Asian markets mostly down, Tokyo tumbles

Asian stock markets were broadly lower yesterday Monday Mar 14, with Tokyo tumbling more than six percent after last week’s devastating earthquake and tsunami as well as fears of a nuclear reactor meltdown.



The yen hit a four-month high after Japan’s central bank pumped a record amount of money into financial markets, while nuclear plant operator Tepco dived almost 24 percent.



Car makers were also hammered after being forced to halt production in areas hit by the quake and tsunami, which it is feared may have killed over 10,000 people.



TOKYO’s Nikkei stock index slumped 6.18 percent, or 633.94 points, to 9,620.49, its sharpest percentage loss since December 2008 at the height of the global downturn.



The index is also at its lowest level in four months.



Fears have been stoked as scientists worked to try to prevent a catastrophic meltdown at the Fukushima Number One nuclear plant near Tokyo, which has been hit by explosions in two reactors while the cooling system in a third has failed.



Tepco tumbled 23.57 percent.



Among carmakers, Toyota and Nissan plunged more than 10 percent at one point before recovering slightly.



Toyota was down 7.92 percent to 3,310 yen, Honda dropped 6.49 percent to 3,095, and Nissan lost 9.52 percent to 722 yen.



SYDNEY ended 0.40 percent, or 18.4 points, lower at 4,626.4 and TAIPEI closed 0.56 percent, or 47.80 points, off at 8,520.02.



However, steel companies and construction firms in Seoul, Shanghai and Tokyo got a boost on hopes for a pick-up in demand following the quake and tsunami.



SHANGHAI added 0.13 percent, or 3.83 points, to end on 2,937.63.



SEOUL staged a late rebound and closed 0.80 percent, or 15.69 points higher at 1,971.23.



HONG KONG: Shares ended higher yesterday as steel, energy and construction firms were boosted by hopes for strong demand following the devastating Japan earthquake and tsunami.

The benchmark index gained 96.10 points to 23,345.88, with turnover of HK$65.10 billion.

Analysts said the index rebounded on bargain hunting after a 2.4 percent fall in the previous two sessions, but concerns about the economic consequences of Japan’s earthquake are likely to weigh in the near team.



SINGAPORE: The Straits Times Index fell 0.4 percent to 3,030.86 at the close.

Shares on the measure trade at an average 13.9 times estimated earnings, compared with about 15.6 times at the end of 2010. These shares were among the most active in the market: Global Logistic Properties fell 1.1 percent to S$1.88, Mapletree Logistics Trust shed 2.2 percent to 89 Singapore cents, while Saizen Real Estate Investment Trust lost 9.7 percent to 14 Singapore cents.



KUALA LAMPUR: Share prices on Bursa Malaysia consolidated in response to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan yesterday. Decliners outpaced advancers by 352 to 308.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (FBM KLCI) rebounded from its intra-day low of 1,480.79 to its intra-day high of 1,500.10 yesterday. It closed at 1,495.35 points, giving a day-on-day loss of 0.27 point, or 0.02 percent.



In other markets:



* Manila finished 0.14 percent, or 5.65 points, lower at 3,918.70. Aboitiz Equity Ventures was down 1.0 percent at 41 pesos, Metropolitan Bank & Trust fell 1.3 percent to 62.05 and Philippine Long Distance Telephone lost 0.9 percent to 2,180.



* Wellington ended 0.64 percent, or 21.64 points, lower at 3,361.20. Telecom fell 2.7 percent to NZ$1.99, insurer Tower dived 3.8 percent to NZ$1.79 and Air New Zealand slipped 1.65 percent to NZ$1.19 while Contact Energy lost 0.50 percent to NZ$5.94.



VIETNAM: The VN Index on the southern bourse plunged 15.16 points or 3.06 percent to end at 479.9 pts and the HNX Index also tumbled 2.93 points or 3.09 percent to close at 91.92 pts.



EUROPE: Europe’s main stock markets fell yesterday, with insurers and power companies hit by fallout from the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan, whose Nikkei index closed at its lowest level for 2.5 years.



London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index dropped 0.31 percent to 5,810.23 points and in Paris the CAC 40 slid 0.30 percent to 3,916.81 points. Frankfurt’s DAX 30 saw greater losses, losing 1.66 percent to 6,865.75 on heavy falls for German insurers and power companies.



“Naturally traders maintain a definitive eye on the situation on Japan, where the terrible consequences of both the earthquake and subsequent tsunami has left a devastating effect on infrastructure and loss of life,” said an analyst at City Index traders in London.



AMERICA: Concerns over the economic impact of the massive earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the world’s third-largest economy, led to a broad sell-off in the stock market on Monday.



Nine out of the 10 sectors that make up the Standard and Poor’s 500 index lost ground. Utilities companies fell 1.4 percent, the most of any group, as explosions at Japanese nuclear reactors in the wake of the disaster dimmed prospects for the nuclear energy industry.



The S&P index, the basis for most U.S. mutual funds, fell 7.89 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,296.39.



The Dow Jones industrial average lost 51.24, or 0.4 percent, to 11,993.16. The Nasdaq composite dipped 14.64, or 0.5 percent, to 2,700.97.



“Everything is linked now,” said David Katz, senior portfolio strategist at Weiser Capital Management. “There is no such thing as a catastrophe happening in any major country and it not affecting the global economy.”



Japan’s central bank pumped a record $184 billion into money market accounts to encourage bank lending. Financial analysts said the move could put pressure on Japan to raise interest rates, particularly since the country is saddled with massive debt that, at 200 percent of gross domestic product, is the biggest among developed nations.



“The fiscal position is deteriorating in Japan,” said Channing Smith, managing director of equity strategies at Capital Advisors Inc. “If we get higher interest rates, that is a major threat to … the global recovery.”



Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 633.94 points, or 6.2 percent, to close at 9,620.49 — its lowest level in four months. The decline wiped out this year’s gains.



Bond prices rose, sending yields lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 3.36 percent from 3.41 percent late Friday. Oil prices added 3 cents to settle at $101.19 per barrel.



Two stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange. Consolidated volume came to 4.1 billion shares.

Benchmark Currency Rates

        USD     EUR     JPY     GBP     CHF     CAD     AUD     HKD

HKD     7.7915  10.9065 0.0952  12.6049 8.4267  8.0004  7.8640  -

AUD     0.9908  1.3869  0.0121  1.6029  1.0715  1.0173  -       0.1272

CAD     0.9739  1.3632  0.0119  1.5755  1.0533  -       0.9830  0.1250

CHF     0.9246  1.2943  0.0113  1.4958  -       0.9494  0.9332  0.1187

GBP     0.6181  0.8653  0.0076  -       0.6685  0.6347  0.6239  0.0793

JPY     81.8403 114.559 -       132.399 88.5124 84.0344 82.6022 10.5038

EUR     0.7144  -       0.0087  1.1557  0.7726  0.7335  0.7210  0.0917

USD     -       1.3998  0.0122  1.6178  1.0815  1.0268  1.0093  0.1283

                                                              Bloomberg

Tags: Vietnam business, Vietnam business news

Posted by marlonbaintery on Mar 15 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