(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading firm on Friday with the strong rally overnight on Wall Street following an unexpected jump in GDP growth triggering some hectic buying across the region. Most of the markets in the Asia-Pacific region opened on a buoyant note and are holding on to gains with participants staying bullish about the economy. Earnings reports from across the globe have been fairly impressive so far. Also, with the markets having taken a beating of sorts in some recent sessions, investors are seen going on a bargain hunting ahead of the weekend.

In the Australian market, financials, energy, materials and property trusts stocks are rallying sharply. Several stocks from industrials and technology sectors are also trading notably higher. Consumer staples, healthcare and telecom stocks are exhibiting some weakness.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index, which rose to 4,673.6 in early trades, has come off that high, but is still fairly high up in positive territory at 4,650, with a sharp gain of 75.3 points, or 1.7%. The broader All Ordinaries index is up 74.8 points, or 1.6%, at 4,650.

Among top miners, Rio Tinto is gaining 4.2% and BHP Billiton is up nearly 1%, while Newcrest Mining is trading flat. Bluescope Steel, Fortescue Metals, Incitec Pivot and Lihir Gold are trading stronger by 2%-4%, while Orica is gaining about 1.8%.

Among energy stocks, Woodside Petroleum is up 2% and Santos is gaining 1%, while Oil Search is down with a modest loss. Origin Energy is up 2.3% over its previous close. Origin Energy has reaffirmed profit guidance for 2009-10, and says more natural gas will be used for power generation as nations reduce carbon emissions. The company said it continued to grow during the global recession and still expects underlying profit for 2010 to be about 15% higher than the previous year. Underlying profit for the year ended June 30, 2009 was A$530 million.

In the banking space, ANZ Bank is up 1.5%, Commonwealth Bank of Australia is gaining about 3%, National Australia Bank is trading 3.3% up and Westpac Banking Corporation is moving up 1.5%. Diversified financials stock Macquarie Group is up nearly 2% despite trading well off the day’s high.

In the currency market, the Australian dollar is currently trading at 0.9157 to the U.S. dollar.

The mood remains fairly upbeat in Tokyo with the improvement in Japan’s unemployment rate and ratio of job offers to job seekers aiding sentiment to a notable extent. Bargain hunting after previous session’s sharp losses is aiding the cause of several front line stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index is currently trading higher by around 133 points or 1.35%, at 10,024.

Food, chemicals and pharmaceuticals stocks are mostly trading higher. Steel and non-ferrous metals are also trading firm. Bank stocks are trading a bit weaker.

Machinery stocks Komatsu, Hitachi Construction Machinery, JTEKT Corp. and Japan Steel Works are trading with notable gains. Most of the front line stocks in the electric machinery space are trading in positive territory.

Among automobile stocks, Toyota Motor, Honda Motor, Nissan Motor and Suzuki Motor are trading higher, while Mitsubishi Motor and Mazda Motor are trading flat.

Denso Corp. said it made a profit during the fiscal first half despite having forecast losses, prompting the firm to revise its full-year outlook into a profit. The firm recorded a net profit of 5.05 billion yen for the six months ended September 30, down 91% from 58.96 billion yen a year earlier. It attributed the decline to persistent slack vehicle sales and a strong yen which eroded its overseas income. Yet the result was better than the 21 billion yen net loss the company projected in July for the first half, as it reduced costs by more than expected while production volume grew more than anticipated thanks to a recovery in some auto markets.

Japan Airlines Corp. shares moved higher in early trades after Transport Minister Seiji Maehara said the previous evening that the ailing carrier will receive help from the Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corporation of Japan. However, facing stiff resistance at higher levels, the stock has drifted down and is currently trading around Thursday’s closing price of 115 yen.

Shares of camera maker Olympus Corp. bounced back from a three-day slide Friday morning, on reports the company likely posted a group operating profit of about 28 billion yen for the April-September half. Olympus had earlier forecast a 19 billion yen operating profit for the half year. The stock is currently trading more than 8% up on its previous close.

Softbank Corp. shares moved higher following the company reporting strong earnings results for the six months through September. The stock, despite trading off its high, is currently up 2% over Thursday’s closing price.

Among economic news, Japan’s jobless rate unexpectedly dropped to a four-month low in September, adding to signs that a recovery in the world’s second-largest economy is spreading to consumers. The unemployment rate declined to 5.3% from 5.5% in August, the statistics bureau said Friday morning.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded in the mid-91 yen level early Friday in Tokyo, up slightly from its overnight quotes in New York. In early trades, the dollar fetched 91.50-91.51 yen against Thursday’s close of 91.37-91.47 yen in New York and 90.65-90.66 yen in Tokyo. The yen is currently trading at 91.29 to the U.S. dollar.

Shipbuilding and steel stocks are among the prominent gainers in the South Korean market. The benchmark KOSPI index, which dropped down to 1,588 after an early surge to 1,605, has edged up subsequently to 1,597, up 11.2 points, or 0.71%, over its previous close.

Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics is trading firm with a 1.6% gain following the company reporting its best ever quarterly net profit on a resurgent memory sector.

Samsung’s July-September net profit rose to 3.72 trillion won, or US$3.14 billion, from 1.22 trillion won a year ago. It was Samsung’s best-ever quarterly result, exceeding its previous record net profit of 3.14 trillion won in the first quarter of 2004. Consolidated quarterly operating profit was 4.23 trillion won, better than a forecast for 3.92 trillion won and well above last year’s 2.52 trillion won. The company has also issued a strong forecast for 2010.

Among other tech stocks, LG Display LCD is up with a modest gain, while LG Electronics and Hynix Semiconductor are trading modestly lower.

In the automobile space, Hyundai Motor and Kia Motor are down 3.5% and 1.6% respectively, while Ssangyong Motor is gaining about 3.3%.

Bank stocks are trading mixed. Korea Exchange Bank is up over 2% and Woori Finance is trading modestly higher, while Shinhan Financial and KB Financial are trading with notable losses.

Steel stocks POSCO and Hyundai Steel are trading stronger by about 3% and 2% respectively. Among oil stocks, SK Holdings is up 1.2%. S-Oil and KEPCO are exhibiting weakness.

Among shipping stocks, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding are gaining 3.5%-4%, while bulk carrier STX Pan Ocean is trading 1.3% up.

Airliners Korea Airlines and Asiana Airlines are gaining over 2.5% each, while telecom stocks are exhibiting a mixed trend.

Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Indonesia and Singapore are up sharply. New Zealand and Taiwan are also trading firm. Markets across the region had ended notably lower on Thursday.

On Wall Street, stocks rallied sharply on Thursday with buoyant third-quarter GDP growth generating risk appetite and driving traders to go on a buying spree. The major averages all finished firmly in positive territory, partly offsetting their recent losses.

The Commerce Department said its advance estimate showed that GDP increased at an annual rate of 3.5% in the third quarter compared to a 0.7% decrease in the second quarter. Economists had been expecting GDP to increase by 3.2%.

The Dow closed up nearly 200 points, or 2.1%, 9,962.6, the Nasdaq advanced by about 38 points, or 1.8%, to 2,097.6 and the S&P 500 moved up 23.5 points, or 2.3%, to 1,066.1.

Major European markets closed notably higher on Thursday. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 gained 1.1%, while the French CAC 40 index and the German DAX index gained 1.4% and 1.7% respectively.

Crude oil surged on Thursday but failed to hold above US$80 per barrel. Prices were boosted by a better-than-forecast gross domestic product report and some mixed jobs data. Light sweet crude oil for December delivery rose to US$79.87 per barrel, up US$2.41 on the session.

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

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