Asian markets mixed but Tokyo falls back

Asian shares were mixed in quiet trade yesterday Tuesday Apr 5 as Tokyo was hurt by renewed fears over the crisis at its stricken atomic plant and China raised interest rates to curb rampant lending.



With few catalysts to spur buying, dealers returned their attention to Japan where crews at Fukushima have begun dumping radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean to prevent even more dangerous material from being released.



TOKYO’s Nikkei slipped 1.06 percent, or 103.34 points, to end at 9,615.55, while SYDNEY gained 0.27 percent, or 13.3 points, to 4,900.1.



SEOUL gained 0.69 percent, or 14.56 points, to 2,130.43.



Markets in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan were closed for public holidays.



Tokyo’s losses followed a strong performance on Monday, when investors were buoyed by strong jobs figures out of the US that suggested recovery in the world’s biggest economy was gaining traction.



But despite recent gains since the March 11 quake and tsunami in Japan, concerns linger over the crisis at the Fukushima atomic plant, which has seen radiation emitted into the air, contaminating farm produce and drinking water.



Tokyo Electric Power’s stock price was sent tumbling again, shedding more than 18 percent amid fears over possible huge compensation claims against it.



The firm has lost more than 80 percent of its value before the earthquake.



“A couple of weeks ago, the company said all they have to do is to cool the reactors, but the situation doesn’t seem to be improving,” a trader at a Japanese brokerage told Dow Jones Newswires.



SINGAPORE: Most Southeast Asian stock markets eased yesterday as investors cashed in recent gains in resource and financials, with weak palm oil prices helping put a lid on palm plantation stocks.

In Singapore, however, the Straits Times Index closed 0.20 percent, or 6.13 points, higher at 3,146.75.

DBS Bank was 0.14 percent higher at S$14.72 and oil-rig maker Keppel Corp was down 0.63 percent at S$12.62.



KUALA LAMPUR: Share prices on Bursa Malaysia continued to consolidate within range-bound trading activities yesterday. Declining counters outnumbered advancing counters by 493 to 348.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (FBM KLCI) fell from its intra-day high of 1,557.43 to its intra-day low of 1,557.43 yesterday. It closed at 1,553.07 points, a day-on-day loss of 2.41 points, or 0.15 percent.



In other markets:



* Manila fell 1.01 percent, or 42.34 points, to 4,167.09.



* Jakarta fell 0.38 percent, or 14.11 points, to 3,685.93.



* Bangkok shed 0.23 percent, or 2.53 points, to close at 1,076.13.



* Mumbai fell 0.16 percent, or 31.86 points, to 19,669.87.



VIETNAM: Closing the trading session April 5, the index of Hochiminh Stock Exchange (STC) lost another 0.05 points or 0.01 percent to end at 457.2 pts whereas the HNX Index rallied 0.46 points or 0.51 percent to 90.56 pts.



EUROPE: European stock markets retreated yesterday after a mixed session in Asia as Moody’s Investors Service slapped Portugal with a new ratings downgrade, stoking fresh eurozone jitters.



London was also hit by a downbeat survey from the British Chambers of Commerce, whose quarterly poll of 6,000 businesses concluded that the nation’s economy faces a choppy recovery this year.



In late morning trade, London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index sank 0.39 percent to 5,993.41 points, the Paris CAC 40 dipped 0.64 percent to 4,017.17 points and Frankfurt’s DAX 30 shed 0.38 percent to 7,148.24.



The Stoxx 50 index of leading eurozone companies fell 0.66 percent to 2,936.41 points.



Moody’s Investors Service yesterday downgraded Portugal’s ratings by a notch from A3 to Baa1 and warned that it expected the country to have to seek outside help to resolve its debt problems.



AMERICA: A quiet day on Wall Street left stock indexes little changed after minutes from the most recent meeting of the Federal Reserve’s policy committee showed few signs that the central bank plans on making changes to its stimulus program. Trading volume continued to be light.



The minutes, from the Fed’s meeting on March 15, confirmed that members of the central bank are split about whether it needs to tighten credit later this year to ward off inflation. All of the committee’s members agreed that the economy is improving.



The Dow Jones industrial average fell 6.13 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 12,393.90. The S&P 500 index was down 0.24 at 1,332.63. The Nasdaq composite gained 2, or 0.1 percent, to 2,791.19.



Companies that make basic materials rose as traders anticipated more price increases for commodities. Aluminum maker Alcoa Inc. rose 2.8 percent, Newmont Mining Corp. rose 4.4 percent and Dow Chemical Co. rose 1.3 percent.



“I think the market is concerned that (Fed) Chairman (Ben) Bernanke doesn’t share the same level of concern regarding inflation that it might wish him to, and that is leading to stronger commodity prices,” said Howard Ward, the chief investment officer for GAMCO Investors.



Many investors have been more focused on the policies of the Federal Reserve rather than the threat of a government shutdown if Republicans and Democrats do not reach an agreement on federal spending levels. “There is a game of chicken going on in Washington right now to see who will move first,” Ward said.



Stocks had edged lower in early trading, following most world markets, after China raised a key lending rate and the rating agency Moody’s lowered Portugal’s credit rating. A survey from the Institute for Supply Management reported growth at service companies last month but at a slower rate than analysts were expecting.



Technology companies climbed after Texas Instruments Inc. said it planned to buy National Semiconductor for $6.5 billion in cash. National Semiconductor soared 71 percent.



After falling more than $10 earlier in the day, Apple Inc. regained most of its losses. Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. announced a rebalancing of the Nasdaq-100 Index next month that will cut Apple’s weighting in the index from 20 percent to 12 percent. That will likely force some money managers to reduce their holdings.



Trading in the largest stocks of the Nasdaq index may be more volatile before the rebalancing takes effect, but will may make index funds that are based on the Nasdaq more appropriate for lay investors, said John DiBacco, global head of equity finance at UBS.



Rising shares narrowly outpaced falling shares on the New York Stock Exchange. Consolidated volume came to 3.9 billion shares.

Benchmark Currency Rates

        USD     EUR     JPY     GBP     CHF     CAD     AUD     HKD

HKD     7.7741  11.0658 0.0914  12.6837 8.4002  8.0694  8.0341  -

AUD     0.9676  1.3774  0.0114  1.5787  1.0456  1.0044  -       0.1245

CAD     0.9634  1.3713  0.0113  1.5718  1.0410  -       0.9956  0.1239

CHF     0.9255  1.3173  0.0109  1.5099  -       0.9606  0.9564  0.1190

GBP     0.6129  0.8724  0.0072  -       0.6623  0.6362  0.6334  0.0788

JPY     85.0880 121.116 -       138.824 91.9403 88.3196 87.9333 10.9451

EUR     0.7025  -       0.0083  1.1462  0.7591  0.7292  0.7260  0.0904

USD     -       1.4234  0.0118  1.6315  1.0805  1.0380  1.0334  0.1286

                                                              Bloomberg

Tags: Vietnam business, Vietnam business news, vietnam enterprices

Posted by VBN on Apr 6 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