(RTTNews.com) – Asian stock markets are in positive territory on Tuesday, tracking the overnight gains on Wall Street. Weaker than expected U.S. economic data released overnight has helped ease concerns that the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise interest rates sooner than currently anticipated.
The Federal Reserve will start its two-day monetary policy meeting later on Tuesday and make its monetary policy announcement on Wednesday, which may offer hints on an interest rate hike. Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan as well as Indonesia’s central bank will wrap up their monetary policy meetings and announce their decision on interest rates later on Tuesday.
The Australian market is higher amid a broad-based rally, tracking the positive cues overnight from Wall Street.
In late-morning trades, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is adding 51.60 points or 0.89 percent to 5,849.30, off a high of 5,853.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is advancing 47.70 points or 0.83 percent to 5,817.40.
Among the big miners, BHP Billiton (BHP) is up 0.9 percent and Rio Tinto (RIO) is adding 0.5 percent.
BHP Billiton expects one-off costs of $ 738 million related to he spin off of its underperforming assets into a new entity called South32. The company is targeting $ 4 billion in savings by the end of the 2017 financial year as a result of the demerger.
Fortescue Metals is down more than 1 percent after the company said it launched a $ 2.5 billion bond offer to bolster its balance sheet and extend the maturity of its debt profile.
Gold miner Newcrest Mining is up 1.2 percent and Kingsgate Consolidated is higher by 0.8 percent.
Among the major banks, ANZ Banking, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac (WBK) and National Australia Bank are higher in a range of 1 percent to 1.4 percent.
In the oil space, Woodside Petroleum is gaining almost 2 percent, Santos is gaining almost 4 percent and Oil Search is adding more than 2 percent despite the overnight fall in crude oil prices.
Paint maker Dulux will cut about 60 jobs in Brisbane and an unspecified number of jobs in Sydney as well as move most production to a new A$ 165 million plant in Melbourne by 2017. The company’s shares are gaining more than 1.7 percent.
James Packer’sCrown Resorts is seeking to raise about A$ 400 million to help fund its Crown Sydney and Crown Towers Perth developments. Shares of the company are adding 0.9 percent.
On the economic front, the members of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s monetary policy board discussed the possibility of making a move on the country’s benchmark interest rate, minutes from the board’s March 4 meeting revealed on Tuesday. In the end, the board decided to take no action in order to give the economy more time to adjust to a rate cut implemented in February.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar is marginally lower against the U.S. dollar ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting. In early-morning trades, the local unit is trading at US$ 0.7642, down from Monday’s close of US$ 0.7649.
The Japanese market rose to a nearly 15-year high, following the strong gains overnight on Wall Street and ahead of a monetary policy decision by the Bank of Japan later in the day.
In late-morning trades, the benchmark Nikkei index is gaining 159.53 points or 0.83 percent to 19,405.59, after rising to 19,428.52 earlier, its highest intraday level since April 2000.
Among tech stocks, Fanuc is currently gaining more than 2 percent, Advantest is gaining 3.5 percent, Casio Computer is rising 3.6 percent, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is higher by almost 3 percent and Hitachi is up 3.4 percent.
Hitachi and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries plan to lift return on equity of more than 10 percent each, according to a report in the Nikkei business daily.
Among the other major exporters, Panasonic is advancing 1.7 percent, Nikon Corp is up 0.4 percent and Sony is rising 2.5 percent, while Sharp Corp. is declining 1.3 percent.
Fast Retailing is up 0.3 percent and mobile carrier Softbank Corp. is higher by 0.2 percent.
In the banking space, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial (MTU) is now gaining 0.3 percent, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is down 0.07 percent and Mizuho Financial (MFG) is declining 0.2 percent.
In the auto sector, Toyota (TM) and Nissan are rising 0.6 percent each, while Honda (HMC) is edging up 0.05 percent. Suzuki is lower by 0.4 percent.
Toyo Tire & Rubber is declining 2.6 percent after the company disclosed that it supplied a rubber building material that failed to meet state standards for absorbing earthquake shocks. Construction of some public facilities using the material has been put on hold.
Tokyo Gas gained more than 2 percent after the Nikkei business daily reported that the company may buy back 50 billion yen in shares in the next fiscal year.
Among the other major gainers, Taiyo Yuden is up 3.4 percent, KDDI Corp is gaining 2.7 percent and Fujitsu is higher by 1.7 percent.
Sharp Corp is losing 1.3 percent, SKY Perfect JSAT Holdings is declining 1.2 percent and Dai-ichi Life Insurance is edging down 0.03 percent.
On the economic front, the Bank of Japan will on Tuesday wrap up its monetary policy meeting and then announce its decision on interest rates.
Japan also will see final January numbers for the leading and coincident indexes, with little change expected from the preliminary readings for scores of 113.0 and 105.1, respectively.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the lower 121 yen-range on Tuesday, up slightly from its levels on Monday. The dollar traded in a narrow range ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s two-day meeting starting Tuesday.
Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Shanghai, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Taiwan are in positive territory. Bucking the trend, the New Zealand market is lower.
On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply higher over on Monday, partly due to a pullback by the value of the U.S. dollar, which gave back ground following recent strength. In addition, weaker than expected U.S. economic data may have helped ease concerns that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates sooner than currently anticipated.
The Dow jumped 228.11 points or 1.3 percent to 17,977.42, the Nasdaq surged up 57.75 points or 1.2 percent to 4,929.51 and the S&P 500 soared 27.79 points or 1.4 percent to 2,081.19.
The major European markets have all moved to the upside on Monday. While the German DAX Index has surged up by 1.8 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.8 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.4 percent.
Crude oil prices tumbled to their lowest in six years on Monday amid speculation that stockpiles will continue to build in the U.S. and elsewhere. U.S. crude futures settled down $ 0.96 at $ 43.88, having touched a 2009 low below $ 43 earlier in the session.
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