms for the approval of its merger with Sanpaolo IMI. Sanpaolo shares gained 1.3%. Sanofi-Aventis shares added 0.6%.

Decliners

There was no eminent decliner this morning in Europe.

Oil and gold

Crude oil for November delivery rose 58 cents to $60.54 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the NYME. November Brent crude at London ICE Futures traded 31 cents higher at $60.85 a barrel.

Gold rose as high as $579.60 an ounce and slid to $578.40/579.40 an ounce, still higher than $576.00/577.10 an ounce late in New York.

Currencies

The euro inched down to $1.2598 from $1.2605.The dollar initially gained to 119.35 yen, its highest level since hitting 119.40 yen Feb. 3, but fell to 119.10 yen, down from 119.12 yen late Monday in New York. The British pound traded at $1.8672, compared with $1.8706 yesterday.

[R]5:30AM Gold futures advanced but fail to hit record highs despite support.[/R]
Gold for December delivery finished up $5.70 at $582.50 an ounce on the NYME, after touching a high of $585.20. Silver futures closed up 24.5 cents at $11.42 an ounce, while platinum added $15 to $1,095.80 an ounce and palladium was up $3 at $303.25 an ounce. Copper added 2.45 cents to $3.413 a pound.

Crude oil for November delivery closed up 20 cents at $59.96 a barrel, well below the day''s high of $61.30. November unleaded gasoline futures down 0.9 cents at $1.4949 a gallon and November heating oil up 3.57 cents at $1.7297 a gallon. November natural gas rose 0.2 cent to $6.429 per million British thermal units.