Asian Markets End Higher On Wall Street Gains The Asian markets, open for trading, ended the trading session in positive territory on Wednesday, lifted by smart gains on Wall Street in the previous session where all the major indices ended sharply higher on optimism about sustaining economic recovery after concerns about Europe appear to have eased slightly. Higher commodity and oil prices also lifted market sentiment. The markets in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan are closed for holidays.
In Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index advanced 179.26 points, or 1.81% to 10,067, while thebroader Topix index of all First Section issues gained 13.55 points, or 1.54%, to 892.
On the economic front, a report released by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry revealed that the tertiary industry activity in the country rose 2.1% in April, compared to a 2.7% decline reported in the previous month. However, economists were looking for a 2.5% increase for the month. Activity in the information & communications industry increased 9.4% month-on-month in April. Activity in the wholesale & retail trade industry grew 3.6% while that in the real estate & goods rental & leasing grew 0.4%. Electricity, gas, heat supply & water rose 0.9%.
Releasing the Monthly Report of Recent Economic and Financial Developments for June, the Bank of Japan has maintained its economic assessment. The central bank expects the Japanese economy to recover at a moderate pace. Further, the BoJ expects the uptrend in exports and production to continue, reflecting continued improvement in overseas economic conditions, although the pace of growth is set to moderate gradually. Domestic private demand is forecast to improve, while public investment is set to continue its fall, the central bank added.
Data released by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare revealed that the average labor cash earnings in Japan increased for a second consecutive month in April. As per the report, earnings rose 1.6% annually in April, revised up from 1.5%. This followed a 1% rise seen in March. Scheduled cash earnings of the employees in establishments with five or more employees, meanwhile, dropped 0.2% year-on-year, which was revised from 0.4% decline. Overtime pay moved up 12.4%, down from 12.8% in March.
Light sweet crude oil futures for July delivery ended at $76.96 a barrel in electronic trading, up $0.02 per barrel from previous close at $76.94 a barrel in New York on Tuesday.
Almost all the stocks ended in positive territory on optimism about economic recovery. The strengthening of the euro against the yen and the US dollar enthused exporters, and thus lifted the psychological NIKKEI -225 index past the 10,000 market for the first time since a month.
Among the exporters and machinery stocks, Kyocera Corp. gained 2.49%, Fanuc Ltd advanced 1.52%, Canon Inc. climbed 3.89%, Sharp Corp. rose 3.14%, and Sony Corp. added 0.96%.
Shipping stocks also surged up on optimism about recovery. Mitsui OSK Lines gained 2.53%,Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha climbed 3.20% and Nippon Yusen advanced 0.94%.
In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 Index gained 54.00 points, or 1.20% and closed at 4,559, while the All-Ordinaries Index ended at 4,572, representing a gain of 54.50 points, or 1.21%.
On the economic front, a report released by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics, or ABARE, revealed that wheat production in the country during the winter cropping season is expected to rise to 22.1 million tonnes in 2010-11, up 2% from 2009-10 assuming average yields. At the same time, the area planted to wheat is forecast to drop by 2% to 13.5 million hectares.
A report jointly released by the Westpac Bank and Melbourne Institute revealed that a leading indicator of the Australian economy continued to surge ahead in April despite moderation in the pace of growth. As per the report, the leading index rose 7.6% on an annualized basis in April, well above the long-term trend of 3%. In March, the annualized rate stood at 8.8%, a twelve and a half year high.
In a separate report, the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed that the total number of dwelling units commenced in Australia rose a seasonally adjusted 4.3% in the March quarter compared with the December quarter. This follows a 16.8% surge in the December quarter. Economists had forecast a 7% increase for the March quarter. New private sector house commencements fell 2.4% in the March quarter following a rise of 14.3% in the December quarter. At the same time, new private sector other residential building starts rose 7.9%, following a rise of 20.6%.
Light sweet crude oil futures for July delivery ended at $76.96 a barrel in electronic trading, up $0.02 per barrel from previous close at $76.94 a barrel in New York on Tuesday.
Mining and metal stocks led the gains on bargain hunting at lower levels. BHP Billiton gained 2.19%, Fortescue Metals advanced 3.14%, Gindalbie Metals surged up 8.88%, Iluka Resources added 2.86%, Macarthur Coal rose 5.04%, Murchison Metals soared 11.11%, Oz Minerals was up 2.42% and Rio Tinto climbed 2.77%.
Oil related stocks also ended in positive territory on higher crude oil prices in the international market. Woodside Petroleum advanced 0.72%, Santos Ltd added 0.90%, ROC Oil co. climbed 4.29%, Oil Search Ltd gained 0.85% and Origin Energy rose 0.52%.Mixed trading was witnessed among gold stocks. While Lihir Gold managed to remain unchanged from previous close, Newcrest Mining ended in negative territory with a loss of 0.18%.
Banks also ended in positive territory on optimism about recovery. ANZ Bank gained 0.74%, Commonwealth Bank of Australia rose 1.49%, Macquarie Group gained 1.11%, National Australia Bank added 0.88% and Westpac Banking increased 0.94%.
In Hong Kong, the stock market is closed for a holiday.
Firm Asian cues and positive news flow on the domestic front on corporate advance tax payments and indirect tax collections helped the Indian market end higher for a sixth consecutive session on Wednesday. Successful bond auctions in Spain, Belgium and Ireland also eased concerns about Europe's debt crisis and capital outflows. However, with stocks fluctuating in Europe and U.S stock futures signaling losses, the benchmark 30-share Sensex closed off the day's high at 17,463, up about 50 points or 0.29% after rising by as much as 118 points earlier in the session and the 50-share Nifty rose 0.21% to 5,233.
Among the other major markets open for trading, Indonesia's Jakarta Composite Index gained 28.49 points, or 1.01% to close at 2,859, and Singapore's Strait Times Index advanced 28.73 points, or 1.02% to close at 2,847.
No comments:
Post a Comment