Asia Pacific share market advanced on Wednesday, May 08, 2013, as risk appetite boosted by record closes on the US Dow Jones and S&P 500 Indices, as well as better than expected German industrial and Chinese trade data
Investors continued rushing for risk assets after world markets rose on strong corporate earnings and improving economic data, with major stock indexes in Germany and the United States hitting all-time highs overnight.
Official data showed Tuesday that industrial orders in Germany, Europe's biggest economy, rose 2.2% in March compared with February propelled by rising demand - both at home and abroad - for German-made goods.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 87.31 points, or 0.58%, to close at a record 15,056.20. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 8.46 points, or 0.52%, to end at 1,625.96. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 3.66 points, or 0.11%, to close at 3,396.63. During the session, the Dow hit an all-time intraday high at 15,056.67, while the S&P 500 touched a record intraday high at 1,626.03.
Appetite for risk assets found further support after China Custom Office reported on Wednesday that exports last month rose by 14.7% from the year-earlier period, while imports rose 16.8% from a year ago, logging an $18.16 billion trade surplus in April. The better-than-expected data could further improve sentiment and reduce concerns over Chinese growth.
Japan's market benchmark the Nikkei Stock Average ended 0.74% higher at 14285.69, the highest point since June 18, 2008, when the index reached 14,452. Participation levels were very robust, with volume totaling 3.9 billion shares worth of about 3.32 trillion yen on a preliminary basis.
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Exporters were among the top gainers, with Sony Corp advanced 5.1% to 1768 yen and Panasonic Corp 1.7% to 734 yen. Sharp Corp surged 6.3% to 369 yen on reports that Mizuho Corporate Bank and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ officially decided to provide an additional line of credit totaling 150 billion yen, raising the amount from the initial 100 billion yen.
China-related shares surged on the better than expected trade data, with Fanuc Corp added 3.6% to 15790 yen, Komatsu 4.4% to 2,728 yen, and Hitachi Construction Machinery 5.6% to 2,425 yen.
Land developer Mitsubishi Estate tumbled 5.2% to 3,025 yen after its full fiscal year 118.3 billion yen operating profit handily missed guidance, hurt by the booking of valuation losses on inventories. Tokio Marine Holdings gained 4.7% to 3,250 yen after the company said its consolidated net profit for the fiscal year ended March 2013 is likely to have exceeded its previous forecast by 19 billion yen to 129 billion yen, a record high.
Australian stock market rallied on the back of strong gains in metal and mining and industrial stocks after China, Australia's largest trading partner, swung to a monthly trade surplus. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index climbed by 56.10 points to 5199.80, while broader All Ordinaries rose 55.20 points to 5177.90.
Mining giant BHP Billiton climbed up 1.9% to A$34.30 after announcing it will raise $734 million by issuing bonds in Canada to used to refinance debt. Fortescue advanced 5.4% to A$3.89.
Rio Tinto climbed up 2.6% to A$58.90 after the miner kept its iron ore output expansion plans intact. Alan Smith, president of Rio Tinto Iron Ore Asia said in an industry conference in Singapore that the Anglo-Australian miner boosting up iron ore production by 70 million tonnes a year that will take output to 360 million tonne annually by 2015. Alan Smith also told Chinese steel demand continuing to grow at 3 per cent a year.
Biopharmaceutical Company CSL fell 5.2% to A$59.61 after rival company Baxter failed to meet its goals in its Alzheimer's study. The trial was to test the effectiveness of a drug called IVIG on Alzheimer's patients. CSL manufactures the same drug under a different brand name and had Baxter's trial been successful, there would have been a positive flow on effect to CSL.
Meanwhile, Seven West Media (SWM) rose 10% to A$2.30 after new CEO Don Voelte announced aggressive cost cutting measures and indicated the worst was behind the company. SWM still expects underlying earnings to fall between 2-4% this year.
China share market closed modest higher, extending winning streak for fourth day in row, as official data showed China recorded an $18.2 billion trade surplus in April, higher than expected and reversing a rare deficit in March. The benchmark Shanghai Composite ended the day at 22346.30, up by 10.73 points or 0.48%, after moving in the range of 2235.42-2255.21.
Consumer-discretionary companies share went sharp higher in China, led by SAIC Motor Corp as Bank of America Corp. said a jump in import growth signaled domestic demand was recovering. Train makers shares climbed after the China Securities Journal reported Xinjiang province plans 16.8 billion yuan ($2.7 billion) of rail investment.
Indian benchmark indices rose on tracking gains in European and other Asian stocks. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, hit 14-week high above the psychological 20,000 mark. The CNX Nifty hit over 14-week high. The Sensex was provisionally up 136.10 points or 0.68%, up 173.83 points from the day's low and off 12.22 points from the day's high. Index heavyweight and cigarette major ITC advanced to hit record high on reports the Uttar Pradesh state government on Tuesday, 7 May 2013, slashed VAT on cigarette/cigar from existing 50% to 25%.
Indian index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) was slightly higher after seeing intraday volatility. Ranbaxy Laboratories declined after weak Q1 result. Lupin advanced to scale a record high after reporting strong Q4 results. HDFC surged to record high after declaring good Q4 result. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive.
Elsewhere in the region, New Zealand's NZX50 added 0.4%, South Korea's Kospi rose 0.1%, Taiwan's Taiex added 1.3%, Indonesia's Jakarta Composite added 0.9%, Hong Kong's HSI added 0.9%, and Singapore's STI jumped 0.9%, while Malaysia's KLSE Composite fell 0.15%.
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