Wold markets - 20 August 2004
August 20, 2004
Pacific rim___________________________________
Hong Kong - Asian shares showed some sizable gains yesterday, with Tokyo traders following the rally on Wall Street, and Hong Kong investors betting on strong corporate earnings.
The Nikkei index closed 1.2 percent higher as traders bought into a wide range of stocks after prices advanced in New York on Wednesday.
Technology companies led the winners, with Advantest jumping 3.8 percent, Kyocera adding 1.6 percent and Tokyo Electron closing 2.5 percent higher.
But investors sold car makers Toyota and Honda and drug companies Takeda and Yamanouchi following recent gains.
Hong Kong shares rallied yesterday as traders speculated, correctly, that several key blue chips were about to report impressive gains in their first-half earnings.
The Hang Seng index jumped 1.4 percent.
In South Korea, shares advanced as traders bought into electronics companies after a rally in US technology shares.
The composite stock price index, or Kospi, jumped 2 percent to 788.53.
The Australian exchange rose 0.3 percent as traders bought into companies reporting good earnings. Sapa-AFP
Europe_______________________________________
London - European stocks ended mostly higher yesterday, but oil's surge to all-time highs and worries over the macroenomic outlook curtailed an initial wave of bargain hunting.
Volumes were subdued in quiet holiday trading despite a good start after Wednesday's strong performance on Wall Street.
Technology stocks were in the forefront of the early market advance. Belgian imaging company Agfa-Gevaert gained 12.95 percent after it disposed of its loss-making consumer unit, which makes disposable cameras and film.
Telekom Austria was a key underperformer, falling 19.6 percent after the collapse of merger talks with Switzerland's largest telecommunications operator, Swisscom.
Insurance stocks received a boost after Switzerland's biggest insurer, Zurich Financial Services, reported unexpectedly good half-year results. Its shares gained 0.7 percent.
UK retailers came under pressure after sportswear retailer JJB Sports warned it would not meet market expectations for profit in its current financial year, blaming unseasonably wet weather and strong competition. JJB Sports shares fell 15.13 percent. - Sapa-AFP
US__________________________________________
New York - US stocks were weaker in early afternoon trading yesterday as booming oil prices knocked confidence.
However, hungry investors sent Google's stock soaring as it debuted on the Nasdaq market.
"The market has become a little more resilient and able to stomach the higher energy prices," said Art Hogan at Jefferies.
"In the early going, we might see some softness but I would not expect it to last the day."
Hogan spoke after New York's main crude oil contract smashed above $48 a barrel for the first time as Shiite militia threatened to torch Iraqi oilfields.
Google shares shot 18 percent higher to just over $100 as they debuted on the Nasdaq, a spectacular comeback from the humiliation of its cut-price initial public offering.
Google's peers appeared to benefit, bucking wider market losses.
Yahoo was up 0.14 percent, while Ask Jeeves rose 0.73 percent.
"There are concerns about the high cost of petrol and milk, as well as worries about where economic growth will come from now that the tax refunds have been spent and short-term interest rates are rising," said Conference Board economist Ken Goldstein. - AFP
|
|
