Japan Rallies, HK Plunges

Ivaylo
13 Feb, 2001
New York City

Asia ended mixed Tuesday with Japanese stocks reaching their highest level in more than six years, but HK stocks dropped sharply on investor worries over fund outflows before the Lunar New Year. In South Korea, the benchmark index was buoyed by news related with North Korea, while Chinese transport-related companies lifted shares higher on heavy traffic before the Chinese New Year. In Australia, the stock market set new record highs, as investors were focused on earnings and M & A activity.

[R]8:30AM Asian markets closed mixed with Japan ending up, while HK down.[/R]
Asian markets ended mixed Tuesday. The Nikkei Index ended 0.7% higher at 17,621, after Japanese markets were closed on Monday. Mitsubishi Estate advanced 3.9%, Sumitomo Realty & Development gained 6.4% and Mitsui Fudosan, which Friday revised its profit outlook upwards for the fiscal year to March, surged 6.8%. The Hong Kong Hang Seng Index shed 2.2% to 20,132. Declines were led by China-related firms and property developers. Hang Lung Properties dipped 4.9%, Sino Land lost 3.9% and Cheung Kong also declined 3.9%.

South Korean Kospi Index gained 0.3% to 1,418. The benchmark index was given a boost following news of an agreement on the six-nation talks with North Korea on its nuclear disarmament. Hyundai Merchant Marine advanced 3.3% and Hyundai Elevator jumped 3.5%. The Shanghai Composite Index in China added 0.9% to end at 2,832. Airline, railway and taxi companies advanced on expectations of strong earnings from holiday traffic. Air China gained 6.3%, Daqin Railway rose 4.8% and bus and taxi operator Shanghai Bashi Industrial advanced 3.8%. Australia S&P/ASX 200 ended 0.2% up at 5,937. Merger and acquisition activities lifted the market. Alumina rose 5.9% after the Times of London reported that BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto separately had plans to buy Alcoa.

[R]6:30AM Europe advances Tuesday on strong gains in auto and airline stocks.[/R]
European markets were higher on Tuesday. By mid morning, Frankfurt Xetra Dax gained 0.4% to 6,882.86, the CAC 40 in Paris added 0.4% to 5,664.97 and London FTSE !00 climbed 0.2% to 6,366.4.

Advancers

Automaker Peugeot shares were up 1.1% and airline Ryanair Holdings shares 2.2% higher in the transport segment as crude for March delivery closed down $2.08 at $57.81 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Monday. Norway Renewable Energy Corp gained 4.5% after reporting a better-than-expected 86% jump in Q4 core earnings. French telecoms and construction group Bouygues gained 1.4% after reporting a 10% rise in 2006 revenues, beating expectations, helped by sales growth at its telecoms unit.

Decliners

Sanofi-Aventis, the French drugmaker, fell 1.9% despite beating expectations with its Q4 operating profit and forecasting further growth for 2007. UBS shares lost 0.8% after the banking company reported a 47% drop in Q4 net profit but also said that it would buy back up to 10% of its shares. British Land shares fell 2.1%, Land Securities shares dipped 1.6% and Liberty International shares lost 2.2%.

Oil and gold

Oil slipped below $58 a barrel on Tuesday, extending a $2 drop from the previous day on signs that OPEC will refrain from further oil supply cuts when it meets in March. U.S. crude was off 23 cents at $57.58 a barrel. London Brent crude slipped 12 cents to $56.48 a barrel. Gold traded at $665.90 an ounce on Tuesday, up $1.30 an ounce from its close of $664.60 on Monday.

Currencies

The euro advanced after a report showed German economic growth unexpectedly quickened in Q4, underpinning expectations the European Central Bank will keep raising interest rates. The euro gained to $1.300 in early trade in London from $1.2966 in New York yesterday. It was also at 157.75 yen from 158.13. The yen traded at 121.34 against the dollar from 121.94 late in New York yesterday.

[R]5:30AM Gold settles lower on Monday on firm dollar and weaker oil.[/R]
Most-active April gold plunged $5 to$667.30 a troy ounce while March silver lost 20 cents to finish at $13.715. April platinum settled down $10.50 at $1,191.30 an ounce while March palladium declined $3.90 to end at $337.75. Most active March copper shed 4 cents to end at $2.4775 per pound.

The March crude oil slid $2.08 to close at $57.81 a barrel while March heating oil lost 7.97 cents to $1.6454 a gallon. March gasoline was off 6.21 cents to end at $1.5527 a gallon. March natural gas declined 60.1 cents to close at $7.226 per million British thermal units.

On the New York Board of Trade, March Arabica coffee futures closed down 0.80 cent at $1.1475 a pound, with May off 0.75 cent at $1.1780. Futures on raw sugar in foreign ports for March slipped 0.10 cent to close at 10.39 cents a pound.