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World Markets - 4 March 2004
March 4, 2004
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Pacific rim
Hong Kong - Asian share prices fell yesterday in line with losses on Wall Street, but most markets limited their losses in consolidation after recent gains. Most of the declines amounted to profit taking, with dealers saying they expected markets in the region to trade sideways in the near term despite many being overbought.
Tokyo: Japanese share prices closed little changed as gains in exporters sparked by the yen's decline against the dollar were offset by profit taking in domestic, demand-linked stocks.
Hong Kong: The Hang Seng index closed 2 percent weaker and below the 13 500 point level for the first time in nearly a month, on concerns about fund flows and analyst downgrades for HSBC and Hang Seng Bank after their 2003 results. "March futures fell sharply as the market speculated on the downgrade of banking giant HSBC by a large investment institution," said a dealer.
Sydney: Australian share prices closed flat after a decision by the central bank to leave interest rates unchanged helped to offset the impact of a sharp fall on Wall Street. The rates decision contributed to weakening the Australian dollar, helping resource stocks and global earners such as New Corporation. - AFP.
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Europe
London - European stocks slipped yesterday as investors fled mining firms as gold and copper prices fell, but oil giant Shell rose after its chairman resigned.
London-listed mining titan Anglo American shed 2.6 percent, while rivals BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto fell 3.9 percent and 3 percent respectively as investors watching the dollar's bounce against sterling to one-month highs fretted about profits.
The price of gold and copper fell as a rally in the dollar gained momentum, pushing the currency to its 2004 high. But Anglo-Dutch oil firm Shell bucked the trend with gains of 2 percent after its embattled chairman, Philip Watts, stepped down.
Watts had been under fire since the world's second-largest oil company shocked investors with a reserve cut in January.
"He has done the honourable thing post the reserves debacle," said Bruce Evers, oil industry analyst at Investec.
The FTSE Eurotop 300 index of pan-European blue chips ended down 0.32 percent at 1 021.24 points, below the new 20-month peak and session high of 1 024.76. The narrower DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index was 0.67 percent lower at 2 926.79 points. - Reuters.
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US
New York - US stocks struggled yesterday as caution reigned ahead of a key report on the US labour market, which investors are eyeing for guidance on the strength of the economic recovery.
Investors watched a surge in the dollar and a rise in bond yields as investors positioned for the February jobs report, which is due tomorrow.
Merrill Lynch chief global technical analyst Thomas Hobson said the market's inability to follow through on Monday's strong start to the week and month reinforced the market's consolidation theme. "The market is likely to continue its meandering, inconsistent digestion theme [until Friday]," Hobson said.
Fears that a strong February report would trigger a sooner-than-hoped-for rise in interest rates helped spark Tuesday's equity market slide.
By 6.30pm South African time the most active shares included Alcoa slid 59c (R4) to $37.12 as the dollar's strength weighed on big multinationals. Merck was down 50c at $46.88, IBM was off $1.12 to $95.70 and International Paper lost 47c to $43.47. However, 3M stood out to the upside with a gain of 94c to $79.25. - AFP.
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