Regional markets rallied on a strong lead from Wall Street which posted gains on Friday after strong employment data boosted confidence in the US economy. Wall Street stocks ended higher on Friday after US Labour Department data showed the world's biggest economy added 222,000 jobs last month, exceeding expectations of an addition of 179,000.
The positive sentiments further received boost from the key China's consumer and producer prices data which logged steady growth in June, as stable prices reinforced the view that the world's second-largest economy is firming up. The Consumer Price Index rose 1.5% year on year in June, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed. That was the same as May and the fifth consecutive month it remained below 2%, the bureau said. The Producer Price Index, which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, rose 5.5% year on year, the same as in May and was the lowest since December.
Among Asian bourses
Australia Market ends higher
Australian equity market finished session higher for the first time in four straight session, helped by positive lead from Wall Street Friday after further evidence that the U.S. economy is gaining strength and signs that Chinese inflation is stabilizing. Most of ASX sectors gained with the major financials and consumer stocks leading the across-the-board gains. The benchmark Australian index finished up 0.4%, or 20.83 points, at 5,724.4.
Financial stocks, tracking profits in US peers, were the biggest gainers on the benchmark. Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the market's biggest constituent, rose by 0.8% to A$82.81 while Australia & New Zealand Banking Group edged up 0.4% to A$28.74.
The consumer cyclicals and durables sectors also contributed handily to the overall gains, with retailing giants Woolworths and Wesfarmers rising 1.2% and 0.5% respectively.
Energy stocks were mixed, despite oil prices rebounding from declines on Friday amid a stronger U.S. dollar and persistent oversupply worries. Nymex crude for delivery in August was up 0.8% at US$44.57 a barrel in the Globex electronic session, while Brent crude for delivery in September rose by 0.8% to US$47.07. Woodside Petroleum gained 0.1% to A$29.41, but Santos fell by 1.4% to A$2.91.
Shares of resources companies were weak as base metals prices saw some weakness, while iron ore prices rose. The most-traded iron ore on the Dalian Commodity Exchange gained on Friday after port data from Australia showed iron ore shipments to China from Australia's Port Hedland terminal dropped to 36.6 million tonnes in June from 38 million tonnes the month before. Port Hedland is used by three of Australia's top four iron ore miners, BHP Billiton, Fortescue Metals Group and Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting. Fortescue was down about 0.4% each, while Rio Tinto was flat.
BHP Billiton fell by 0.3% to A$24.52, even as Credit Suisse signaled that its U.S. onshore oil and gas assets weren't being appropriately valued by investors. The brokerage used a new algorithm to test how much the shale acreage was worth and came up with a US$11 billion valuation. Credit Suisse noted that hedge fund Elliott Management Corp., which is agitating for BHP to sell the assets, has put consensus valuations at US$6.5 billion.
AGL Energy advanced 0.2% to A$25.00 after Macquarie upgraded the stock to neutral from underperform. Still, the brokerage was hardly upbeat on the electricity retailer and generator, saying shrinking power demand continues to be an ill wind.
CSL closed 0.6% lower at A$133.32 after a competitor claimed in a U.S. lawsuit that Australia's biggest drug maker had infringed three of its patents. The legal action centers on CSL's Idelvion treatment for hemophilia, which was approved in the U.S. in March last year.
Nikkei regains 20K level
The Japan share market finished session up, helped by positive lead from the Wall Street on Friday and yen depreciation against greenback on the heels of US jobs data that gave investors further evidence that the U.S. economy is gaining strength. Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.76%, or 151.89 points, to close at 20,080.98, while the Topix index of all first-section issues was up 0.52%, or 8.42 points, to end the day at 1,615.48.
The Tokyo market rallied on a strong lead from Wall Street which posted gains on Friday after strong employment data boosted confidence in the US economy. Wall Street stocks ended higher on Friday after US Labour Department data showed the world's biggest economy added 222,000 jobs last month, exceeding expectations of an addition of 179,000. The positive sentiments further received boost from the key China's consumer price index, which rose by 1.5% compared with a year ago in June after several months of falls.
The marine transport sector was the best sectoral performer after the three major shippers established a holding company and an operating company to integrate their container shipping businesses. Nippon Yusen KK gained 1.4%, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha surged 2.9% and Mitsui OSK Lines jumped 5%.
Shares of exporters were higher, with tech players being major gainers, thanks to yen weakening against greenback which boosts exporters' profitability. Japanese currency weakened after the Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda said Monday that the economy is turning to a gradual expansion but stressed policymakers will keep the current easing programme until it achieves its two% inflation target. The dollar firmed to 114.21 yen from 113.91 yen in New York and 113.73 yen in Tokyo earlier Friday. Advantest Corp rose 1.9%, Tokyo Electron climbed 2.3% and Panasonic Corp added 1.8%. Nintendo jumped 3.73% to 36,470 yen, Sony rallied 1.71% to finish at 4,318 yen and Panasonic advanced 1.84% to 1,491.5 yen. Toyota rose 0.49% and Honda gained 0.55% to close at 3,104 yen.
