Asian stocks mixed as investors await US tariff hike

BEIJING — Asian stocks were mixed Tuesday after Wall Street's gains as investors waited for a new U.S. tariff hike in a trade battle with China.

KEEPING SCORE: The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.3 percent to 2,661.33, while Tokyo's Nikkei 225 added 1 percent to 22,595.52. Hong Kong's Hang Seng retreated 0.3 percent to 26,538.58 and Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 advanced 0.5 percent to 6,171.00. Seoul's Kospi shed 0.3 percent to 2,281.90, while New Zealand. Benchmarks in Taiwan and Southeast Asia declined.

WALL STREET: U.S. stocks broke a four-day losing streak as industrial companies and retailers rose. Technology companies recovered some of last week's losses. Nike, Home Depot and Walmart all climbed. Microsoft and other technology companies rose, but Apple fell after saying more U.S. tariff hikes could push it to raise prices. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 0.2 percent to 2,877.13. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.2 percent to 25,857.07. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.3 percent to 7,924.16.



TRADE TENSIONS: The Trump administration is due to announce a decision shortly on whether to go ahead with 25 percent tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese imports in a dispute over Beijing's technology policy. The two sides already have raised duties on $50 billion of each other's goods. Trump said Friday that he was considering extending penalties to extending penalties to nearly all Chinese imports to the United States by raising duties on an additional $267 billion of goods.

ANALYST'S TAKE: "Wall Street balanced the tech gloom against the fresh focus on tax cuts on Monday yielding mixed returns," Jinyi Pan of IG said in a report. "The protracted expectation for more bad news to set in with the looming tariffs remains the most important factor weighing on markets currently."

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude gained 4 cents to $67.58 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract lost 21 cents on Monday to close at $67.54. Brent crude, used to price international oils, advanced 11 cents to $77.48 in London. It rose 54 cents the previous session to $77.37.

CURRENCY: The dollar gained to 111.36 yen from Monday's 111.12 yen. The euro edged down to $1.1590 from $1.1595.

source: philstar.com

Asian stocks mixed as weak dollar weighs on US economic data

SINGAPORE — Asian markets were mixed Thursday as positive sentiment from U.S. economic data and the country's willingness to strike a trade deal with Canada was shaken by a weaker dollar.

KEEPING SCORE: Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.2 percent to 22,883.64 and the Kospi in South Korea gained 0.3 percent to 2,316.35. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was 0.4 percent lower at 28,297.41. The Shanghai Composite index fell 0.6 percent to 2,752.13. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.3 percent to 6,369.00.



WALL STREET: Gains by big technology companies and Amazon took U.S. indexes higher on Wednesday. Stocks have rallied for four days as investors grew more hopeful about trade talks between the U.S., Mexico and Canada. The S&P 500 index closed 0.6 percent higher at 2,914.04, a record high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2 percent to 26,124.57 and the Nasdaq composite jumped 1 percent to a record 8,109.69. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks climbed 0.4 percent to 1,734.75.

U.S ECONOMY GROWS: The U.S. economy grew at a strong 4.2 percent annual rate in the April-June quarter, the best showing in nearly four years, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. Strength in business investment offset slightly slower consumer spending, placing growth on track to produce the country's strongest full-year gain in more than a decade. Economists expect growth to slow to a still-solid 3 percent annual rate the rest of the year, resulting in full-year growth of 3 percent for 2018.

POSSIBLE TRADE DEAL: President Donald Trump has said that efforts to reach a deal with Canada in the new North American Free Trade Agreement were "probably on track". The longtime U.S. ally and the country's second-largest trading partner after China had been left out of talks for the past five weeks. Canada has until Friday to reach a deal. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there was a "possibility of getting to a good deal for Canada" by Trump's deadline but said the country will not sign a bad agreement. Mexico, long the target of Trump's ire, has cut a preliminary deal with the United States to replace NAFTA with a pact that's meant, among other things, to shift more manufacturing into the United States.


ANALYST'S TAKE: "The positive impulse seen in the U.S. market has not flown through to Asia. Weakness of the dollar has reversed sentiment in the markets overnight," Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney, said in an interview.

