After three days of falling, Asia markets have risen today,
largely on positive developments in Greece and the United States,
but also helped by a weaker yen, which can help exporters make more
profits by selling cheaper and more products to overseas
consumers.
Asian markets are led by the Nikkei 225 Index gaining 2.25% to
close the regular session at 9,768.96. The Hang Seng Index finished
higher by 1.32% at 20,900. The Shanghai Index closed at 2,419.94,
up 1.05%. The Standard & Poor's ASX 200 Index answered the
closing bell at 4,171.04, stronger by 27.38 and 0.66%.
The bulls are continuing to stampede in futures trading, too, as
the initial stages of the Greek debt swap are proceeding without
incident. In addition, the Wall Street Journal detailed a new
Federal Reserve program in the United States to suppress inflation.
As a result, the Nikkei 225 Index is at 9,780.00, up 90.00 in
trading in the futures market. The Hang Seng Index has gained
268.00 to 20,837.00. At 4,194.00, the Standard & Poor's Index
200 is higher by 29.00 in futures action.
Leading the charge was the financial sector and commodities. On
the Nikkei 225 Index, the financial sector was strong with Nomura
Holdings up 4.7%; and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Mizuho
Financial Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group all rising more
than 2.3%. Trading volume was off slighlty on the Nikkei 225 Index
at 2.11 billion shares, down from 2.25 billion shares on
Wednesday.
Bullish sentiment abounds despite the three days of losses for
Asian stock markets after a robust February. "I do not feel that
we've had our last buying opportunity or March. A lot of domestic
investors failed to buy at all in February, so they're picking up
now, but I do think there will be at least one more correction in
March. What we see gaining today -- insurance, real estate and
brokers -- these so-called "bubble" stocks are supported by excess
market liquidity. These have become the core stocks that are
driving the market," said Kenichi Hirano, operating officer at
Tachibana Securities.
ASIA STOCK MARKETS
*Nikkei 225 Index closed at 9,768.96 192.90 2.01% 01:28
*Hang Seng Index closed at 20,900.70 272.95 1.32% 03:01
*Standard & Poor's ASX 200 INdex 4,171.04 27.38 0.66%
*Shanghai Index closed at 2,419.94, up 25.14 and 1.05%.
ASIA MARKET FUTURES
* Nikkei 225 Index is at 9,780.00, up 90.00.
*Hang Seng Index is at 20,837.00, up 268.00.
*Standard & Poor's Index 200 is at 4,194.00, up 29.00.
COMMODITY INDEXES
*UBS Bloomberg CMCI is at 1,621.81, up 8.62.
*Standard & Poor's GSCI is at 697.62, up 5.01.
*RJ/CRB Commodity Index is at 315.48, up 1.24.
*Rogers International Index is at 3,870.16, up 26.04.
COMMODITIES
*Copper (
JJC
) is at $379.750, up $3.050 and 0.81%.
*Gold (
GLD
) is at $1,696.80, up $12.90 and 0.76%.
*Oil (
USO
) is at $106.42, up $0.26 and 0.24%.
*Corn (
CORN
) is at $638.75, down $15.25 and 2.39%.
CURRENCIES
*USD/JPY (
YCL
) is at 81.5, up 0.52%.
*EUR/USD (FXE) is at $1.3240, up 0.70%.
*GBP/USD (FXB) is at $1.5792, up 0.33%.