Advance enters second day

Asian shares rose yesterday Monday Mar 21 on hopes that crews would avert a meltdown at a Japanese nuclear plant, but dealers were still cautious while air strikes in Libya hurt sentiment and sent oil higher.



With TOKYO’s stock exchanges closed for a public holiday, the region extended Friday’s gains that came after a week of volatility in which billions of dollars were wiped out following the quake-tsunami terror and atomic crisis.



SYDNEY closed up 0.35 percent, or 16.4 points, at 4,642.8. SEOUL advanced 1.13 percent, or 22.29 points, to 2,003.42 and TAIPEI closed 0.87 percent, or 72.96 points, higher at 8,467.71.



SHANGHAI edged up 0.08 percent, or 2.25 points, to 2,909.14, boosted by energy plays on the back of the Libyan crisis and despite the central bank on Friday hiking the amount of money lenders must hold in reserve.



Victor Shum, senior principal for Purvin and Gertz international energy consultants in Singapore, warned that the bombardment could see oil installations hit by collateral damage or internal sabotage.



“The unrest in the Middle East and North African region may spread… and hence the contagion effect on oil prices remains. Oil supply disruption is going to support prices in its triple digits,” Shum said.



The regional advances followed a second straight day of gains for the Dow on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 blue chips closed up 83.93 points (0.71 percent) to 11,858.52 while the broader S&P 500 added 5.49 (0.43 percent) to 1,279.21.



“Investors have been sidelined after the recovery following Japan’s nuclear crisis last week,” MF Global senior institutional trader Anthony Anderson told Dow Jones Newswires.



“The rise on Wall Street was encouraging, but it closed well off the high and there’s some nervousness about Libya as well as Japan, with markets closed there Monday.”



HONG KONG: Shares ended 1.73 percent higher yesterday as dealers picked up bargains after heavy losses last week caused by Japan’s nuclear crisis.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index gained 384.99 points to 22,685.22.

But Kenny Tang, general manager of AMTD Financial Planning, said: “Turnover is the key. Despite a rebound of the local shares, trading volume is not high, indicating investors’ risk appetite remains low as they are still cautious on the market outlook.”



SINGAPORE: Southeast Asian stock markets rose yesterday as worries about Japan’s nuclear problems eased a little, but volume was thin as investors remained concerned about oil prices after Western powers launched air strikes on Libya.

In Singapore, the Straits Times Index added 1.63 percent, or 47.73 points, to 2,983.51.

Sembcorp Industries gained 1.25 percent to S$4.87 and Keppel Land surged 1.96 percent to S$4.17.



KUALA LAMPUR: Share prices on Bursa Malaysia rebounded in tandem with regional stock markets yesterday. Advancing counters outpaced declining counters by 587 to 200.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (FBM KLCI) rebounded from a day low of 1,498.34 to a day high of 1,509.93 yesterday. It closed at 1,508.88, giving a day-on-day gain of 4.99 points, or 0.33 percent.



In other Asian markets yesterday:



* Manila gained 0.38 percent, or 14.43 points, to end at 3,844.31.



* Jakarta rose 0.71 percent, or 24.78 points, to 3,518.85.



* Bangkok gained 1.66 percent, or 16.64 points, to 1,019.93.



VIETNAM: The VN Index gained another 7.17 points or 1.56 percent to 468.25 pts whereas the HNX Index turned to fall 0.37 points or 0.39 percent to 94.84 pts.

On the southern bourse, the total trading volume reached nearly 41.08 million shares worth over 855.63 billion dong.

On the northern floor, the total market trade reached over 44.55 million shares valued at over 717.35 billion dong.



EUROPE: European stocks rose yesterday, supported by UN-backed military action in Libya, easing nuclear fears in Japan plus merger and acquisition activity in the telecoms sector.



London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index leapt 1.26 percent to 5,790.29 points in midday trade, Frankfurt’s DAX 30 added 2.02 percent to 6,798.82 points and in Paris, the CAC 40 rose 1.90 percent to 3,883.50.



The Stoxx 50 index of leading eurozone companies won 1.94 percent to 2,847.11 points after gains across Asia.



“The start of military activities by the international coalition and some progress with the Japan nuclear crisis has all helped to buoy markets this (Monday) morning,” said trader Ben Critchley at trading group IG Index.



AMERICA: Stocks started the week with big gains Monday on a major telecommunications deal and signs that Japan’s nuclear crisis was stabilizing. The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 12,000 for the first time since a nuclear power plant in Japan failed following a massive earthquake and tsunami.



In the U.S., AT&T Inc. said it would buy rival T-Mobile USA for $39 billion, creating the largest U.S. cellphone company. Charles Schwab Corp. said it would buy online brokerage services provider OptionsXpress for $1 billion. The deals raised hopes that more corporate buyouts could be on the way as businesses become more confident in the economic recovery.



“You only expand when you have a good feeling about the future,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at New York-based brokerage house Avalon Partners.



The Dow Jones industrial average rose 178.01 points, or 1.5 percent, to 12,036.53. The index has gained 3.6 percent over the last three trading days, its largest jump over the same amount of time since September.



The S&P 500 index gained 19.18, or 1.5 percent, to 1,298.38. The Nasdaq composite rose 48.42, or 1.8 percent, to 2,692.09.



Energy stocks led the market higher after oil prices climbed back above $103 per barrel. Schlumberger Ltd., which helps companies drill for oil and gas, rose 4.4 percent to $89.73. ConocoPhillips rose 2.9 percent to $77.55.



Worries about Japan’s stricken nuclear reactors eased after the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said the situation at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant appeared to be stabilizing. Containment at three of the plant’s six reactors was intact, the commission said.



Tiffany & Co. rose 5.1 percent to $60.22 after reporting higher-than-expected earnings. The jeweler said Japan’s earthquake could hurt its earnings because of store closings and limited hours. The company does 18 percent of its business there.



The violence in Libya and Japan’s earthquake have led to many large swings in the Dow since late February. The Dow rose or fell by 100 points or more during three days last week. Eight of the 15 trading days since the start of March have had swings that large.



In the latest signs of trouble in the U.S. housing market, the National Association of Realtors reported that sales of previously occupied homes fell 10 percent last month. The supply of unsold homes remains relatively high at 3.5 million.



Five stocks rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange. Consolidated volume came to 4.5 billion shares.

Benchmark Currency Rates

        USD     EUR     JPY     GBP     CHF     CAD     AUD     HKD

HKD     7.7969  11.0885 0.0962  12.7199 8.6149  7.9690  7.8311  -

AUD     0.9956  1.4160  0.0123  1.6243  1.1001  1.0176  -       0.1277

CAD     0.9784  1.3914  0.0121  1.5962  1.0810  -       0.9827  0.1255

CHF     0.9051  1.2871  0.0112  1.4765  -       0.9250  0.9090  0.1161

GBP     0.6130  0.8717  0.0076  -       0.6773  0.6265  0.6157  0.0786

JPY     81.0348 115.244 -       132.200 89.5363 82.8238 81.3897 10.3932

EUR     0.7032  -       0.0087  1.1471  0.7769  0.7187  0.7062  0.0902

USD     -       1.4222  0.0123  1.6314  1.1049  1.0221  1.0044  0.1283

                                                              Bloomberg

Tags: Vietnam business, Vietnam companies

Posted by VBN on Mar 22 2011. Filed under Enterprises. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry