(RTTNews) - The stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region are trading higher on Wednesday following the overnight gains on Wall Street. Tech tocks advanced following the positive lead from their U.S. counterparts, while energy stocks extended gains on higher oil prices. Optimism over the expected stimulus package by the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Barack Obama also helped buoy the markets. Crude oil continued to trade below $49 a barrel in early Asian trades Wednesday. The U.S. dollar was trading in the upper 93-yen range in early trades Tokyo.

U.S stocks saw some volatility over the course of the session before ending Tuesday’s trading firmly in positive territory, although well off their highs. The choppy trading came as investors responded to a mixed bag of economic news and remarks by president-elect Barack Obama. The Dow closed up 62 points or 0.69% at 9,015, the Nasdaq gained 24 points or 1.50% to close at 1,652, and the S&P 500 advanced 7 points or 0.78% to finish at 935.

In early Asian trades Wednesday, crude oil was trading at $48.74, up $0.16 or 0.33%. Oil slipped below $49 a barrel on Tuesday as weak U.S. economic data triggered a bout of profit-taking, outweighing concerns over supply-disruptions. Light, sweet crude for February delivery declined $0.23 to settle at $48.58 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The U.S. dollar strengthened against the Japanese yen, while it weakened against the South Korean won as well as the Australian and New Zealand dollars. In Tokyo, the U.S. dollar was quoted in a range of 93.92-93.94 yen, up 0.39 yen from Tuesday’s close of 93.53-93.54 yen. In Seoul, the South Korean won was trading at 1,293.75 won to the U.S. dollar in early trades, up 18.75 won from Tuesday’s close of 1,312.5 won. In Sydney, the Australian dollar opened at US$0.7249-0.7253, up from Tuesday’s close of US$0.7115-0.7120. In early trades Wellington, the New Zealand dollar was buying US$0.5957 compared to US$0.5879 in late trades Tuesday.

The Japanese stock market was trading higher on Wednesday for the seventh straight session, following a positive lead from Wall Street overnight on optimism about president-elect Barack Obama’s economic stimulus plans. Export-oriented stocks rose on the back of a weaker yen.

At 7.22 P.M. ET, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index was advancing 109.84 points or 1.21% to 9,190.68 and the broader Topix Index of all First Section issues was gaining 19.31 points to 895.51.

The Japanese market closed higher for the sixth straight session on Tuesday. The Nikkei 225 Index advanced 37.72 points, or 0.42%, to close at 9,080.84 and the Topix Index of all First Section Issues gained 0.29 points, or 0.03%, to settle at 876.20.

The markets have little to digest in terms of economic news on Wednesday.

Tech stocks advanced following the gains made overnight by their U.S. counterparts. Advantest jumped 5.30%, Kyocera rose 3.99% and Fanuc climbed 3.74%. Banking stocks were also trading mostly higher. Mitsubishi UFJ advanced 0.70%, Mizuho Financial added 0.69% and Resona Holdings improved 0.28%. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial gave away 0.24%.

Among export-oriented stocks, Canon jumped 5.72%, Komatsu gained 3.60%, Sharp climbed 4.89% and Sony rose 3.54%. Automaker Toyota advanced 1.31%, Mazda gained 4.94% and Nissan climbed 3.23%. Honda rose 4.72% despite a report in the Nikkei business daily that the company has decided to delay the launch of a passenger car plant in Argentina by six months or more from the originally scheduled second half of this year as demand drops in South America.

In the oil sector, Inpex Holdings advanced 1.56%, Nippon Oil added 0.92% and Showa Shell rose 2.07%. Trading house Mitsubishi gained 3.74%, Marubeni rose 4.30% and Itochu jumped 5.52%.

NEC Corp. said Tuesday it had latent securities losses totaling 87.6 billion yen for its fiscal third quarter through December. The company added that it was uncertain whether the loss would have any impact on its earnings for the three months. However, the company’s stock was advancing 3.32%.

Toshiba Corp. plans to triple its capacity to manufacture equipment for hydroelectric power plants in China by 2015. The company’s stock was up 2.20%.

The South Korean market was trading in positive territory for the fifth straight session on Wednesday, tracking the overnight positive lead from Wall Street and buoyed by the government’s stimulus plan unveiled on Tuesday.

At 8.36 P.M. ET, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index, or KOSPI, was advancing 28.70 points, or 2.40%, to 1,222.98.

South Korea’s Finance Ministry said Tuesday that it plans to invest 50 trillion won, or about $38 billion, in eco-friendly projects over the next four years in an attempt to kick-start the faltering economy. The plan was approved at a cabinet meeting held earlier and is expected to create one million new jobs in Asia’s fourth-largest economy. The government’s stimulus plan calls for investing 39 trillion won in nine major businesses, while 11 trillion won would go to 27 related businesses, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said.

The South Korean stock market closed higher for the fourth straight session on Tuesday as tech stocks gained on higher memory chip prices. The KOSPI advanced 20.71 points, or 1.76%, to close at 1,194.28.

On the economic front, the Korea Automobile Manufacturers’ Association said Wednesday that South Korea’s production of cars, trucks and buses declined 6.4% in 2008 from a year ago due to the global economic downturn. Production fell to 3.83 million units in 2008, the first annual decline in seven years.

