mineral exploration project – commodity prices – mining stock- trade and market

Mixed trading was witnessed among the major markets across Asia on Friday as traders preferred to lock in gains following recent rally while the underlying sentiment is buoyant on increased optimism about higher earnings from companies for the recently concluded quarter and the worst for the global economy is over. While the markets in Australia, Hong Kong, China, Singapore and South Korea ended in negative territory on profit taking, markets in Japan, Indonesia, India and Taiwan managed to end in positive territory but well off the day’s high.

In Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index added 18.91 points, or 0.2%, to 10,257, while the broader Topix index of all first section stocks fell 3.16 points, or 0.4%, to 901.

On the economic front, reiterating the economic assessment made by Bank of Japan, the Cabinet Office said that the economy has been picking up, but it is short of autonomous factors and remains in a difficult situation such as a high unemployment rate. The Office, however, has kept its overall assessment about the economy unchanged from September.

Separately, the Ministry of Finance revealed that Japanese investors purchased a net 34.5 billion yen in foreign stocks during the week ended October 10. The report further noted that the residents also sold a net 256.2 billion yen in foreign bonds and notes last week.

Taking cues from positive results from IBM and Google that released results after the markets closed for trading in the U.S on Thursday, technology stocks advanced on expectations of perk-up in demand. Panasonic Corp. gained 1.82%, and Fujitsu advanced 1.68%.

Exporters also gained following weaker yen. Sony Corp. gained 1.92%, Canon advanced 0.85% and Sharp edged up 0.18%.

Banking stocks were the major laggards as traders preferred to lock in gains following yesterday’s gains. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial declined 3.09%, Mizuho Financial lost 2.26%, Resona Holdings shed 2.40% and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial decreased 2.45%.

Automotive stocks ended mixed. Honda Motor lost 1.07%, Mazda Motor slumped 4.05%, Nissan Motor edged down 0.74% and Mitsubishi Motor fell 2.78%. Toyota Motor remained unchanged from previous close, while Suzuki Motor managed to end in positive territory with a gain of 0.24%.

In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 Index slipped 23.50 points, or 0.48% to close at 4,836, while the All-Ordinaries Index ended at 4,843, representing a loss of 19.90 points, or 0.41%.

Banks dragged the index into negative territory on profit taking. ANZ Bank lost 1.41%, Commonwealth Bank of Australia slipped 0.43%, National Australia Bank shed 0.54% and Westpac Banking declined 0.53%. Investment banker Macquarie Group decreased 2.08%.

Gold stocks also ended in negative territory following drop in bullion prices in the international market. Sino Gold Mining slumped 3.33%, Newcrest Mining lost 2.48% and Lihir Gold also shed 2.48%.

Mixed trading was witnessed among the mining and metal stocks. BHP Billiton gained 0.77%, Fortescue Metals advanced 1.96%, Gindalbie Metals rose 3.24% and Rio Tinto added 0.20%. However, Oz Minerals slumped 4.92%, Murchison Metals lost 4.12%, Minara Resources declined 2.49% and Mincor Resources shed 1.96%.

Mixed trading was also witnessed among oil stocks despite surge in crude oil prices in the international market. While Santos managed to end higher with a gain of 0.51%, Woodside Petroleum lost 0.90% and Oil Search shed 0.74%.

Retail stocks also ended mixed. David Jones slipped 0.93%, Harvey Norman slumped 6.72% and Wesfarmers lost 1.03%. JB Hi-Fi managed to end in positive territory with a gain of 0.93% and Woolworths remained unchanged from previous close.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index drifted into negative territory with a loss of 69.18 points, or 0.31%, at 21,930, as traders preferred to lock in gains in the late trading session following gains in the recent rally. After having opened in positive territory taking positive cues from Wall Street and better-than-expected earnings result from search-engine giant Google, the market drifted into the negative territory with banks and resource stocks leading the decline.

In South Korea, the KOSPI Index ended in negative territory with a loss of 1.12% or 18.63 points, at 1,640, dragged down by exporters after the local currency South Korean Won strengthened against the US dollar. Traders also preferred to lock-in gains and move to sidelines amid modest trading volumes ahead of earnings from U.S companies that will gain further momentum next week.

Strong liquidity flows amid encouraging earnings announcements helped the Indian market end Friday on a positive note. Positive sentiment across the European markets also helped improve sentiment. The BSE Sensex finished near the day’s high at 17,323, up 128 points or 0.74% and the S&P CNX Nifty rose by 33 points or 0.65% to 5,142.

Among the other major markets in the region, China’s Shanghai Composite Index slipped 3.16 points, or 0.11% to 2,977 and Singapore’s Strait Times Index shed 4.03 points, or 0.15% to close at 2,708. However, Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite Index ended flat with a marginal gain of 0.42 points, or 0.02% at 2,516 and Taiwan’s Weighted Index inched up 4.70 points, or 0.06%, to 7,715.

source : forexhound.com

Find More Other News : Mining Investment - mining stock report