(RTTNews) - Asian markets are mostly trading firm on Monday with the modest upmove on Wall Street last Friday, economic hopes and some encouraging corporate news keeping investor sentiment fairly bullish. Still, the gains are limited in some markets with a section of investors appearing a bit concerned about the pace of economic recovery.

The Australian market is trading notably higher with key bank stocks leading the charge. Energy and materials stocks are also moving up significantly. The Australian central bank’s optimistic forecast about the economy and some impressive corporate results are contributing to the gains.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is up 70 points, or 1.5%, at 4,664. The broader All Ordinaries index is trading at 4,675, up 70.6 points, or 1.5%, over its previous close.

In the banking space, Commonwealth Bank of Australia is gaining about 4.5%. The bank said cash earnings for the September quarter totaled A$1.4 billion, following good income growth and continued costs management. Its impairment expense charge was about A$700 million for the three months ended September 30, with credit quality trends generally moving in line with expectations. Total impaired assets increased slightly to 88 basis points of gross loans.

Among other key stocks in the banking space, ANZ Bank is up 2.3% and National Australia Bank is up 3.4%, while Westpac Banking Corporation is down in negative territory with a modest loss.

Insurance stock AXA Asia Pacific has flared up by over 30% on reports the insurer would consider a better takeover offer from predator AMP Ltd, involving majority owner AXA SA, after its board rejected an A$11 billion proposal.

Among top miners, Rio Tinto is up 0.8% and BHP Billiton is trading with a 0.7% gain. Newcrest Mining is trading stronger by about 3.3%.

Orica is aging nearly 6.5% on good results. The firm said its net profit rose to A$541.8 million for the year ended September 30, up A$2.2 million on the prior year. Net profit after tax before material items was A$646.1 million, up A12.9 percent on last year’s A$572.3 million.

The company declared a final dividend of 57 cents, 20 cents fully franked, up from 55 cents in the prior year. Total dividends were 97 cents, up from 94 cents in 2008. Orica expects earnings growth to continue in 2010.

Bluescope Steel, Fortescue Metals, Incitec Pivot and Lihir Gold are all trading in positive territory with notable gains.

Energy stocks Woodside Petroleum, Santos, Oil Search and Origin Energy are trading higher by 1.5%-2%.

In economic news, the number of jobs advertised in major newspapers and online fell 1.7% in October, after two months of growth, and shows the economic recovery remains vulnerable. Overall job ads totaled 133,709 in the month, down from 136,070 in September, with newspaper job ads falling by 1.4% and internet job ads declining by 1.8%.

In another news, demand for home loans grew by more than 5% in September in what appears to have been a last minute rush by first homebuyers to secure the full benefit of a more generous housing grant. According to a report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, owner-occupier home loans jumped by a seasonally adjusted 5.1% to 65,505 in September, ending two months of slowing demand.

In the currency market, the Australian dollar opened higher. In early trades, the Aussie was quoting at US$0.9229-US0.9234, up from Friday’s close of US$0.9134-US$0.9137.

With a stronger yen weighing on exporters, the Japanese stock market drifted lower in early trades on Monday. However, with investors stepping in at lower levels, the market has edged up into positive territory subsequently and is currently trading with a modest gain.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index, which had declined to 9,731.6 in early trades, recovered to 9,837 subsequently and is currently up 21.7 points, or 0.22%, at 9,811.

Shares of exporters like Toyota Motor Corp. and Sony Corp. saw some heavy selling in early trades with investors reacting to the yen’s sharp appreciation.

Shares of Citizen Holdings Co. rose sharply after the watchmaker said Friday evening it expects group pretax profit to rise about seven-fold to 5.5 billion yen in the year ending March, rather than to 2.5 billion yen as previously forecast. For the April-September half, the company logged a group net profit of 1.1 billion yen. It had earlier forecast a loss of 1.1 billion yen. Citizen saw a group net profit of 6.1 billion yen in April-September 2008. The stock is currently trading over 10% up on its previous closing price.

Non-life insurers Tokyo Marine Holdings and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group Holdings moved higher on better-than-expected April-September group earnings results.

Shares of Kubota Corp. edged higher after the firm said Friday evening that its fiscal 2009 group net profit would likely fall less than it had expected. The equipment manufacturer now projects that net profit will slide 14% on the year to 41.5 billion yen, better than the previously expected 40 billion yen. The stock is trading as much as 6% up on its previous close.

NTT DoCoMo Inc. said Monday it would spend up to 20 billion yen to buy back 160,000 of its own shares, or 0.38% of its outstanding stock. The mobile phone carrier plans to conduct the buyback from Tuesday through November 30. The stock is trading lower by about 1%.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded in the upper 89-yen level early Monday in Tokyo after hitting a three-week local high of 89.60-yen Friday in New York. In early trades, the dollar fetched 89.86-89.90 yen against Friday’s close of 89.83-89.93 yen in New York and 90.45-90.46 yen in Tokyo. The yen is currently trading at 90.20 to the U.S. dollar.

The South Korean market is also trading firm. Technology and steel stocks are up with notable gains. Automobile tocks are exhibiting weakness, while shipping and bank stocks are trading mixed.

The benchmark KOSPI index, which surged to 1,592.1, is currently trading at 1,584, up 11.5% points, or 0.73%, over its previous close.

Among tech stocks, heavyweight Samsung Electronics is trading 1.2% up, Hynix Semiconductor is gaining about 3% and LG Electronics is up 1%. However, LG Display LCD is trading in negative territory with a modest loss.

Hyosung Corp. shares are up over 4% amid market talk that the company may drop its bid to buy a stake in Hynix Semiconductor Inc. Hyosung, the sole contender to have expressed interest in a controlling stake in Hynix, said there is no change in the company’s stance that it would make an announcement about its intention by the November 16 deadline.

In the banking space, Korea Exchange Bank and Woori Finance are trading lower by about 2% and 1.2% respectively, while Shinhan Financial and KB Financial are up 2% and 1.5% respectively over their previous closing prices.

Steel stocks Hyundai Steel and POSCO are trading stronger by over 1% and 3% respectively. Oil stocks SK Holdings and S-Oil are up with notable gains. KEPCO is trading modestly higher.

Automobile stocks Kia Motor and Hyundai Motor are down 2% and 1% respectively. Ssangyong Motor is declining by about 15%.

Among shipping stocks, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding are up 0.6%-1.5%, while STX Pan Ocean is down with a 1.3% loss. Airlines and telecom stocks are trading flat.

Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan are trading notably higher. The New Zealand market is trading flat, while Shanghai and Indonesia are trading with modest losses after moving higher earlier in the day. Markets in the region had closed notably higher on Friday.

On Wall Street, a subdued reaction to monthly employment figures kept the major averages near the unchanged mark on Friday. The market remained week initially on the heels of the release of a report from the Labor Department that showed employment fell by more than expected in the month of October. However, it moved higher later on in the day on bargain hunting and ended with modest gains.

The Dow closed up 17.5 points, or 0.2%, at 10,023.4, the Nasdaq advanced 7.1 points, or 0.3%, to 2,112.4 and the S&P 500 rose 2.7 points, or 0.3%, to 1,069.3.

Major European markets saw little change Friday. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 and the German DAX index edged up 0.3% and 0.1% respectively, while the French CAC 40 Index finished with a very small loss.

Crude oil dropped on Friday as discouraging jobs data raised energy demand concerns. Light sweet crude for December moved to US$77.43, down US$2.19 on the session.

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

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