ENERGY: Oil prices have extended their gains on concerns that looming sanctions on Iran may cause supply to drop. Benchmark U.S. crude added 13 cents to $69.64 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract edged 1.4 percent higher and closed Wednesday at $69.51. Brent crude, used to price international oils, gained 12 cents to $77.58 in London.

CURRENCIES: The dollar eased to 111.63 yen from 111.69 yen. The euro advanced to $1.1703 from $1.1699.

source: philstar.com

Asian stocks rise as solid US performance lifts spirits

SINGAPORE — Asian markets climbed higher on Wednesday as a sweep of positive news from Wall Street and beyond boosted confidence in the U.S. economy.

KEEPING SCORE: Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 1.0 percent to 22,921.20 and South Korea's Kospi added 0.3 percent to 2,304.64. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.6 percent to 28,351.53. The Shanghai Composite index added 0.4 percent to 2,808.24. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.8 percent to 6,254.20. Shares rose in Taiwan and Southeast Asia.

WALL STREET: U.S indexes rebounded after a weak start on solid gains for retailers, technology and household goods companies. Prescription drug business Johnson & Johnson and financial services company Charles Schwab posted bullish earnings, adding to the largely positive corporate earnings season. The S&P 500 index rose 0.4 percent to 2,809.55. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.2 percent to 25,119.89. The Nasdaq composite jumped 0.6 percent to 7,855.12, surpassing the record high it set last week. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks climbed 0.5 percent to 1,687.26.

UPBEAT FED COMMENT: Delivering his twice-a-year report on monetary policy to Congress, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said he expects the job market to remain robust and inflation to hover around the Fed's 2 percent target for the next few years. Stocks have fallen after Powell's previous major addresses, but not on Tuesday.

U.S. INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION: The Fed said U.S. industrial production, including output at factories, mines and utilities, climbed 0.6 percent in June. It fell 0.5 percent in May after a fire disrupted production of Ford Motor's F-series pickup trucks, America's bestselling vehicle. U.S. manufacturing still looks healthy despite trade conflicts with China, Europe and Canada and a rising dollar that makes U.S. products more expensive abroad.

ANALYST VIEWPOINT: "While earnings and the highly-watched testimony to Senate by Fed chair Powell played a part, movements remained largely muted with the likes of the Dow and the S&P 500 index clocking only moderate gains overnight," Jingyi Pan of IG said in a commentary.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude dropped 34 cents to $67.74 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract was relatively unchanged at $68.08 in New York on Tuesday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, shed 30 cents to $71.86 per barrel.
CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 112.95 yen from 112.83 yen late Tuesday. The euro eased to $1.1654 from $1.1664.

source: philstar.com

Asian stocks dip as trade tensions weigh on US tech sector

SINGAPORE — Asian markets were mostly lower on Tuesday, as moves by the U.S to gain an upper hand on trade with China weighed on the technology sector. Tech stocks have been the pillar of the Wall Street's long-running bull market.

KEEPING SCORE: Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index dropped 0.5 percent to 22,221.33 and South Korea's Kospi lost 0.9 percent to 2,337.60. Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 1.2 percent to 28,619.21 and the Shanghai Composite in mainland China slipped 0.6 percent to 2,842.22. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.4 percent to 6,186.40. Taiwan's benchmark fell and Southeast Asian indexes were mostly lower.

WALL STREET: Major U.S. benchmarks finished broadly lower. The S&P 500 index dropped 1.4 percent to 2,717.07, its worst loss since April 6. The Dow Jones industrial average fell for the ninth time in 10 days, losing 1.3 percent to 24,252.80. The Nasdaq composite shed 2.1 percent to 7,532.01. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks slid 1.7 percent to 1,657.51.


