Japan Falls on Exports, HK Rises on Banks

Ivaylo
04 Dec, 2006
New York City

Asian markets finished mixed on Monday, with the Nikkei 225 in Japan retreating as a strong yen hurt shares of exporters, while Hong Kong benchmark index edged higher on gains by Chinese banks. In South Korea shares fell on U.S. market losses as disappointing U.S. economic data released on Friday. Taiwan rose for the fourth session in row while Australia fell after data released Monday showed Australian new home building approvals dropped in October.

[R]7:30AM Asian stocks closed mixed on Monday, with the Japan down and HK up.[/R]
Asian markets ended mixed on Monday. Japan''s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index fell 0.11%, to finish at 16303.59. Shares of Canon fell as much 1.2%. Consumer electronics conglomerate Matsushita slipped 1.3%. Among Japanese auto makers, which rely on the U.S. export market, Nissan Motor lost 1.4%, while shares of Nippon Steel rose 1.3% on reports the group will consider a cross-shareholding arrangement from Baosteel Group Corp of China.

In Hong Kong, strength in Chinese banks and laggard blue chips helped the Hang Seng Index edge higher. The Hang Seng Index rose 0.1% to 18702.73. China Construction Bank, which has the third-largest weighting in the benchmark index, rose 1% and China Merchants Bank gained 3.1%. Shares of China Mobile shed 0.8% while fellow index heavy HSBC Holdings fell 0.4%.

In South Korea, shares fell on U.S. market losses as disappointing U.S. economic data released late Friday sent the Korean won to more than a nine-year high. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index, or Kospi, fell 0.6% to 1426.46. LG.Philips LCD declined 2.6%, due to concerns over earnings in the first half of next year.

Taiwan shares rose for the fourth session in row to a new six-year high. The Weighted Price Index of the Taiwan Stock Exchange rose 0.4% to close at 7647.01. Australia''s S&P ASX/200 fell 0.1% after data released Monday showed Australian new home building approvals fell 7.4% in October, exceeding the 2% decline economists had expected. Australia''s Woodside Petroleum traded flat.

Shanghai Composite Index in China climbed to a five-year high after official media reported that the government will encourage financial institutions to invest more heavily in shares. The Shanghai Composite rose 2.8% to 2161.65, its highest close since July 23, 2001. Singapore Straits Times Index rose 0.5%, Malaysia KLSE Composite shed 0.3% and New Zealand NZX-50 index ended down 0.5% and Indonesia Jakarta Composite fell 0.2%.

[R]6:30AM European markets gained a little on Monday on bid speculation.[/R]
European markets were higher on Monday. By mid morning, FTSE 100 in London climbed 0.5% to 6,049.8, Frankfurt Xetra Dax added 0.4% to 6,268.05, and the CAC 40 in Paris gained 0.4% to 5,272.54.

Advancers

Shares in Alstom gained 2.4%, while Bouygues added 0.3%. Spanish construction company FCC gained 2.4% after domestic rival Acciona said it had agreed to sell its 15.1% stake in FCC to property group Inmocaral. Inmocaral jumped 5.1%. Acciona shares were flat.

Endesa, meanwhile, along with rival Spanish electricity groups Iberdrola and Union Fenosa, gained after the government said it planned to raise electricity tariffs by an average 10 %, Endesa gained 0.6%, Iberdrola added 0.7% and Union Fenosa climbed 1.1%.

Eon, the German utility whose bid for Endesa could potentially be blocked by Acciona, climbed 0.4%. AstraZeneca, whose rival treatment Crestor is among its biggest growth drivers, gained 1.1%, while Roche, the Swiss group which is developing a new cholesterol drug, added 0.3%.

Decliners

The German-listed pharma company Pfizer fell as much as 12% after the company ended development of a new cholesterol drug, which had been tipped to be its next blockbuster.

Oil and gold

Oil prices gained slightly Monday as fresh comments from key OPEC members over the weekend suggested the oil cartel would push for further cuts in output at its next meeting later this month. Light, sweet crude oil for January delivery rose 2 cents to $63.45 a barrel in electronic trading on the NYME.

Gold traded at $640.66 an ounce Monday, down $5.74 an ounce from the close of $646.40 on Friday.

Currencies

After rising to a 20-month high around $1.3370 in early trade, the euro pared gains to stand at $1.3325, slightly down on the day. The British pound pulled away from a 14-year high of $1.9849 hit on Friday to stand at $1.9790. The dollar was up slightly at 115.55 Japanese yen but stayed in sight of a four-month low of 114.97 yen on Friday.

[R]5:00AM Gold prices declined Friday, while silver futures added up on dollar.[/R]
February gold lost $2.30 to end at $650.60 a troy ounce on the NYME. March silver rose 7.5 cents to $14.19 an ounce. January platinum fell $22.20 to $1,154.50 an ounce. March palladium declined $1.60 to $332.75. Most-active March copper settled down 2.35 cents at $3.1720 per pound.

The January crude oil contract advanced 30 cents to close at $63.43 a barrel, their highest close since Sept. 18. January heating oil settled down 0.23 cent to $1.8477 a gallon. January unleaded gasoline gained 1.70 cents to finish at $1.6855 a gallon. December natural gas settled down 42.2 cents at $8.411 a million British thermal units.

On the New York Board of Trade, December Arabica coffee futures closed 3.50 cents higher at $1.2320 a pound, with most active March up 3.30 cents at $1.2760. Futures on raw sugar in foreign ports for March settled down 0.11 cent at 12.26 cents a pound, with May down 0.06 cent at 12.20 cents.