HK Rallies, Japan Dips

Ivaylo
15 Nov, 2006
New York City

The Hang Seng Index finished at a record high buoyed by increases in China-related stocks and property shares. Gains in technology issues supported other regional indexes to end in positive territory, but could not counter declines in construction, steel and consumer-finance stocks in Japan. Technology shares also helped South Korean shares extend recent advances, while Singapore property stocks lifted the benchmark index. Australia and New Zealand slipped and Malaysia closed flat.

[R]7:30AM Asian markets close mostly higher Wednesday, Japan edges lower.[/R]
Asian markets ended mostly higher on Wednesday. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 Average Index ended 0.3% lower to 16243.47. Shares of camera maker Canon gained 0.5%, while electronics and entertainment company Sony shed 0.6%. In construction and steel stocks, Obayashi declined 1.7% and JFE Holdings lost 0.6%.

The Hang Seng Index ended at a record high, gaining 1.1% to finish at 19093.00. China Construction Bank led the advance, surging 6.4% after BOCI raised its rating on the bank to outperform, announcing it believes that strong earnings growth and high profitability will support higher valuation of CCB. Peers Industrial & Commercial Bank of China gained 3.1% and Bank of China advanced 2.5%. Shares of wireless provider China Mobile rose 1.6%.

The Straits Times Index in Singapore advanced 0.6% to 2777.62. Strength in the property and technology sectors also helped lift shares to a record closing high. An upbeat technology sector helped lift Taiwan''s Weighted Price Index, which gained 0.5% to 7236.85. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index, or Kospi, also rose 0.4% to 1412.54. Shares of Samsung Electronics advanced 2% and LG.Philips LCD added 4.2%. Bank shares were hit hard by the announcement of the government of further moves to control property prices. Kookmin Bank shed 1.8% and Woori Finance closed down 1.4%.

In China, the market finished at a five-year closing high, led by advances from air carriers. The Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.8% to 1922.94, its highest closing level since Aug. 21, 2001, when it closed at 1938.87. The Shenzhen Composite Index added 2.7% to 448.70. Bucking the uptrend were Australia S&P/ASX 200 shedding 0.1% and New Zealand NZX-50 Index ending 0.2% lower. Malaysia KLSE Composite traded flat fell 0.4%, while stock indexes in Thailand traded flat.

[R]6:30AM European markets advanced Wednesday on tech and telecom stocks.[/R]
European markets were higher on Wednesday. By mid morning, the FTSE 100 in London climbed 0.5% to 6,214.9, Frankfurt Xetra Dax was up 0.5% to 6,419.88, and the CAC 40 in Paris added 0.4% to 5,499.94.

Advancers

Infineon of Germany, the semiconductor maker, gained 3.4% after Qimonda, its US-listed memory chip unit, reported better than expected fourth-quarter results.

STMicroelectronics, Franco-Italian chipmaker, gained 1.7%, while ASML, the Dutch maker of chip-manufacturing equipment, climbed 1.4%.

Ericsson, the Swedish mobile phone equipment group, gained 1.5% after it announced a trio of contract wins, including a $110 million deal to expand the mobile network of AIS of Thailand.

Alstom, the French heavy engineer, gained 3.2% after Morgan Stanley raised its price target on the company following its stronger than expected results on Monday.

Decliners

Euronext, the pan-European stock exchange operator, fell 4% after Deutsche Borse said it was withdrawing its bid, a rival offer to that of NYSE. The German operator said it could have only pursued a deal that was supported by both sides and felt this was no longer possible.

Shares in Deutsche Borse and the London Stock Exchange were hit after a group of international banks unveiled plans for a European trading platform. The shares of the German company fell 2%, while LSE shed 4.7%.

Oil and gold

Crude oil for December delivery gained 21 cents to $58.49 a barrel in electronic trading on the NYME. On London ICE Futures exchange, December Brent crude gained 31 cents to $59.15 a barrel ahead of its expiration later Wednesday.

Gold for immediate delivery rose $1.42, or 0.2%, to $622.30 an ounce in early trading in London. The metal dropped 2% the previous three sessions.

The euro bought $1.2825 in morning European trading, compared with $1.2823 in New York late Tuesday. The British pound slipped to $1.8956 from $1.8971. The dollar rose to 117.84 Japanese yen from 117.54 yen.

[R]5:30AM Gold and silver futures moved down Tuesday on unstable dollar.[/R]
The December gold contract ended 50 cents lower at $625.30 a troy ounce. December silver finished 0.05 cents higher at $12.89 an ounce. January platinum settled $30.70 lower at $1,173.20 an ounce and December palladium closed $7.25 lower at $319.50 per ounce. Most-active December copper settled up 1.4 cents at $3.0890 per pound.

December crude oil moved 30 cents lower to $58.28 a barrel. December heating oil settled up 0.32 cent to $1.6632 a gallon. December gasoline advanced 0.78 cent to $1.5448 a gallon while December natural gas settled up 8.3 cents at $7.977 a million British thermal units.

On the New York Board of Trade, speculative buying enabled Arabica coffee futures to post a gain. The December contract settled up 0.65 cent at $1.1580 per pound. Futures on raw sugar in foreign ports for March settled unchanged at 11.67 cents a pound.