TECH DOWNTURN: Stocks tumbled on reports that the Trump administration plans to limit exports of some high-tech products to China, and also limit investment in technology firms by companies with substantial Chinese ownership. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's suggestion that the investment restrictions wouldn't be limited to China caused stocks to slide further. The market recovered when Peter Navarro, one of President Donald Trump's top trade advisors, told CNBC that there was no plan for investment restrictions and that the administration's probe into alleged technology theft is limited to China. All but one of the 72 technology companies listed on the S&P 500 index closed lower on Monday.

TRADE TENSIONS: U.S. efforts to secure a pole position in trade are seeing some hit back. Iconic American motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson said it would move some production overseas to avoid tariffs the European Union is placing on motorcycles made in the U.S. Those tariffs were a response to taxes the U.S. placed on steel and aluminum from Europe. In less than two weeks, a 25 percent tariff will be imposed by the U.S. on billions of dollars of Chinese products. China will also raise import duties on $34 billion worth of American goods. China and the European Union agreed on Monday to launch a group that will, among other things, preserve support for international trade amid U.S. threats of import controls.

ANALYST'S TAKE: "Fears that China may pull investments in U.S. tech firms have caused a broad drawback. There is a sense that trade tensions could be long drawn and somewhat more antagonistic going forward," said Vishnu Varathan, head of economics and macro strategy at Mizuho Bank.
ENERGY: OPEC countries have agreed to raise the supply of crude oil by 1 million barrels a day. But investors aren't sure if the cartel will carry it out. Benchmark U.S. crude gained 7 cents to $68.15 per barrel in New York. It dipped 0.7 percent to settle at $68.08 per barrel on Monday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose 5 cents to $74.60 per barrel in London.

CURRENCIES: The dollar remained at 109.45 yen from late trading Monday. The euro strengthened to $1.1718 from $1.1704.

source: philstar.com

Asian stocks on defensive on weak China data, Fed rate view

TOKYO - Asian shares were on the defensive on Monday after new indications of a slowdown in the Chinese economy strained the nerves of markets already unsettled by the prospect of a U.S. interest rate hike in September.

Japan's Nikkei fell 0.4 percent and South Korean shares dropped 0.3 percent. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan stood near its 1 1/2-year low hit last month and stood flat.

"The markets are beginning to price in structurally lower growth in China and an end to the so-called commodity super-cycle," said Yoshinori Shigemi, global market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management.

Chinese exports tumbled 8.3 percent in July, their biggest drop in four months and far worse than economists' forecast of a 1.0 percent fall, data showed on Saturday.

Producer price deflation deepened to 5.4 percent, sending wholesale prices to their lowest since late 2009.

The data came as many emerging currencies came under pressure from expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will end nearly a decade of its zero interest rates.

The U.S. Department of Labor said on Friday employers added 215,000 jobs in July, only slightly below a Reuters poll of 223,000 jobs. The unemployment rate held at a seven-year low of 5.3 percent and there were signs that wages were beginning to pick up.

Taken together, the figures promoted traders to ratchet up expectations that the Fed would raise interest rates in September, even though money market futures pricing suggest it remained a close call.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.3 percent, hitting a six-month low. The S&P 500 shed also about 0.3 percent.

Emerging market shares were beaten harder, with MSCI's emerging market index falling to a two-year low on Friday.

The prospect of higher U.S. interest rates has made the dollar more attractive to investors in the past year, which in turn has lowered demand for commodities and crimped U.S. corporate earnings from exports.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback versus a basket of euro, yen and four other currencies, reached 98.334, its highest since late April after the U.S. job data, before turning lower. On Monday, it stood at 97.670.

The euro traded at $1.0957 while the yen was 124.35 to the dollar.

Oil prices kept sliding on the global slowdown, a U.S. gasoline glut and a rise in the U.S. oil rig count.

Crude futures prices fell to fresh multi-month lows early on Monday. Brent fell to $48.26 per barrel, not far from a six-year low of $45.19 hit in January.

source: interaksyon.com

Pearson says in talks to sell its 50 percent stake in The Economist

LONDON - Britain's Pearson said on Saturday it was in talks to sell its 50 percent stake in The Economist Group, publisher of The Economist newspaper.

