Asia stocks broadly higher on commodities; Nikkei jumps 1.5%
Investing.com
Published May 26, 2011 02:52AM ET
During late Asian trade, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.6%, South Korea's Kospi Composite rallied 2.75%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index jumped 1.48%.
Deutsche Bank said it expected commodity producers to deliver a return on equity of 20%. In a report published earlier, the bank said that shares in the sector will be buoyed as the world’s economy is expected to grow 4% in 2011, while pressure for interest rate increases to slow Chinese expansion is diminishing as inflation peaks.
Shares in Japan’s largest oil driller Inpex climbed 3.1%, while Japan Petroleum Exploration Company surged 4.95% as oil prices rose to a two-week high and after Mitsubishi UFJ raised its rating on the company to ‘outperform’.
Meanwhile, shares in digital camera maker Canon jumped 5.8% after announcing plans to buy back as much as 1.2% of its total shares for up to JPY50 billion.
Office equipment maker Ricoh's stock advanced 4.1% after it said it would slash 10,000 workers, or nearly 10% of its work force, over the next three years in a bid to boost efficiency and profitability.
Elsewhere, in Hong Kong, oil and gas giant PetroChina saw shares climb 1.7%, China Shenhua Energy jumped 1.2%, while China’s largest offshore oil driller CNOOC saw shares add 2.4%. The world’s largest commodities trader Glencore International advanced 2.6%.
In Australia, the AUS/200 Index rallied 1.5% as shares in the world’s largest mining group BHP Billiton gained 2.3% after Deutsche Bank named it as one of its top choices in the commodity sector, along with Rio Tinto and Xstrata.
Rio Tinto saw shares rise 2%, while gold producer Newcrest Mining surged 2.95%.
The outlook for European stock markets was upbeat. The EURO STOXX 50 futures pointed to a gain of 0.4%, France’s CAC 40 futures added 0.5%, the FTSE 100 futures rose 0.45%, while Germany's DAX futures indicated an increase of 0.4%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish revised government data on first quarter economic growth as well as a weekly report on initial jobless claims.
Get The News You Want
Written By: Investing.com
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.