Japan Inspires Asian Rebound

Ivaylo
11 Dec, 2006
New York City

Stronger exporter stocks powered a rally in Asian stocks on Monday as Japanese markets gained on a falling yen that gave a boost to export-oriented companies such as Toyota and Nissan. It was an across-the-region rally, as only Taiwan markets bucked the trend and declined among the major markets. In Hong Kong, large-caps Hutchison Whampoa and China Mobile led the gainers while South Korean stock markets ended flat despite the upbeat banking sector.

[R]7:30AM Asian markets advanced on Monday buoyed by Japanese stocks.[/R]
Asian markets finished higher on Monday, led by a surge in Japanese export-oriented stocks. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 Index ended at 16,560.80, up 0.87%. Stocks were boosted by advances in auto and other exporters stocks as the yen plunged against the dollar. Toyota gained 1.4%, while Nissan added 0.6% after the the company announced it would launch a fuel cell vehicle in the early 2010s in Japan and North America as part of its mid-term environmental strategy. Other advancers included Nippon Steel, which rose 4%, and Nintendo, which jumped 3.6%.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index gained 1% to 18,924.66. Hutchison Whampoa advanced 2.3% on talk the Hong Kong-listed conglomerate will sell its loss-making 3G mobile operation in the United Kingdom. China Mobile rose 1.7%, bouncing back after shedding 4.3% Thursday and Friday after an institutional investor sold shares in the firm.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index, or Kospi, finished up 0.02% at 1,390.73, bucking the downtrend after five sessions in a row of declines last week. Shares of Woori Finance surged 4% on foreign buying after losing 7.4%. Posco gained 1.2%, although it said it will jointly buy iron ore with Nippon Steel next year as part of an expanded strategic alliance.

Other indexes around the region also gained. The Shanghai Composite Index added 2.47% to 2,145.30 and Australia S&P/ASX Index 200 ended up 0.81% to 5,469.70, while New Zealand NZSX-50 Index rebounded as it strayed from the overall trend and closed down 0.03% at 3,887. Taiwan Taipei Weighted Price Index fell 0.32% to 7,612.12 and Singapore Straits Time Index gained 0.8% to 2,887.23.

[R]6:30AM European markets gained in early trading Monday on strong steel shares.[/R]
European markets were higher on Monday. By mid morning, London FTSE 100 rose 0.4%, Frankfurt Xetra Dax gained 0.5% to 6,462.11, and the CAC 40 was 0.7 % higher at 5,422.5.

Advancers

Continental shares gained 2.3%. Corus, the Anglo-Dutch group, was 4.6% higher on the prospect of a bidding war as Tata Steel of India said it was reconsidering its position after CSN, the Brazilian steel company agreed to buy Corus for 4.9 billion pounds. Mittal Steel, gained 2.3% and ThyssenKrupp gained 0.6%.

Deutsche Börse advanced 2.9% as weak hopes surfaced that Euronext proposed merger with NYSE Group might not yet be a cut deal, leaving the German exchange operator with a chance of an alternative offer.

Decliners

Autostrade, the Italian road builder and operator, declined 3.4% as hopes of a takeover by Spanish peer Abertis evaporated. Shares in Abertis were 2% higher. Oil groups were lower as crude prices declined. Royal Dutch Shell was off 0.5% as it entered talks with Russian Gazprom over control of the Sakhalin-2 liquefied natural gas project off the Russian far-east coast.

Oil and gold

Crude oil was little changed due to speculation that global stockpiles will limit the effect if OPEC cuts production later this week. Crude oil for January delivery was trading for $61.87 a barrel, down 16 cents, in electronic trading on the NYME in early trading in London. The Brent contract for January settlement on the London-based ICE Futures Exchange gained 37 cents to $62.57.

Gold traded in London at $625.50 per troy ounce, down from $636.00 late Friday.

Currencies

The U.S. dollar was mostly up against other major currencies in European trading Monday morning. The euro traded at $1.3193, down from $1.3200 late Friday.The dollar bought 116.89 Japanese yen, up from 116.47. The British pound traded at $1.9503, down from $1.9525.

[R]5:00AM Gold and silver stocks dropped on Friday on stronger dollar.[/R]
February gold lost $6 a troy ounce to end at $631 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. March silver dropped 14 cents to finish at $13.895 and January platinum dipped $17.10 to $1,107.80 an ounce. March palladium advanced $2.95 to $333.95 an ounce. The top-traded March copper contract advanced 1-cent to end at $3.1120 per pound.

The January crude oil declined 46 cents to $62.03 a barrel after reaching $63.65 but failing to rise above $64. January heating oil lost 2.15 cents to end at $1.7573 a gallon after advancing to $1.8190 a gallon. January unleaded gasoline slipped 0.62 cent to $1.6213 a gallon while January natural gas moved 11.0 cents lower to finish at $7.561 a million British thermal units.

On the New York Board of Trade, December Arabica coffee futures closed 0.05 cent down at $1.2185 a pound. March futures of raw sugar in foreign ports gained 0.15 cent to close at 11.37 cents a pound.