Oct 032013
 

BANGKOK — Asian stock markets Thursday withstood some of the gloom seeping into other financial markets as the partial shutdown of the U.S. government dragged on for a third day.

Some nonessential public services across the U.S. ground to a halt earlier this week after Congress failed to approve short-term funding for the government after the fiscal year ended Monday. Some 800,000 federal workers have been put on unpaid leave and many agencies and programs across the U.S. have been idled.

Analysts said investors in Asia were more or less expecting lawmakers from the two political parties to negotiate a solution or put the shaky U.S. economic recovery at risk.

“I think people believe the Republicans and Democrats will come to their senses sooner or later, so they should stop behaving like children,” said Francis Lun, chief economist at GE Oriental Financial Group in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 1 percent to 23,214.40. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell 0.1 percent to close at 14,157.25. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.4 percent to 5,234.90.

Benchmarks in India, Taiwan, Indonesia and Thailand also rose. Singapore’s benchmark index fell. Markets in mainland China and South Korea were closed for public holidays.

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European stocks presented a mixed picture. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.2 percent to 6,451.14. Germany’s DAX was down less than 0.1 percent to 8,625.28. France’s CAC-40 lost 0.3 percent to 4,147.13.

Stocks on Wall Street appeared on their way to losses, with Dow Jones industrial futures falling 0.2 percent to 14,995. S&P 500 futures shed 0.2 percent to 1,679.40.

European Central Bank head Mario Draghi said that the partial U.S. government shutdown was a risk to economic recoveries in the U.S. and globally. A shutdown of two weeks could shave 0.3 percentage point from U.S. fourth quarter growth, according to analysts at Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong.

“Moreover, the shutdown may interrupt some economic data releases,” Credit Agricole’s Michael Carey wrote in an email commentary.

The Labor Department will likely have to delay the release of its employment data for September, scheduled for Friday, “as they have reported that they will not collect data, issue reports, or respond to public inquiries during the shutdown,” Carey said.

Among individual stocks, ANA Holdings rose 2.3 percent in Tokyo after the Japanese government said it will allot 11 new international departure and arrival slots to its carrier starting in March at Haneda airport, Kyodo News reported. That compares with new five slots to be given to Japan Airlines, which fell 1.9 percent.

Forgame Holdings, an Internet video gaming company, soared 32 percent on the first day of trading in Hong Kong after a successful IPO. Investors attracted by China’s rapidly growing online game market applied for more than 300 times the amount of stock sold in the company’s initial public offering.

After shrugging off the first day of the shutdown Tuesday, Wall Street made it clear on the second day that it was becoming more and more nervous that the budget fight could turn into something worse: a failure to raise the nation’s borrowing limit. That would be seen by financial markets as a disastrous move that could send the U.S. into recession.

The government will run out of money to pay its bills by Oct. 17. Congress must periodically raise the limit on government borrowing, but the once-routine matter has become the subject of bitter fights as politicians and the White House argue over how to reduce the country’s swelling budget deficit.

Benchmark oil for November delivery was down 43 cents to $103.67 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract jumped $2.06, or 2 percent, to close at $104.10 a barrel on the Nymex on Wednesday.

In currencies, the euro rose to $1.3609 from $1.3583 late Wednesday. The dollar rose to 97.80 yen from 97.36 yen.

May 212013
 
Technical rebound boosts share prices

MANILA, Philippines – A technical rebound lifted share prices yesterday, allowing the bellwether index to claw back to the 7,300 as it snapped a three-day skid. The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rebounded 0.72 percent or 52.20 points to 7,327.58, while the broader all shares index gained 0.38 percent or 16.90 points to 4,506.74. “Technical rebound for yesterday following corrections of the PSEi in prior sessions,” Freya Natividad, analyst at online brokerage firm 2TradeAsia.com. The local market bucked the trend in Wall Street, which closed lower as investors opted to stay on the sidelines ahead of more information regarding the Federal Reserve’s economic stimulus program. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.1 percent or 19.12 points to 15,335.28 while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index shed 0.1 percent or 1.18 points to 1,666.29. Locally, most subindices were in the green, led by property firms that rallied 1.94 percent or 57.89 points to 3,047.63 while mining and oil was again a laggard, falling 0.8 percent or 140.88 points to 17,453.59. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Decliners outplayed advancers, 100 to 70, while 49 stocks did not change. Natividad said there was no good news to push share prices higher, with investors opting to cash in on recent gains. Turnover value improved to P9.72 billion from P8.72 billion on Tuesday. Top-traded Ayala Land Inc. rallied 2.75 percent or 95 centavos to P35.50 given news that the Securities and Exchange Commission already finalized its foreign ownership cap rules.

May 092013
 
Index inches up in listless trade

MANILA, Philippines – The local stock market managed to eke out slight gains for the second straight session yesterday as investors exited the market ahead of a long weekend. The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) inched up 0.18 percent or 13.13 points to settle at 7,194.43, while the broader all shares index added 0.18 percent or 8.19 points to 4,481.81. “Investors appeared listless in yesterday’s trades, with the index staying generally positive despite a brief dip into negative territory before the midsession break,” said Justino Calaycay Jr., analyst at Accord Capital Securities. Financial markets will be closed on Monday for the mid-term elections. The market failed to secure an additional push from Wall Street that benefited from rosy first quarter corporate earnings. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.3 percent or 48.92 points to 15,105.12 while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index climbed 0.4 percent or 6.73 points to another record high at 1,632.69. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Locally, most counters were in the green, paced by holding firms that rose 0.38 percent or 24.77 points to 6,510.85. But mining and oil again bucked the trend, falling 0.13 percent or 24.76 points to 19,636.28. Investor participation thinned, with P6.68 billion worth of shares changing hands, down from P9.01 billion on Wednesday. Advancers outpaced decliners, 83 to 66, while 71 stocks did not change.