Despite the generally positive tone in Asian trading, continued uncertainty over a Spanish bailout limited the upside for most markets after Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy Tuesday denied that a bailout request from Spain was imminent.
There was also caution ahead of the European Central Bank's forthcoming policy meeting on Thursday and employment data out of the U.S. on Friday.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up 0.6%, after closing for two days for a public holiday. The market was responding to the two mild positive news that came out over the long weekend, with official Chinese manufacturing data edging up for the first time since May. In addition, some political uncertainty surrounding China's leadership transition was removed, as the 18th Party Congress was set on November 8.
Chinese aluminum company Chalco fell 0.6% in Hong Kong on news that it had given up on its attempt to acquire a stake in Winsway Coking Coal Holdings, which transports coal from Mongolia to China. The failure of the deal comes less than a month after Chalco abandoned another deal to purchase a Mongolia-focused company, SouthGobi Resources. Winsway slumped 6.6%.
The S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.2% to 4441.3 after hitting a 14-month high of 4454.6 in early trading on follow-through buying after the Reserve Bank of Australia cut interest rates by 25 basis points Tuesday.
"There is also some anticipation of another interest rate cut and it's certainly our view that the RBA will cut again next month," Macquarie Private Wealth division director Martin Lakos said.
Among leading gainers in the Australian market retailer Harvey Norman rose 2.1%, property developer Stockland gained 2.6% and media company CSR climbed 1.9%.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.1% with major automakers leading gains after posting strong U.S. sales data for September.
Toyota Motor was 1.2% higher, leading gains amid speculation that it may raise its earnings outlook after September sales in the U.S. exceeded expectations. Honda Motor rose 0.2% on its strong sales results, while Nissan Motor was off 0.8% after posting a modest sales decline.
Also in Japan, Nintendo added 2.9% on expectations that the company will benefit from strong sales of its new Wii U games console ahead of the U.S. holiday season. The company has climbed 22.4% over the last month, but is only up 1.1% year-to-date.
In foreign exchange markets the euro was a touch lower against the U.S. dollar as uncertainty over whether or not Spain will request a bailout in the near term weighed on the single currency.
The euro was at $1.2904 against the dollar, from $1.2920 late Tuesday in New York.
Spot gold was flat at $1,775.70 per troy ounce. November Nymex crude oil futures were 30 cents lower at $91.59 per barrel on Globex.
Feel free to forward this Op Ed and follow our Blog stock market news today
No comments:
Post a Comment