Telecoms decline again in Tokyo

Wall Street was higher in early afternoon trade Monday as it tried to recover from losses late last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 57.7 points to 13,324.6, while the Nasdaq Composite had added 9.8 points to 2,572 and the S&P 500 was 6.2 points higher to 1,465. Retailers saw gains, as did the aerospace sector and some banks. On the other hand, mortgage lenders declined on more trouble in the sector.

Most Asia-Pacific equities markets also saw gains on Monday. The Sensex was up 0.17 percent to 15,260.91, while in Australia the Sydney Ordinaries gained 0.31 percent to 6,146.5 and the S&P/ASX200 was 0.43 percent higher to 6,108.8. In Hong Kong the Hang Seng index added 0.75 percent to 22,739.9, while the Straits Times index was up 0.96 percent to 3,526.29. South Korea’s Kospi index gained 1.25 percent to 1,906.71. The Shanghai Composite, meanwhile, added 2.2 percent to 4,440.77. The major exception to the gains was in Taiwan, where the Taiex index dropped 0.98 percent to 9,072.57.

Tokyo markets, which had been expected expected to decline if the ruling Liberal Democrats lost control of the upper house of the Diet managed to overcome early losses to gain slightly on the session even though the ruling party lost more seats than it was thought they would. The Nikkei 225 was fractionally higher, adding 5.49 points to 17,289.3, while the Topix index gained 1.4 percent to 1,705.71. The Mothers market of small and mid-cap stocks was 1.63 percent higher to 852.93. The steel sector was higher on quarterly reports, while the electronics sector was mixed. Losers on the day include carmakers and the telecommunications sector.

The European markets were mixed. The Eurofirst 300 dropped 0.06 percent to 1,519.09, while the Paris CAC-40 added 0.04 percent to 5,646.36 and the Dax was up 0.6 percent to 7,456.31 in Frankfurt. In Madrid, the IBEX was 0.54 percent lower to 14,508.3. There were gains in the industrial gases sector, while tire makers also saw gains. Carmakers were mixed, while there were losses among banks and in the media.

London’s markets were also mixed. The FTSE 100 was 0.15 percent lower to 6,206.1, while the FTSE 250 gained 0.79 percent to 11,071.7. Miners advanced and so did the chemicals sector and manufacturers. Financial services, including insurers, were lower on the day as were power transmitters and property investors.

Story link: Telecoms decline again in Tokyo