Asian Stocks Gain Cautiously Ahead of Jobs Report
CANBERRA: Most Asian markets rose in cautious trading Friday as investors looked ahead to a key U.S. jobs report for clues about the outlook for the world’s largest economy — an important export market for Asia.
Trading has been jittery the last couple weeks amid worries that the rally in global markets since March may have been overdone. China’s stock market, which has been particularly volatile, was little changed by midday.
Investors were heartened by the modest advance Thursday on Wall Street, where markets broke a four-day slide.
But given the importance of the U.S. market to Asia, many were holding back until the U.S. Labor Department released jobs numbers later Friday. Economists expect the unemployment rate to edge up to 9.5 percent from 9.4 percent, while the number of layoffs is expected to slow to 225,000 from 247,000.
“The movement seems to be very much sideways because the investors are waiting for more indications such as the U.S. employment data to be released tonight,” said Ben Kwong Man Bun, the chief operating officer at KGI Securities.
“It’s stabilizing a bit, but there’s too much uncertainty about whether rebound can be sustained,” he said.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 78.96 points, or 0.4 percent, to 19,834.47, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index advanced 11.1 points, or 0.25 percent, to 4,440.8. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite index edged up 2.89 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,847.91, after surging 4.8 percent Thursday.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index, meanwhile, sagged 55.73 points, or 0.6 percent, to 10.158.91, while South Korea’s Kospi slid 0.3 percent to 1,609.17.
U.S. stock index futures were narrowly mixed, suggesting a tepid open on Wall Street Friday.
In New York Thursday, stocks gained in light trading. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 63.94, or 0.7 percent, to 9,344.61, while the S&P 500 index climbed 8.49, or 0.9 percent, to 1,003.24. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 16.13, or 0.8 percent, to 1,983.20.
Oil prices rose, with benchmark oil for October delivery gaining 25 cents to $68.21 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In currencies, the dollar edged up to 92.62 yen from 92.56 yen late Thursday in New York. The euro was little changed at $1.4252.
Asian Stocks Gain Cautiously Ahead of Jobs Report was first posted on September 4, 2009 at 3:27 pm.
©2009 “News Trends“.
Trade Ministers Pledge Commitment to Doha
NEW DELHI : Ministers from over 35 countries pledged swift action to conclude a new global free-trade pact and boost the ailing world economy as they assembled Friday for a final day of talks in New Delhi.
A speedy agreement on a deal to liberalise world commerce was the best medicine for the global financial downturn, said a statement issued by host nation India after the first day of informal ministerial talks Thursday.
“This crisis actually gives all members a stronger sense of urgency to conclude the Doha Round negotiations,” China’s Commerce Minister Chen Deming said Thursday, calling a trade deal the best bulwark against protectionism.
A new study by Washington think-tank Peterson Institute for International Economics calculated a Doha accord could bolster global gross domestic product by up to 700 billion dollars a year.
India’s disagreement with the United States over subsidy protection for poor farmers contributed to the 2008 collapse of the Doha Development Round of the World Trade Organisation, aimed at fuelling global commerce and lifting millions out of poverty. But in July, top industrial nations and five emerging economies, including India and China, agreed to put the Doha round back on track and conclude a deal in 2010.
India took the initiative, seeking to inject momentum into the negotiations by getting ministers to gather in New Delhi to set a roadmap for meeting the deadline.
“There was a unanimous affirmation (at the meeting) of the need to expeditiously conclude the Doha Round, particularly in the present critical global economic situation,” said the statement issued by India.
The statement made no mention of a timeframe, but WTO Director General Pascal Lamy said he believed agreement could be achieved next year as long as there was political will.
“The meeting can be the real beginning of the end-game,” said Lamy.
The Doha round began in 2001, but deadlock between the major trading blocs dashed numerous bids to forge a pact.
While Lamy said 80 percent of the work on a new deal was finished, Indian Trade Minister Anand Sharma cautioned there were still many unresolved issues, especially on farm subsidies and market access for industrial goods.
Sharma also told developed nations the development mandate was “the bedrock of the Doha Round” and could not be compromised.
Celso Amorim, External Relations Minister of Brazil, one of the other big trade players, said developing countries “have no more room for further concessions” to rich nations.
Developing countries like India, which has 235 million farmers, are hesitant to open their markets to what they fear will be cheap crops from overseas.
As ministers met Thursday, thousands of farmers and social activists blocked a main thoroughfare in New Delhi to demand the government ditch Doha.
“The rich countries with their subsidies will destroy Indian farmers,” Ajmer Singh Gill, a senior leader of Indian farm group Bharat Kisan Union, told AFP.
The United States and the European Union are reluctant to abandon large agricultural subsidies that command widespread political popularity.
Trade Ministers Pledge Commitment to Doha was first posted on September 4, 2009 at 3:31 pm.
©2009 “News Trends“.
Dollar Steady in Asia Ahead of US Jobs Data
TOKYO : The dollar was steady in Asia on Friday as investors held their breath ahead of key US jobs data, amid concern markets may have become over-confident about prospects for a quick economic recovery.
The dollar was stable at 92.67 yen in Tokyo morning trade against 92.64 yen in New York late on Thursday. The euro was little changed at 1.4256 after 1.4252 and at 132.14 yen from 132.04.
Currency traders took to the sidelines ahead of the August non-farm payrolls report, which is expected to show that the US economy shed 230,000 jobs last month, down from 247,000 in July.
“If realised this would be the least negative reading since August 2008,” noted Rabobank International analyst Adrian Foster.
But even recent upbeat economic data have failed to impress financial markets, reflecting concerns that stocks may have risen too far, too fast given the still-uncertain outlook for the global economy.
Worries about the weak labour market were stirred by numbers showing new claims for unemployment benefits in the United States remained stubbornly high at 570,000 in the week ending August 29 — worse than markets had expected.
An improvement in the jobs market is seen as vital for a recovery in consumer spending — a key driver of overall economic growth.
There is “doubt about whether US households will increase spending much and contribute to a sustainable economic recovery,” NAB Capital strategist John Kyriakopoulos wrote in a note. The euro failed to get more than a short-lived boost after the European Central Bank left its record low interest rates unchanged at 1.0 percent and offered a cautiously upbeat economic outlook.
ECB head Jean-Claude Trichet “disappointed expectations by saying the recovery would be bumpy and upgrading growth forecasts only marginally,” Kyriakopoulos noted.
Investors will also focus on a weekend meeting of finance ministers and central bank chiefs from 20 major economies in London for clues on whether they will scale back emergency stimulus measures and curb executive bonuses.
“This meeting is unlikely to be a headline grabber but any comment on ‘exit strategies’ for major central banks would be received with interest,” said Foster.
Dollar Steady in Asia Ahead of US Jobs Data was first posted on September 4, 2009 at 3:34 pm.
©2009 “News Trends“.
