Wednesday 16 November, 10:00 AM GMT (Thomson Financial): Asian markets
ignored overnight falls on Wall Street and ended the day higher. Japan's
market benefited from a weaker yen, while Hong Kong's market ended slightly
higher, despite losses in the properties sector. Korea's market hit a new
record high, with technology and financial stocks in focus, while Taiwan's
market gained despite lingering bird flu concerns. Finally, the Australian
market gained, on hopes that interest rates will remain on hold.
Tokyo's Nikkei-225 Index rose by 79.10 points or 0.56% to 14,170.87, while
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Stock Index edged up by 23.13 points or 0.16% to
14,650.54. Korea's Kospi Index climbed by 13.30 points or 1.06% to 1267.16,
while Taiwan's Weighted Index added 15.46 points or 0.26% to 6046.20.
Australia's All Ordinaries Index ended up by 15.30 points or 0.34% to 4560.20.
The Japanese market ended the day higher, despite overnight losses on Wall
Street. Export-reliant stocks such as car manufacturers posted solid gains,
boosted by a weakening of the yen, with the effect of boosting overseas
revenue. This was complemented by gains in the banking sector, while domestic-
demand linked sectors were also in favour.
Car manufacturers had a strong session, with major players Honda, Nissan
and Toyota all posting solid gains, while Mitsubishi Motors jumped, recovering
some of the heavy losses sustained in the past few days. Meanwhile, some
technology plays also helped push the market higher, with Sanyo Electric
surging on reports that the company was considering the sale of part of its
stake in Sanyo Electric Credit. Toshiba also ended higher, as did TDK.
Elsewhere, banking stocks climbed, with Sumitomo Mitsui and Resona
Holdings posting strong gains, while insurers and brokerages followed suit.
There were also gains among shipbuilders, with Mitsui Engineering and
Shipbuilding and Mitsubishi Heavy both ending higher, while steel groups such
as Nippon Steel and JFE Holdings were also in favour.
Meanwhile in Hong Kong, the market ended modestly higher, as the
properties sector underperformed. Moreover, there was some uncertainty in the
market ahead of the release of key U.S. economic data later in the week.
Concerns that interest rates might continue to rise hit the sector, with
stocks such as Henderson Land and Sun Hung Kai Properties lower. Elsewhere,
the financial sector gained, with heavyweight HSBC Holdings higher.
Korea's market shook off its early losses and eventually ended at a new
record high, with the technology and financial sectors in focus. Heavyweight
Samsung Electronics posted solid gains and after the market closed, the
company said it was in talks to supply memory chips to U.S. computer group
Apple. Hynix Semiconductor -which also said it was in talks with Apple- ended
higher. Elsewhere, Korea Exchange Bank jumped after Kookmin Bank's chief
executive showed some interest in taking over the lender.
Meanwhile, Taiwan's market also climbed, despite lingering concerns over
the spread of bird flu. Technology stocks outperformed, despite heavyweight
chipmakers TSMC and UMC ending slightly lower. Memory chipmakers were in
focus, with Nanya Technology and ProMOS Technologies positive, while flat
panel makers also gained after Japanese group Sharp said it was seeking to
source television-use LCD screens from Taiwanese makers. On a weaker note,
steel stocks were lower of fears of lower prices.
Finally, the Australian market ended higher as wage inflation data met
expectations, reinforcing the view that interest rates will remain on hold.
Bank stocks were higher, with Commonwealth Bank rising after hitting a new
record, while National Australia Bank and ANZ were among other lenders ending
higher. Macquarie Bank also posted healthy gains, recovering from Tuesday's
losses whilst Telstra was unchanged after Tuesday's sharp fall. On a weaker
note, resources groups were lower, on price concerns.
Olivier.Masson@thomson.com; Thomson Financial
This is Thomson Financial Corporate Services Asia Market Commentary. The
information herein is believed to be true and accurate. If you have any
questions please e-mail James Sang at James.Sang@tfn.com. We take no
responsibility for inaccurate information and reserve the right to update our
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http://www.thomsonfinancial.com.
SOURCE Thomson Financial Corporate Group
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