Feb 11
24
Australian and Asian Market Report 24th February 2011
Asian markets are trading lower this morning, taking cues from overnight losses on the Wall Street. In Japan, exporters, Honda Motor, Toyota Motor and Mazda Motor, paced declines, as the yen appreciated against the dollar. Tobu Railway traded in negative territory, after the company revealed its plans to raise as much as ¥93.2 billion ($1.1 billion) by selling shares to the public. In Hong Kong, oil producers, Cnooc and PetroChina, traded higher, in line with a rise in crude oil prices. However, Cathay Pacific Airways and Cosco Pacific paced gains. In South Korea, stocks are trading lower, as risk appetite decreased among investors, amid rising worries over Libyan turmoil. Nikkei 225 index is trading 0.7% lower, at 10,510.3. Hang Seng index was up 0.1%, at 22,924.0, while the Kospi index is trading 0.5% lower, at 1,951.7.
International Market Report 24th February 2011
US markets finished lower yesterday, as escalating tensions in the MENA region sent oil prices briefly above $100 per barrel coupled with disappointing results from Hewlett-Packard that trailed analysts’ estimates. Among technology stocks, Hewlett-Packard tumbled 9.6%, as it reported weaker-than-expected quarterly earnings, while Intel and EMC dropped 3.0% and 0.9%, respectively. Airline and travel stocks, FedEx, US Airways and AMR declined between 4.3%, and 6.6%, as oil price surged. Among other stocks, Ford declined 2.4%, after it decided to recall 144,000 F-150 pickup trucks in the US and Canada due to airbag problems, while Lowe’s dropped 1.0%, as its forecast missed market estimates.
DJIA retreated 0.9% or 107.1 points to 12,105.8. NASDAQ was down 1.2% or 33.4 points, at 2,723.0. S&P 500 index closed 0.6% lower, at 1,307.4. Other European markets finished lower yesterday, led by losses in mining and automobile stocks, as investors’ risk appetite waned, on concerns about the effect of rising crude oil prices. Automakers, BMW and Daimler tumbled 3.5% and 3.3%, respectively, while airline stocks, Air France-KLM and Lufthansa, fell 1.4% and 1.9%, respectively, as crude oil prices advanced. OMV sank 5.8%, after the company reported earnings that missed market expectations and warned that its Libyan production could fall temporarily, including a possible shutdown of operations Lafarge lost 2.2%, after Standard & Poor’s stated that the company’s long and short term credit ratings might be cut to junk, citing “weak” credit metrics that “are showing no signs of improvement”. Yara plunged 4.2%, after the company stated that it would shut a plant that it operated as a joint venture in Libya. FTSEurofirst 300 index lost 1.1% to 1,152.0. German DAX Xetra 30 fell 1.7% to 7,194.6. French CAC-40 dropped 0.9% to close at 4,013.1.
