Japan Declines in Thin Trading

Ivaylo
01 May, 2007
New York City

Japanese stocks declined in subdued trading Tuesday as traders tracked Wall Street where stocks sagged overnight. Traders took profits in recent advancers such as real-estate company Mitsui Fudosan and machinery maker Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which reported earnings last week. Markets in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand were closed for a public holiday.

[R]8:00AM Japan finishes lower on profit-taking and weak U.S. close.[/R]
Japan finished lower on Tuesday. Markets in China, Hong Kong, India, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand were closed for a public holiday.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo ended at 17,275.68, down 124.73 points, or 0.72%, from Friday. Trading was subdued on account of Golden Week. The market was closed Monday for a national holiday and will be closed again on Thursday and Friday. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group shed 1.9% after a downward revision of its earnings estimate for the year ended March 31. NTT DoCoMo added 2%, however, as it projected a profit rise for this fiscal year after reporting a double-digit net profit fall in the just-ended year.

In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index ended also down 20.2 points, or 0.3%, at 6,145.8. Resources stocks led the decline, with BHP Billiton down 1.2% and Rio Tinto down 2.1%. Symbion Health gained 4.4%, though, after receiving a takeover offer from a consortium comprising Healthscope, Ironbridge and Archer Capital.

[R]5:30AM Cocoa slipped Monday on supply concerns, gold climbed.[/R]
Most-active July cocoa on the New York Board of Trade ended down $24 at $1,798 a metric ton. Arabica coffee futures for May finished down 0.85 cent at $1.0315 a pound, with July off 0.85 cent at $1.0615. Futures on raw sugar in foreign ports for May closed down 0.11 cent at 9.24 cents a pound, with July off 0.10 cent at 9.10 cents.

June gold ended up $1.70 at $683.50 a troy ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while July silver was unchanged at $13.575 an ounce. July platinum settled up $5.40 at $1,298.40 an ounce, but June palladium dipped 45 cents to $374 an ounce. The most-active July copper contract climbed 2.40 cents to settle at $3.5565 per pound.

The June crude oil contract ended down 75 cents at $65.71 a barrel after trading at $66.65 a barrel. May heating oil finished unchanged at $1.9135 a gallon. June heating oil closed down 1.79 cent at $1.8948 a gallon. May gasoline added 0.792 cent to end at $2.4405 a gallon after rising to $2.4550 a gallon. June natural gas settled up 3.2 cents at $7.863 per million British thermal units.