Japanese banking shares languished, with Mitsubishi UFG Financial Group and Mizuho Financial Group both dropping 0.6%.
China Stocks end softer
The Mainland China equity market finished session lower, amid worries over market liquidity after the securities regulator approved more initial public offerings (IPOs) over the weekend. Markets shrugged off China's June inflation data, which were in line with expectations but did little to alter the view that economic growth is cooling after a solid first quarter. Sector performance was mixed on Monday, with energy and coal shares dropping, while consumer shares rose following last week's correction. The blue-chip CSI300 index fell 0.1%, to 3,653.69 points, while the Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.2% to 3,212.63 points and the Shenzhen Composite declined 0.665% to end at 1,905.3680.
Trading sentiment was largely subdued as investors awaited fresh catalysts ahead of a burst of data due over the next week China will release second-quarter gross domestic product(GDP) on July 17, along with June industrial output, retail sales and January-June fixed asset investment.
Steelmakers were among the gainers. Xinjiang Ba Yi Iron & Steel Co surged 8.6% and Maanshan Iron & Steel climbed 5.11%.
Financial shares showed mixed results. Bank of Construction was down 0.49% to 6.08 yuan and China Life Insurance retreated 1.17% to 27.12 yuan while Southwest Securities jumped 2.33%.
Hong Kong Market follows Wall Street rally
The Hong Kong stock market ended higher, as upbeat US and Chinese data buoyed investor sentiment. Sentiment was also aided by a surge in COSCO Shipping's and Hong Kong's Orient Overseas International (OOIL) shares after the Chinese shipping giant made a $6.3 billion offer for its smaller rival on Sunday. The Hang Seng index rose 0.6%, to 25,500.06 points, while the China Enterprises Index lost 0.4%, to 10,214.58 points. Turnover increased to HK$80.2 billion from HK$70 billion on Friday.
OOIL (00316), a shipping company owned by family of former HK Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, confirmed stake selling to COSCO Shipping Holdings (01919) for HK$33.8 billion. COSCO Shipping Holdings soared 5.4% to HK$4.29. OOIL surged 20% to HK$72.
Nomura has published research report saying Chinese life insurers have outperformed "property and casualty" segment by 30% over the past 12 months. Ping An (02318) rose 1.3% to HK$54.8. PICC P&C (02328) added 4% to HK$14.82. HSBC (00005) rose 2% to HK$74.6.
China Vanke (02202) slipped 3.6% to HK$22.7 on market talks that an institutional investor was looking to sell 92 million H-shares in the Chinese developer for HK$2.13 billion.
Link REIT (00823) jumped 3.3% to HK$60.85 after UBS Research raised its target price to HK$70.08 and upgraded its rating to "buy".
Sensex attains at record closing high
Indian stock market logged strong gains on first trading day of the week on steady buying in TCS, Infosys and Bharti Airtel. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 355.01 points or 1.13% to settle at 31,715.64. Trading was halted temporarily in both cash and derivatives segment of NSE due to technical reasons.
Drug maker Lupin gained 2.96% to Rs 1,149.75 after the company said it has received approval from the US health regulator for generic Ancobon Capsules. The announcement was made during market hours today, 10 July 2017. Lupin received final approval for its Flucytosine Capsules USP, 250 mg and 500 mg from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market a generic version of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc's Ancobon Capsules, 250 mg and 500 mg.
Tata Motors gained 2.28% to Rs 446.75 after the company said that the sales of its British luxury unit Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) rose 11% to 51,591 units in June 2017 over June 2016, driven by healthy China market. Jaguar sales grew by 16.4% to 15,343 units in June 2017 over June 2016. Land Rover sales rose 8.9% to 36,248 units in June 2017 over June 2016. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 7 July 2017.
Shares of IDFC and Shriram Group companies were trading lower after Shriram group and IDFC unveiled their intent to merge the two entities. IDFC (down 5.68%), Shriram Transport Finance Corporation (down 3.33%) and Shriram City Union Finance (down 6.41%) edged lower. IDFC Bank rose 0.69%. The boards of IDFC Group and Shriram Group on 8 July 2017 approved entering into a confidentiality, exclusivity and standstill agreement to evaluate a potential combination of certain businesses and subsidiaries / affiliates/associate companies of the Shriram Group engaged in the credit and non-credit financial services sector with the IDFC Group. The agreement primarily provides for a mutually agreed exclusivity period for due diligence and discussions between the relevant parties in relation to the potential combination. The proposed potential combination would be subject to due diligence, definitive documentation and applicable board, shareholder, statutory/ regulatory and other third party approvals, as may be applicable.
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