Despite some positive news coming out of Europe, concerns about the financial situation in the eurozone also continued to weigh, preventing investors from indulging in any big buying.
The Australian stock market opened on a weak note, but recovered well subsequently thanks to some strong buying at lower levels in bank and energy stocks.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index, which declined to 4,078.9 in early trades, is currently up 12.3 points or 0.3 percent at 4,114.4. The broader All Ordinaries index is up 9.9 points or 0.2 percent at 4,177.2, well off the day's low of 4,145.7.
Among bank stocks, ANZ Bank and National Australia Bank are up 1.3 percent and 1.2 percent respectively. Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Westpac are trading flat. Bendigo & Adelaide Bank is up 1.8 percent, while Bank of Queensland is down marginally.
Miners BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Newcrest Mining are down 0.5 to 1 percent. Fortescue Metals is trading lower by nearly 2.6 percent.
In the energy sector, Santos is up 1.5 percent, Origin Energy is gaining 1.4 percent, Caltex Australia is up with a gain of 2.4 percent and Oil Search is up nearly 3 percent, while Woodside Petroleum is trading in negative territory with a loss of 1.5 percent.
Cochlear is gaining over 4 percent. Asciano, Seven West Media, Myer Holdings and Aquarius Platinum are trading higher by 2 to 2.5 percent.
Challenger, Lynas Corporation, Alumina, Brambles and Orica are also trading notably higher.
Resmed is losing 3.7 percent. Onesteel, Bluescope Steel and Fairfax Media are down 2 to 3 percent, while WorleyParsons is down with a loss of about 1.4 percent.
Gloucester Coal Ltd shares are trading lower by about 0.4 percent. The company has announced that it expects annual coal production to rise six fold to 12 million tonnes in less than ten years following the company moving to four distinct operations from just one.
On the economic front, new private capital expenditure rose 12.3 percent in real terms, seasonally adjusted, in the September quarter, according to the data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. That was sharply higher than the forecast for a rise of 8.0 percent in the September quarter. The fourth estimate of expenditure for 2011-2012 is A$158.03 billion, which is 26.9 percent higher than the fourth estimate for 2010-2011.
According to a report from Reserve Bank of Australia, total credit provided to Australia's private sector by financial intermediaries rose 0.2 percent month-on-month in October. This was weaker than the expected 0.4 percent increase and the 0.5 percent gain in September. Annually, credit extended to the private sector rose 3.5 percent.
On a monthly basis, M3 money supply grew 0.4 percent and broad money rose 0.5 percent. Over the year to October, broad money grew 8.2 percent.
Meanwhile, new home sales rose a seasonally adjusted 5.5 percent to 7,611 units in October, following a 3.5 percent fall in September, the Housing Industry Association said in a statement. Private house sales also grew, with an increase of 5.1 percent in October to 733 units. Purchases of multi-unit dwellings increased by 9.0 percent.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar opened higher and was quoting at US$1.0025 in early trades, up from Tuesday's close of US$0.9968.
Stocks drifted lower in the Japanese market with investors pressing sales at several counters. Besides concerns about eurozone debt, profit taking after recent strong gains too contributed to the decline.
Mining, electric machinery, insurance, precision instruments and marine transport stocks were mostly trading lower at the break. Electric power and foods stocks are trading higher, while automobile, banking and retail stocks traded mixed.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index, which opened with a negative gap of about 70 points at 8,407.6 and edged down further in early trades, was down 71.3 points or 0.8 percent at 8,406.6 at ehe end of the morning session.
Olympus Corp plunged more than 11 percent amid delisting concerns. Tokyo Tatemono, Alps Electric, Kawasaki Kisen, Yamato Holdings, Sony Corp, Chiyoda, Tokio Marine, Asahi Glass, Mitsui OSK Lines and Mitsumi Electric lost 2 to 3 percent.
Sumco, Yokogawa Electric, Advantest, Mitsubishi Estate, Okuma, Fanuc, Nippon Electric Glass, Toho Zinc, Mitsui Chemicals and Mitsubishi Chemicals also posted notable losses.
Automobile stocks Mazda Motor, Mitsubishi Motor, Toyota Motor, Hino Motors and Nissan Motor were down with notable losses, while Honda Motor and Suzuki Motor declined marginally.
Among bank stocks, Shinsei Bank, Mizuho Financial, Bank of Yokohama, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Shizuoka Bank were trading weak, while Chiba Bank and Aozora Bank moved up a bit.
Tokyo Electric Power gained over 4.5 percent. Yahoo Japan, Chubu Electric Power, Kansai Electric Power, Nippon Paper Group, Konami and Tokyo Gas were up 2 to 4 percent.
Pioneer Corp, Dainippon Screen, Oki Electric, Osaka Gas, Sumitomo Osaka, Fujikura and Hitachi Zosen also traded firm.
According to data released by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, industrial production in Japan climbed a seasonally adjusted 2.4 percent on month in October, well above forecasts for an increase of 1.1 percent following the 3.3 percent contraction in September. On an annual basis, output collected 0.4 percent - also topping forecasts for a decline of 1.0 percent after shedding 3.3 percent in the previous month.
As a result of the data, the METI maintained its assessment of industrial production, saying: Industrial production appears to be flat.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded around 78 yen-range in early deals in Tokyo. The yen is currently trading at 77.88 to the U.S. dollar.
Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Shanghai, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan are trading notably lower, while Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore are trading firm. Markets across the region ended mostly higher on Tuesday.
On Wall Street, stocks turned in a lackluster performance on Tuesday despite starting off on a firm note. While upbeat U.S. consumer confidence data generated some positive sentiment, traders pressed sales at higher levels amid concerns about the European debt crisis.
The major averages eventually ended the session mixed, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq posting a modest loss. The Nasdaq closed lower by 11.8 points or 0.5 percent at 2,515.5, while the Dow rose 32.6 points or 0.3 percent to 11,555.6 and the S&P 500 edged up 2.6 points or 0.2 percent to 1,195.2.
Major European markets surged higher on Tuesday. While the German DAX index jumped by 1 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index and the French CAC 40 index both ended higher by 0.5 percent.
Crude oil prices moved higher on Tuesday amid geopolitical tension and a stagnant dollar. Light, sweet crude for January delivery ended up 1.6 percent at $99.79 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. For the latest updates on the stock market, visit Stock Market Today For the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today
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