Tech stocks advanced on the positive lead from their U.S. counterparts overnight. Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics jumped 4.22%, Hynix Semiconductor advanced 1.08%, LG Philips LCD added 0.99% and LG Electronics rose 2.21%.

Automaker Hyundai Motor rose 4.35%, Ssangyong Motor added 0.38% and steel maker POSCO gained 3.82%. Shipbuilding stocks extended gains. Daewoo Shipbuilding soared 9.20%, Hyundai Heavy Industries surged 5.68% and Samsung Heavy Industries gained 2.95%.

Among banks, Woori Finance jumped 6.05% and Korea Exchange Bank advanced 1.31%. KB Financial, the holding firm of Kookmin Bank, eased 0.50%. In the telecom sector, SK Telecom declined 1.22% and KT lost 2.31%.

Oil issue SK declined 0.93%, while S-Oil added 0.64% and energy stock KEPCO gained 1.56%. Among airline stocks, Korean Air Line eased 0.13% and Asiana Air Line rose 2.96%.

The Australian stock market was trading higher Wednesday, following modest gains overnight on Wall Street.

At 8:17 p.m. ET, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was gaining 71 points or 1.88% to 3,813, after closing 1.51% higher on Tuesday. The broader All Ordinaries index was advancing 69 points or 1.88% to 3,758.

On the economic front, the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Retail Trade Trends Data for November showed that retail sales in Australia rose in November by a seasonally adjusted 0.4%. Trend retail sales also increased 0.1% on month.

Among banking stocks, Commonwealth Bank of Australia was down 0.71%, while National Australia Bank rose 1.16%, and ANZ Banking Group gained 1.30%. Investment bank Macquarie Group climbed 8.21%, while Westpac edged down 0.29%.

In the resources sector, index leader BHP Billiton advanced 4.32% and Rio Tinto climbed 8.43%, as Rio’s aluminum arm stood to gain from planned output cuts by top U.S. aluminum producer Alcoa. Gold miners were mixed, after gold closed modestly higher on Tuesday. Sino Gold gained 3.81%, Newcrest Mining fell 2.18% and Lihir Gold added 1.89%.

Among energy stocks, Oil Search gained 1.52%, Woodside advanced 2.62%, and Santos rose 1.85% after the oil and gas explorer signed a $US585 million contract with CITIC Pacific Mining to supply gas to the Sino Iron project in Western Australia.

In the retail sector, David Jones added 1.97%, Woolworths edged up 0.19%, and Coles’ owner Wesfarmers advanced 3.05%.
Shares of energy explorer Innamincka Petroleum have gone into a trading halt, the company saying it is in negotiations to farm out some of its interests.

The New Zealand stock market opened marginally higher on Wednesday, following modest gains made overnight on Wall Street.

The benchmark NZX 50 index was up 6.84 points or 0.25% to 2,790.22 shortly after the market opened for the day, while the broader NZX All Capital Index gained 5.83 points or 0.21% to 2,789.42.

The New Zealand stock market extended gains to close higher for the third straight session on Tuesday, led by the top stocks. The benchmark NZX 50 Index gained 38.49 points, or 1.40% to settle at 2,783.38, while the broader NZX All Capital Index gained 35.22 points, or 1.28% to finish at 2,783.59.

On the economic front, reports on service sector activity, factory orders, and pending home sales painted a mixed picture of the economy.

Among the top stocks, Telecom advanced 0.85%, Contact Energy collected 0.40% and Fletcher Building added 0.51%.

In the retail sector Hallenstein Glasson fell 2.27%, while Warehouse jumped 1.12%. Pumpkin Patch and jewelry retailer Michael Hill International remained unchanged. In the energy sector Vector and TrustPower remained unchanged.

Among the dual-listed issues, AMP, APN News & Media and Telstra remained unchanged. Lion Nathan inched up 0.31%, as Australia and NZ Banking Corp gained 0.53%, and Westpac Bank eased 0.96%.

Among other notable stocks, Infratil gained 0.61% and Nuplex collected 0.33%. Methven, Mainfreight, Sky City, Steel & Tube Holdings and Sky Network Television remained unchanged. Fisher & Paykel Appliances was up 2.16%, while Fisher & Paykel Healthcare dropped 0.93%.

The other gainers in the day’s early trading were- Auckland International Airport by 0.59%, Property For Industry by 0.91%, PGG Wrightson by 5.11%, Pike River Coal by 1.04%, Sanford by 0.92%, Skellerup Holdings by 1.35% and Tourism Holdings by 2.90%.

The other losers in Wednesday’s early trading were Goodman Fielder by 1.22%, NZX Limited by 1.87%, Port of Tauranga by 0.75% and Tower by 1.96%.

Other Asian markets:

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was gaining 38 points or 0.24% to 15,547, Singapore’s Straits Times Index was up 30 points or 1.56% to 1,944 and Taiwan’s Weighted Index was gaining 44 points or 0.92% to 4,771. Also, China’s Shanghai Composite Index was adding 2 points or 0.09% to 1,939, Malaysia’s KLSE Composite Index was advancing 12 points to 934 and Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite Index was gaining 16 points or 1.11% to 1,451.

For comments and feedback: contact editorial@rttnews.com

Copyright(c) 2009 RealTimeTraders.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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

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