Daily Comments
Asia: expectations of favorable US data stoke rally
22.02.2012 18:19:00 Anastasia Tretyakova, Junior analyst, Global Markets (Finam)
On Wednesday, February 22, Asian key equity benchmarks turned in mostly positive performances. Ahead of the release of US secondary home sales, an important economic metric, investors preferred to keep a stiff upper lip and be guided by analyst estimates, according to which sales in January climbed to 4.65 mn, the highest level since May 2010, which may be a signal that economic conditions in the country are looking up.
More positivity came from the publication of preliminary data on HSBC’s China Manufacturing Activity Index, which rose to 49.7 in February from 48.8 the previous month.
Although the Greek issue is still on the agenda, investors, aware of the measures taken to fix this issue to date, have been looking on to other factors that could impact the market.
By the final bell, the regional MSCI Asia Pacific stock index climbed 0.2% to settle at 127.91. China’s CSI 300 index rose 1.37%, Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng edged 0.33% higher, the Australian S&P/ASX 200 benchmark inched up 0.04%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index added 0.96% and the South Korean Kospi index closed 0.22% higher.
Japan’s biggest auto manufacturer Toyota Motor, which gets about 30% of its sales in North American markets, added 1.8% to its market cap, while Nissan Motor, Japan’s third largest carmaker by market value, rose 2.3% in value, as the yen weakened against the dollar to 80.08/USD.
China’s major online trader Alibaba.com surged 43% after its parent company, Alibaba Group Holding, offered to privatize the company for HKUSD 19.6 bn (USD 2.5 bn).
The shares of the Chinese developers Agile Property Holdings and Evergrande Real Estate Group Quotes spiked 7.2% and 5.1%, respectively, amid the news that China’s financial center Shangai was looking to ease some restrictions on real property sales.
Australian steelmaker OneSteel added 16% after the company expressed an intention to focus its operations on iron ore mining.
Meanwhile, the world’s biggest palm oil producer Wilmar International saw its share price drop 11% after its quarterly profit, although increasing by 57%, fell short of median forecasts.
Air China, the world’s largest air carrier by market value, saw its market cap dip 1% amid concerns that fuel prices would rise.
| Index | Country | Value | Change | Change, % | YTD, % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S&P/ASX 200 | Australia | 4293,11 | 1,91 | 0,04% | 5,83% |
| All Ordinaries | Australia | 4372,06 | 3,82 | 0,09% | 6,35% |
| Ho Chi Minh | Vietnam | 418,41 | 7,5 | 1,83% | 19,02% |
| Hang Seng | Hong Kong | 21549,3 | 70,56 | 0,33% | 16,90% |
| Hang Seng H-shares | Hong Kong | 3001,56 | 20,92 | 0,70% | -69,79% |
| BSE 30 (Sensex) | India | 18145,2 | -283,36 | -1,54% | 17,41% |
| Jakarta Composite | Indonesia | 3995,02 | -7,93 | -0,20% | 4,53% |
| Shanghai A-shares | China | 2517,87 | 23,17 | 0,93% | 9,28% |
| CSI 300 | China | 2597,48 | 35,02 | 1,37% | 10,73% |
| KLSE Composite | Malaysia | 1560,52 | -3,26 | -0,21% | 1,95% |
| NZSE 50 | New Zealand | 3328,23 | -9,09 | -0,27% | 1,63% |
| Karachi 100 | Pakistan | 12614,3 | 69,88 | 0,56% | 11,49% |
| Straits Times | Singapore | 2995,59 | -29,48 | -0,97% | 13,20% |
| Bangkok SET | Thailand | 801,59 | -2,07 | -0,26% | 11,58% |
| TAIEX | Taiwan | 8001,68 | 80,18 | 1,01% | 13,14% |
| PSEi | Philippines | 4934,29 | 33,35 | 0,68% | 12,86% |
| Colombo All-Shares | Sri Lanka | 5420,97 | 112,46 | 2,12% | -10,76% |
| KOSPI | South Korea | 2028,65 | 4,41 | 0,22% | 11,11% |
| Nikkei 225 | Japan | 9554 | 90,98 | 0,96% | 12,99% |
| Topix | Japan | 825,4 | 9,11 | 1,12% | 13,28% |
