Asian mixed on post-quake rebound

Asian stocks were mixed yesterday Wednesday Mar 23 as dealers cashed in on a post-quake bounce while Tokyo was hit by late selling after high levels of radiation were found in the capital’s tap water.



TOKYO’s Nikkei ended 1.65 percent, or 158.85 points, down at 9,449.47 after jumping more than 7 percent over the previous two sessions as emergency crews battled to avoid a meltdown at the crippled Fukushima No.1 plant.



The index slumped 12 percent last week before Friday and Tuesday’s rebound. It was closed Monday for a public holiday.



The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.15 percent on Tuesday after leaping 1.50 percent on Monday.



However, hopes that the atomic plant crisis is close to being brought under control continued to support buying, with SYDNEY rising 0.19 percent, or 9 points, to 4,652.4 and SHANGHAI 1.01 percent, or 29.34 points, higher at 2,948.48. TAIPEI added 0.44 percent, or 37.04 points, to close at 8,545.08. SEOUL edged down 1.48 points to 2,012.18.



HONG KONG: Shares ended 0.14 percent lower yesterday as profit-takers moved in following three straight days of gains.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 32.50 points to close at 22,825.40.

“Investors are taking a step back and considering lingering problems in Japan and across the Arab world,” said Ben Kwong, chief operating officer at KGI.



SINGAPORE: Stocks closed up 0.65 percent higher yesterday as improving market sentiment lured investors back into equities, boosted by attractive valuations following recent heavy selloffs.

The blue-chip Straits Times Index rose 19.44 points to end at 3,022.19.

DBS Bank lost 0.28 percent to S$14.24 while Singapore Airlines fell 1.04 percent to S$13.28.

Olam International gained 4.2 percent to S$2.76.



KUALA LAMPUR: Share prices on Bursa Malaysia consolidated in early trades before staging a late rebound yesterday. Advancing counters outpaced declining counters by 515 to 251.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (FBM KLCI) rebounded from its intra-day low of 1,504.95 to its intra-day high of 1,511.97 yesterday.

It closed at 1,511.97 points, giving a day-on-day gain of 2.87 points, or 0.19 percent.



In other markets:



* Manila ended flat, edging up 1.37 points to 3,855.52. SM Investments fell 0.2 percent to 515 pesos, DMCI Holdings was down 2.2 percent at 37.05 and Aboitiz Equity Ventures lost 0.1 percent to 40.80. Philippine Long Distance Telephone added 1.4 percent to 2,026.



* Mumbai’s benchmark 30-share Sensex Index closed up 217.86 points, or 1.21 percent, to 18,206.16. India’s largest private bank ICICI Bank rose 3.76 percent or 37.76 rupees to 1,041.05 while top property firm DLF rose 2.78 percent or 6.35 rupees to 234.45.



* Jakarta rose 1.09 percent, or 38.51 points, to 3,556.24.



* Wellington closed up 0.31 percent, or 10.56 points, at 3,375.79. Fletcher Building rose 0.8 percent to NZ$8.85, Contact Energy gained 0.5 percent to NZ$5.79 and Telecom was up 0.5 percent to NZ$2.00.



* Bangkok rose 0.82 percent, or 8.40 points, to close at 1,027.54. Coal producer Banpu edged up 2 baht to 748baht and energy giant PTT Plc gained 3 baht to 345 baht.



VIETNAM: The VN Index rallied 2.84 points or 0.61 percent to end at 467.64 pts. Similarly, the HNX Index also bounced 0.94 points or 1.01 percent to 94.11 pts.



EUROPE: European stock markets rose in morning deals yesterday, as investors in London awaited Britain’s annual budget and German reinsurers estimated their losses from the Japanese earthquake.



The British capital’s benchmark FTSE 100 index rose 0.52 percent to 5,792.54 points, Frankfurt’s DAX 30 climbed 0.28 percent to 6,800.37 points and in Paris the CAC 40 gained 0.51 percent to 3,912.63 points.



All eyes were on Britain’s annual budget, to be announced by finance minister George Osborne at 1230 GMT.



“Looking ahead, the 2011 budget is due… with the chancellor outlining his fiscal strategy following last year’s savage cuts,” said IG Index trader Ben Critchley.



In Frankfurt, German reinsurance group Hannover Re said the Japanese disasters would cost it about ?250 million, six times less than global giant Munich Re.



AMERICA: Stocks edged higher Wednesday after a government report showed stronger demand for gasoline.



Oil prices reached their highest level since Sept. 26, 2008. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 78 cents to settle at $105.75 per barrel.



Stocks had been weighed down by news that the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan will be the most expensive natural disaster in history. Financial stocks were lower after the Federal Reserve rejected Bank of America’s plan to increase its dividend.



The Dow Jones industrial average rose 67.39 points, or 0.6 percent, to close at 12,086.02.



The Standard & Poor’s 500 index edged up 3.77 points, or 0.3 percent, to close at 1,297.54.



The Nasdaq composite index rose 14.43, or 0.5 percent, to 2,698.30.



The Japanese government estimated that rebuilding costs for the earthquake could be as high as $300 billion. The widespread devastation is expected to drag the growth rate of the Japanese economy down by 0.5 percent this year. Japanese companies such as Toyota and Honda have suspended production at some plants.



Bank of America Corp. fell 1.7 percent after the Federal Reserve rejected its plan to raise its dividend in the second half of the year. The Fed allowed several major banks to increase their dividends last week after they passed stress tests. Banks slashed their payments to shareholders during the financial crisis to save cash. Bank of America said it expects to submit another request to increase its dividend this year.



Rising shares outpaced falling ones by a slight margin. Consolidated trading volume was 3.9 billion shares.

Benchmark Currency Rates

        USD     EUR     JPY     GBP     CHF     CAD     AUD     HKD

HKD     7.7939  10.9951 0.0964  12.6656 8.5857  7.9473  7.9037  -

AUD     0.9861  1.3911  0.0122  1.6025  1.0863  1.0055  -       0.1265

CAD     0.9807  1.3835  0.0121  1.5937  1.0803  -       0.9945  0.1258

CHF     0.9078  1.2806  0.0112  1.4752  -       0.9256  0.9206  0.1165

GBP     0.6154  0.8681  0.0076  -       0.6779  0.6275  0.6240  0.0790

JPY     80.8640 114.076 -       131.409 89.0789 82.4554 82.0026 10.3752

EUR     0.7089  -       0.0088  1.1519  0.7809  0.7228  0.7188  0.0909

USD     -       1.4107  0.0124  1.6251  1.1016  1.0197  1.0141  0.1283

                                                              Bloomberg

Tags: Vietnam stock news

Posted by VBN on Mar 24 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