(RTTNews) - The stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region are trading mixed on Monday after Wall Street finished mixed on Friday. In the U.S., the strong upward move seen in early trading, on the back of a government bailout of the auto industry, petered out over the course of the day following a steep fall in oil prices. However, crude oil prices for February delivery rose in Asian trade Monday amid speculation that oil prices will stabilize following OPEC’s production cuts next month and economic stimulus plans announced by the U.S. In currency trading, the greenback traded in the upper 89-yen levels in early Tokyo deals.

On Friday, the Dow closed down 25.9 points or 0.3% at 8,579.1, while the Nasdaq rose 12.0 points or 0.8% to 1,564.3 and the S&P 500 advanced 2.6 points or 0.3% to 887.9.

At 10:08 p.m. ET, oil was quoted at $43.20 a barrel, up 84 cents. The January contract, which expired on Friday, plunged 6.5% to $33.87 a barrel, the lowest settlement since February 10, 2004.

The U.S. dollar was quoted at 89.71-89.76 yen, up 0.79 yen from Friday’s close of 88.92-89.94 yen in Tokyo. The South Korean won was weaker at 1,290.3 to a U.S. dollar in early domestic trade. The Aussie opened weaker at US$0.6832-0.6837 and the kiwi was lower at US$0.5745 in early local deals.

The Japanese stock market traded higher after the U.S. government announced Friday that it will provide emergency loans to beleaguered automakers General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC. A weaker yen also contributed to the positive investor sentiment. At 8:47 p.m. ET, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average was up 103.9 points or 1.2% at 8,692.5 after closing 0.9% lower on Friday. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was adding 12.2 points to 846.6.

On the economic front, Ministry of Finance said in a report that Japan posted its second consecutive monthly merchandise trade deficit in November, led by the biggest ever decline in exports. The trade deficit totaled 223.42 billion yen compared to a deficit of 67.69 billion yen in October and a surplus of 85.68 billion yen in September. Exports fell 26.7% on year and imports declined 14.4%, the first decline since September 2007.

The convenience store and supermarket sales reports for November and the Bank of Japan’s monthly report for December are scheduled for release later in the day.

Major exporters were mixed in early trade though the U.S. dollar strengthened against the yen. Honda Motor surged up 4.0%, Komatsu gained 2.3% and Canon jumped 3.1%, while Toyota Motor lost 2.4% and Sony fell 0.8%.

Among high-tech stocks, Kyocera rose 2.5%, TDK Corp jumped 3.6% Advantest climbed 1.3% after the Nasdaq composite index finished higher on Friday. Among banks, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group surged up 4.3%, Mizuho Financial Group soared 5.1%, and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group advanced 4.1%.

Oil and gas miner Inpex Holdings rose 0.9%, but Nippon Mining Holding plunged 6.7%. Among other commodity-related stocks, Mitsubishi Corp. slipped 0.3% and Mitsui & Co. edged down 0.2%.

The South Korean stock market traded higher, extending its gains for the sixth straight trading session, as investor sentiment was lifted by the government’s various economic stimulus measures. At 9:18 p.m. ET, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index or KOSPI was up 17.5 points or 1.5% at 1,198.5. The key index briefly traded above the 1,200 mark for the first time in more than one month.

In the tech space, Hynix Semiconductor slipped 0.5%, but market heavyweight Samsung Electronics climbed 1.6%, LG Display jumped 4.0%, and LG Electronics advanced 1.4%.

Automaker Hyundai Motor jumped 3.2% on the back of U.S. auto bailout plan and top steelmaker POSCO advanced 1.3%.

Financials were also higher in early trade, with Shinhan Financial Group gaining 0.9%, Woori Finance edging up 0.3%, KB Financial Group climbing 1.5%, and Mirae Assets and Securities advancing 1.8%.

The Australian stock market traded mixed, following a mixed lead from Wall Street and as concerns about the global economic picture sapped any trader enthusiasm. At 8:48 p.m. ET, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was gaining 1 point or 0.03% to 3,582, after closing up a percent on Friday. The broader All Ordinaries index was falling 7 points or 0.20% to 3,515.

On the economic front, the Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed that new motor vehicle sales for November in Australia declined by a seasonally adjusted 5.2% from October. New vehicle sales were also lower by a seasonally adjusted 17.8% from last year.

Among banking stocks, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and National Australia Bank edged down 0.54%, while ANZ Banking Group added 1.50%. Westpac dropped 2.43%, and investment bank Macquarie Group fell 1.02%.

In the resources sector, index leader BHP Billiton was unchanged and Rio Tinto fell 2.44 after it announced plans of a 10% cut in iron ore output by shutting down all its iron ore mines in the Pilbara region. Gold miners were weaker, after gold closed sharply lower on Friday. Sino Gold fell 2.40%, Lihir Gold edged down 0.36%, and Newcrest Mining dropped 5.67%.

Among energy stocks, Oil Search lost 3.34%, and Santos fell 2.38%, while Woodside advanced 2.96%.

In the retail sector, David Jones dropped 2.99%, Woolworths lost 1.02%, and Coles’ owner Wesfarmers fell 1.27%.

Energy generation group Babcock & Brown Power soared more than 40% after it said it is reviewing some non-binding bids to buy its business amid an ongoing capital structure review.

The New Zealand stock market traded higher on bargain hunting following Friday’s nearly 2% slide. At 7:51 p.m. ET, the benchmark NZX 50 index was up 12.3 points or 0.5% at 2,667.2 after losing 52.3 points on Friday. The broader NZX All Capital index was adding 8.5 points or 0.3% to 2,700.0.

On the economic front, New Zealand posted a current account deficit of NZ$4.08 billion for the third quarter of 2008 compared to a deficit of NZ$4.65 billion for the preceding three-month period. The Statistics New Zealand also said that the country’s deficit for the year through September was NZ$15.5 billion compared to a deficit of NZ$15.0 billion for the year through the preceding quarter.

Meanwhile, consumer confidence in New Zealand declined in the December quarter, according to the latest survey from Westpac Bank. The Westpac McDermott Miller Consumer Confidence Index declined 3.5 points to a reading of 101.3, with readings over 100 indicating the number of optimists is greater than the number of pessimists among those surveyed.

Top stock Telecom added 0.9% and the third best stock Fletcher Building edged up 0.2%, while Contact Energy declined 1.0%.

Other gainers included New Zealand Refining Co 1.7%, The Warehouse Group 0.3%, Sky City 2.1%, Auckland Airport 0.6%, Ryman Healthcare 0.7%, and dual-listed Westpac and AMP 2.6% and 4.1%, respectively.

Steel & Tube Holdings was unchanged.

Other Asian markets:-

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down 1.2% at 14,952; China’s Shanghai composite index was down 2.0% at 1,978; Singapore’s Straits Times index was up 0.4% at 1,803; Taiwan’s weighted index was down 1.1% at 4,644; Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite index was down 0.9% at 1,3363; and Malaysia’s KLCI was up 10.7 points at 887.

For comments and feedback: contact editorial@rttnews.com

Copyright(c) 2008 RealTimeTraders.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Posted in Categories: Australia, Economy, Japan, New Zealand, Releases, USA.

Subscribe by RSS Subscribe by Email  Email This Post To A Friend