Asia Market Reports

Nikkei 225 Hang Seng Bse Sensex S&P/ASX 20

Asian Markets End In Positive Territory, Lifted By Wall Street Cues Asian markets ended Wednesday's trading session mostly in the green with moderate gains, taking cues from Wall Street where the major averages ended in the positive territory on increasing optimism about the sustainability of economic recovery. Except for the Chinese market, all the other markets in the region ended in the green. In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 Index surged up 66.40 points, or 1.39 percent, to close at 4,822.20 points, while the broader All Ordinaries Index ended at 4,912.70 points, representing a sharp gain of 61.50 points, or 1.26 percent. On the economic front, a report released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed that job vacancies in the country dropped 1.7 percent quarter-on-quarter during the three months to February. The data further noted that during the previous quarter, vacancies grew 6.6 percent over its previous quarter. However, compared to last year, the number of vacancies climbed 12.3 percent. According to trend estimates, the number of vacancies grew 3.6 percent over the previous quarter and was up 20.8 percent year-on-year. Light sweet crude oil futures for May delivery was trading at $104.59 a barrel in electronic trading, down $0.20 per barrel from previous close at $104.79 a barrel in New York on Tuesday. The local currency surpassed the par value against the US dollar and is presently quoted at A$1.0327 per US dollar. Resource related stocks ended in positive territory, lifted by rising Australian dollar value againstthe greenback. BHP Billiton gained 2.04 percent, Rio Tinto climbed 2.43 percent, Fortescue Metals added 1.27 percent, Gindalbie Metals rose 1.84 percent, Iluka Resources soared up 7.28 percent, Macarthur Coal advanced 0.78 percent, Murchison Metals was higher by 0.50 percent,Minara Resources surged by 2.63 percent, and Oz Minerals ended in positive territory with a gain of 0.98 percent. Banking related stocks also ended in the green on optimism about economic growth. ANZ Bankgained 1.57 percent, Commonwealth Bank of Australia rose 1.33 percent, National Australia Bank gained 1.10 percent and Westpac Banking Corp. was higher by 0.75 percent. Investment banking company Macquarie Group ended in the green with a gain of 1.00 percent. Stocks of major retailers also advanced. David Jones advanced 0.85 percent, JB Hi-Fi Ltd gained 1.01 percent, Metcash Ltd surged 3.24 percent, Wesfarmer rose 1.86 percent, and Woolworthswas higher by 1.17 percent. However, Harvey Norman bucked the trend and ended in the red with a minor loss of 0.33 percent. In Japan, the market market ended Wednesday's trading session in positive territory with sharp gains, lifting the Nikkei 225 Index above the psychological 9,700-mark. Weaker local currency against the US dollar and the Euro, as well as positive cues from Wall Street where the major averages ended with moderate gains in the previous session, lifted market sentiment. Notwithstanding the concerns about the critical condition of the nuclear reactors, traders evinced fresh buying interest at lower levels ahead of the end of the first quarter of the calendar year 2011, and lifted the broader market indices. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index surged up 249.71 points, or 2.64 percent, to 9,708.79., while the broader Topix Index of first section issues rose 15.88 points, or 1.87 percent, to 866.09. On the economic front, a preliminary report released by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry revealed that industrial production in Japan was up 0.4 percent in February compared to the previous month. That beat forecasts for a 0.1 percent monthly contraction following the 1.3 percent gain in January. On an annual basis, industrial production climbed 2.8 percent - below expectations for a 4.0 percent rise following the 3.5 percent increase in the previous month. A statement released by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, or JAMA, revealed that production of automobiles in the country declined for a fifth consecutive month in February. Production fell 5.5 percent year-on-year to 795,632 units during the month with production of passenger cars falling 6.4 percent over the year. The industry group reported that the domestic sales declined 12.4 percent annually to 401,292 units, while there was a 13.8 percent slump in car sales alone. As many as 80 percent of the 33 broad sectors in the TSE ended in the green during the trading session. Among the non-ferrous metals sector, Sumitomo Electric Industries gained 3.45 percent, Fujikura Ltd surged up 7.71 percent, Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. advanced 1.69 percent, Toyo Seikan Kaisha Ltd rose 1.74 percent, and DOWA Holdings Co. climbed 4.32 percent. Among precision machinery stocks, Terumo Corp. surged up 4.62 percent, Olympus Corp. climbed 3.01 percent, Niken Corp. rose 3.56 percent and Citizen Holdings soared 4.39 percent. In China, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index ended in negative territory with a minor loss of 2.17 points, or 0.07 percent, at 2,955.91. In Hong Kong, the benchmark HangSeng Index ended at 23,451.43, sharply higher by 391.07 points, or 1.70 percent from previous close. In Indonesia, the benchmark Jakarta Composite Index ended in positive territory with a gain of 49.46 points, or 1.38 percent, at 3,640.98. In Singapore, the Strait Times Index ended in the green with a gain of 38.37 points, or 1.26 percent, at 3,095.32. In India, the benchmark BSE index ended in the positive territory with a gain of 169.38 points at 19,290.18, while the broader Nifty index ended at 5,787.65, up 51.30 points from previous close. In South Korea, the benchmark KOSPI Index ended at 2,091.38, registering a gain of 19.25 points, or 0.93 percent from previous close. In Taiwan, the benchmark Taiwan Weighted Index ended at 8,646.31, registering a gain of 49.74 points, or 0.58 percent, from previous close.