Asian Market Commentary
Asian Markets End Mixed Ahead Of Data In US
3/12/2010 8:06 AM ET
(RTTNews) -
Mixed trading was witnessed across the markets in Asia on Friday as traders preferred to exercise caution, lock in gains from recent rally and move to the sidelines on the last working day of the week, awaiting more cues on economy. While the markets in Australia, Japan, South Korea and Singapore managed to end in positive territory, the markets in China, Hong Kong, and Indonesia ended in negative territory.
In Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index advanced 86.31 points, or 0.81%, to 10,751, while the broader Topix index of all First Section issues gained 6.00 points, or 0.64%, to 936..
On the economic front, a report released by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry revealed that industrial production in the country rose 2.7% month over month in January, revised upwards from an early estimate of 2.5% rise reported earlier. On annual basis, the industrial production surged up 18.5%, the report revealed. According to the report, capacity utilization increased a seasonally adjusted 3.9% during January following a 1.4% rise in December.
Light sweet crude oil futures for April delivery ended at $82.19 a barrel in electronic trading, up $0.08 per barrel from previous close at $82.11 a barrel in New York on Thursday.
Trading companies ended higher. Toyota Tsusho Corp. gained 1.17%, Mitsui & Co., advanced 0.52%, Sumitomo Corp. added 0.50%, Marubeni Corp. rose 0.89% and Mitsubishi Corp. edged up 0.17%.
Automotive stocks also advanced on optimism about economic recovery. Honda Motor gained 0.92%, Nissan Motor climbed 2.41%, Toyota Motor added 0.29%, Hino Motors surged up 3.61% and Isuzu Motors soared 3.96%.
Among real-estate stocks, Sumitomo Realty & Development added 0.53%, Mitsubishi Estate advanced 0.41%, Heiwa Real Estate rose 1.02%, Mitsui Fudosan edged up 0.06% and Tokyu Land Corp. was up by 0.29%.
Banks also ended in positive territory. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial gained 1.25%, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial rose 1.30%, Mizuho Financial climbed 1.07% and Resona Holdings increased 1.10%.
Mixed trading was witnessed among shipping stocks. Mitsui OSK Lines remained unchanged from previous close. Nippon Yusen ended higher with a gain of 0.58%, while Kawasaki Kishen Kaisha ended in negative territory with a loss of 1.14%.
In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index added 3.90 points, or 0.08% to close at 4,818, while the All-Ordinaries Index ended at 4,832, representing a gain of 6.00 points, or 0.12%.
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