quinta-feira, 19 de junho de 2008

BHP leads miners higher as metals prices gain

Gains in metals prices once again helped equities markets in the Asia-Pacific region higher Wednesday.

In Australia, BHP Billiton (ASX: BHP; LSE: BLT; NYSE: BHP; JSE: BIBLT) rose to a two-week high and led other miners higher, while in China refiners saw gains.

Banks in the region were down on the session but shippers saw gains on the possibility that recent declines in shipping rates will reverse.

The main exception to the gains came in India, where the Sensex dropped 1.75 percent to 15,422.31; otherwise, the Taiex added 0.19 percent to 8,217.58, the Straits Times Index was up 0.39 percent to 3,040.09, the Hang Seng was 1.16 percent higher to 23,325.8, South Korea’s Kospi index gained 1.34 percent to 1,774.13, and the Shanghai Composite jumped 5.24 percent to 2,941.12.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX200 was 0.38 percent higher to 5,443.2 while the Sydney Ordinaries added 0.44 percent to 5,550.3.

Tokyo’s markets were also higher on the session, with the Nikkei 225 adding 0.73 percent to 14,452.82 while the Topix index was up 0.55 percent to 1,409.64 and the Mothers market gained 0.69 percent to 621.78.

The real estate sector saw gains, with Mitsubishi Estate (TYO: 8802) heading to a two-week high, while the semiconductors sector rose after NEC Electronics (TYO: 6701; NAS: NIPNY) received a “buy” recommendation, up from “neutral”, from Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS).

Carmakers saw gains while insurers were the day’s biggest losers in Tokyo.

European equities declined on the session.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 1.47 percent to 1,250.2, with Frankfurt’s Dax falling 0.99 percent to 6,728.91 as the Paris CAC-40 was 1.44 percent lower to 4,618.75 and the IBEX dropped 1.97 percent to 12,631.5.

There were only six gainers on the CAC-40 and four on the Dax, mostly in the utilities sector, while banks, the semiconductors sector, and steel makers were lower and carmakers were mixed.

In London, the FTSE 100 fell 1.79 percent to 5,756.9 while the FTSE 250 dropped 1.94 percent to 9,534.8.

The oil sector was down on declined in oil prices, led by Royal Dutch Shell (LSE: RDSA, RDSB; NYSE: RDS.A, RDS.B) and BP (LSE: BP; NYSE: BP; TYO: 5051; TSX: BP.U), while the real estate sector was down on a downgrade for the entire sector from Credit Suisse (SWX: CSGN; NYSE: CS).

Banks and supermarkets were also lower, while gainers included medical device manufacturers and the pharmaceutical sector.

New York equities markets were lower in mid-afternoon trade, with the Dow Jones Industrial average down 1 percent to 12,038.99 at just past 2 p.m.

At the same time, the Nasdaq Composite had dropped 1.08 percent to 2,431.18 and the S&P 500 was 0.94 percent lower to 1,338.2.

Investment banks declined after Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) reported that earnings were down 57 percent in the most recent quarter and on investor comments in Monaco that there are more write downs to come related to the credit crisis.

Carmakers and railroads saw declines, while the parcel delivery sector was lower after FedEx (NYSE: FDX) reported a loss in its fiscal 4th quarter.

by TemplatesForYouTFY
SoSuechtig, Burajiru