Asia stocks rise as commodities lead gains; Nikkei up 0.22%
Investing.com
Published Dec 14, 2010 02:45AM ET
During late Asian trade, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed 0.36%, South Korea's Kospi Composite added 0.62%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index added 0.22%.
The Nikkei’s gains came as shares in the financial sector performed strongly amid speculation the country may extend a capital-gains tax break by an additional year.
Shares in Japan’s largest brokerage Nomura Holdings jumped 1.54%, the nation’s biggest bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group saw shares climb 0.52%, while shares in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group added 0.57%.
But shares in many of the big name Japanese exporters declined after the yen strengthened against the dollar. A stronger yen potentially reduces the value of overseas revenue for Japanese companies.
Shares in electronics giant Sony fell 0.57%, the world’s largest maker of digital cameras Canon declined 0.49%, while shares in Honda, which gets approximately 80% of its revenue abroad, dropped 0.26%.
Elsewhere, in Hong Kong, shares in the commodity sector led gains as crude oil and metal prices advanced. Shares in China Shenhua Energy surged 3.76%, China’s largest offshore oil producer Cnooc saw shares climb 0.87%, while shares in the nation’s largest copper producer Jiangxi Copper added 0.89%.
Meanwhile, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 0.21% as shares in gold producer Newcrest Mining surged 1.74%, while copper producer OZ Minerals saw shares rally 5.81% after the stock was upgraded.
The outlook for European equity markets, meanwhile, was upbeat. The EURO STOXX 50 futures pointed to a rise of 0.05%, France’s CAC 40 futures indicated a gain of 0.07%, the FTSE 100 futures pointed to an increase of 0.15%, while Germany's DAX futures were up 0.08%.
Later in the day, the euro zone was to publish data on German economic sentiment while the U.S. was to release official data on retail sales and producer price inflation. In addition the Federal Reserve was to announce its federal funds rate.
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Written By: Investing.com
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