Asia-Pacific markets see gains as Europe, US markets retreat

Equities markets in the Asia-Pacific region were higher on Friday on the news that US legislators and the Bush administration have reached an agreement on a stimulus package meant to revive the US economy by giving rebates to millions of taxpayers in an effort to get them to spend more money. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate must still pass the plan, but President George W. Bush has said he will sign it. The least of the gains came in China, where the Shanghai Composite added 0.93 percent to 4,761.69. The Kospi was up 1.77 percent to 1,692.41 in South Korea while Taiwan’s Taiex was 2.96 percent higher to 7,739.59. In Singapore the FTSE Straits Times Index gained 3,159.48. The Sydney Ordinaries added 5 percent to 5,886.3, a gain of 280 points while the S&P/ASX200 was up 5.02 percent to 5,860 as it added 279 points. In India the Sensex was 6.62 percent higher to 18,361.66 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index jumped 6.73 percent to 25,122.37.

Tokyo’s markets saw substantial gains. The Nikkei 225 put on 536 points, a gain of 4.1 percent to 13,629.16, while the Topix index added 4.7 percent to 1,344.77 and the Mothers market was 3.36 percent to 663.52. Carmakers were higher, as were traders and the oil sector. Banks were higher after one Japanese bank was reported to be close to announcing an alliance with an Indian bank.

Markets in Europe were mixed on the session. The pan-European FTSE Eurofirst 300 ended virtually even at 1,330.42. In Frankfurt, the Dax fell 0.06 percent to 6,816.74 while the Paris CAC-40 dropped 0.76 percent to 4,878.12 for its fourth consecutive weekly decline. On the other hand, Madrid’s IBEX was 0.26 percent higher to 13,141.1. Carmakers saw gains, but banks, airlines, and builders were all lower on the session.

In London the FTSE 100 was down 0.12 percent to 5,869 while the FTSE 250 dropped 1.2 percent to 9,738.5. The tobacco sector saw gains, while miners were mixed. The oil sector was mostly higher, while most retailers saw declines. House builders were lower on the session.

After early gains, Wall Street saw declines in early afternoon trade at least partly due to profit taking after two days of advances. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.05 percent to 12,248.63 while the Nasdaq Composite was 0.89 percent lower to 2,339.97 and the S&P 500 had dropped 1.21 percent to 1,335.73. The construction equipment sector saw gains on good quarterly results from within the sector. Airlines were also higher, but manufacturers of mobile phone handsets were mostly down.

Story link: Asia-Pacific markets see gains as Europe, US markets retreat