The move comes on the heels of Pearson's sale of the Financial Times newspaper to Japanese media group Nikkei, announced this week as its focuses on its education business.

"Pearson confirms it is in discussions with The Economist Group Board and trustees regarding the potential sale of our 50 percent share in the group," the company said in a statement on Saturday.

"There is no certainty that this process will lead to a transaction."

Pearson did not name the potential buyers.

People familiar with the matter said, however, that the group of families and staff and former staff that own the remaining 50 percent are talking to Pearson but need to raise cash to fund the deal.

The co-owners of the weekly publication, which had a paid circulation of 1.6 million at the end of 2014 and reported 67 million pounds in annual operating profit in June, have greater voting rights than Pearson, which holds only B shares.

Any change of ownership would need the consent of the holders of the A shares, which include the Cadbury, Rothschild, Schroder and Agnelli families, an analyst told Reuters on Friday.

It would also need to be approved by trustees who are tasked with preserving the independence of the ownership of the company and the editorial independence of the title.

The families were unlikely to back any plans by Pearson to sell to a third party, industry bankers said.

Bernstein analyst Claudio Aspesi estimated the stake could be worth 300 to 400 million pounds, based on a multiple of 15 times its net income of 46 million pounds.

It is unlikely that any offer would reflect the same rich multiple that Nikkei agreed to pay for the Financial Times.

The Japanese company had been in competition with Germany's Axel Springer to win control of the trophy asset.

Beside The Economist itself, the group operates several subsidiaries including The Economist Intelligence Unit, Economist Events and Economist Corporate Network.

A deal would likely take several weeks to be agreed, a source close to the situation said on Saturday.

source: interaksyon.com

Japan shares clear 18-year peak, dollar firm

SYDNEY - Asia shares were trying to score a sixth session of gains on Wednesday as investors chose to be optimistic on the chances of a Greek debt deal, while the dollar held firm as the prospect of U.S. rate rises came back into view.

Japan's Nikkei led the way as a rise of 0.5 percent cleared a peak from 2000 to reach ground last trod in late 1996.

MSCI's index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.13 percent to bring its gains over the past six sessions to about 2.9 percent.

In China, official efforts to calm jittery investors seem to have steadied sentiment after steep losses last week. Shanghai stocks were up 1.6 percent but trade remained volatile.

Gains on Wall Street had been minor, though still enough to see the Nasdaq to a record peak. The Dow ended Tuesday up 0.13 percent, while the S&P 500 added 0.06 percent and the Nasdaq 0.12 percent.

Risk appetites were whetted after Greece's leftwing government expressed confidence that parliament would approve a debt deal with lenders, despite an angry reaction from some of its own lawmakers.

EU finance ministers meet on Wednesday to discuss whether or not to put the plan to euro zone state heads. If it goes ahead, the Greek parliament could vote as early as this weekend.

Bond investors were encouraged enough to push down yields on Greek 10-year debt by 60 basis points, with yields in Italy and Portugal following.

Yields went the other way in the United States following a string of generally upbeat economic data and comments from Fed Governor Jerome Powell that the economy could be ready for interest rate increases in both September and December.

That was unwelcome news for debt markets which are priced for only one hike this year. Yields on 10-year Treasury notes duly rose to their highest in 1-1/2 weeks at 2.43 percent.

"Markets appear to have interpreted the prospect of a deal between Greece and its creditors as removing a source of uncertainty, which may allow the Fed to commence hiking interest rates in September," said analysts at ANZ.

All of which helped give the U.S. dollar index its biggest daily gain since late May.

The greenback was particularly strong against the euro, which had peeled off to $1.1176 from a $1.1410 top at the start of the week. Against the yen, the euro was down at 138.34, having fallen from 140.

The dollar was also firm at 124.86 yen and well above the recent trough of 122.46.

In commodity markets, oil prices rebounding ahead of U.S. inventory data expected to show strong demand for gasoline.

U.S. crude futures added 11 cents to $61.12 a barrel, while Brent rose 10 cents to $64.55.

Gold slipped on the firmer dollar to reach $1,176.90 an ounce.

source: interaksyon.com