Friday, May 28, 2010

Asia Market Report - Stylish end to the week

Date: Friday 28 May 2010
The Nikkei put more distance between it and the recent six-month low as China’s denial it is looking to sell eurozone assets sparked a rally on Wall Street.

A weaker yen gave exporters a breather. Sony, Toshiba and Canon were beneficiaries, helping the leading index add 123 points to 9,762.

Currency issues also revved up carmakers Honda, Toyota and Nissan, while commodity stocks did well on better metal prices.

A 4% surge in crude prices following the China news gave oil companies a boost.

Over in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng felt the benefit of overnight gains in the US, breaking through 19,000 with a leap of over 300 points.

Again, oil companies, including Petrochina and CNOOC, featured heavily, as did banks like HSBC.

Trading in the Hong Kong-listed shares of Prudential were halted as the UK insurer tried to renegotiate the $35.5bn price agreed for AIG’s Asian assets.

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