ASEAN, India, China to Fall, Shayne Heffernan

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The MSCI Asia Pacific Index was little changed at 122.54 in Tokyo, with about two stocks declining for every one that advanced. Materials companies dropped the most among the gauge’s 10 industry groups.

The index has risen 74 per cent since March 9 last year, when it sank to its lowest level since the September 2008 bankruptcy filing of Lehman Brothers Holdings.

After slight gains in the USA overnight, India, China and ASEAN markets should improve today, however, strong gains over the last few days will pressure markets as profit taking sets in, with the exception of Thailand. Thailand will drift further on the eve of a new series of protests. Without some news to drive them forward I would see most Asian markets finishing the day lower.

Indian markets dropped on Tuesday erasing earlier gains. The benchmark index Sensex ended on a lower note amid volatility weighed by Jaiprakash Associates, Tata Motors and Hindalco Industries. Metal, PSU and oil & gas stocks led the declines, while IT and teck edged higher. It opened on a flat note with negative bias following weak Asian shares and continued to trade in a lackluster manner due to directionless market. On the other hand, Nifty sustained the mark of 5,100 level. Finally the indices closed in the red after touching a high of 17,130.83 and low of 17,031.21.

Hong Kong stocks recovered from an early soft start to end slightly firmer on Tuesday, with China Life (2628.HK) leading gains. Shares in China also firmed, supported by property shares.

China Life, the most actively traded stock, closed at a six-seek high of HK$36.25, up 2.98 percent. The insurer, which said earlier that it was looking to acquire a bank, rose 4.3 percent intraday, its biggest single-day percentage gain in more than three months, after it lifted its 2009 profit growth forecast to more than 200 percent, citing accounting rule changes

The benchmark Hang Seng Index HSI ended up 0.05 percent or 10.68 points at 21,207.55, its third consecutive session of gains. The China Enterprises Index HSCE of top locally listed mainland Chinese stocks was up 0.06 percent at 12,210.34, its highest close in six weeks.

Turnover fell to HK$58.49 billion ($7.54 billion) from Monday’s HK$64.33 billion.

 

Overnight trading

Wall Street managed to post modest gains on Tuesday.Investors were cautious as Wall Street marked the anniversary of the stock market’s 12-year low set on March 9, 2009, amid the financial crisis stemming from a home mortgage meltdown.

Since then, the blue-chip Dow index has rallied more than 62 per cent.

With little in the way of economic reports or earnings to help drive shares higher, investors are taking a breather after major indices rose the past few weeks.

Dow 10,564.38 +11.86 (0.11%)
S&P 500 1,140.44 +1.94 (0.17%)
Nasdaq 2,340.68 +8.47 (0.36%)

European stocks ended little changed on Tuesday amid uncertainty over Europe’s economic recovery.

The FTSE 100 index fell 4.42 points, or 0.08 per cent, at 5602.30 points.

The German DAX rose 9.98 points, or 0.17 per cent, to 5885.89 points and in France, the CAC 40 rose 6.47 points, or 0.17 per cent, to 3910.01.

Commodities

Oil prices dipped slightly on Tuesday as the US dollar rose and investors turned their attention to upcoming inventory data.

At the end of the day, New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for April delivery, settled down 38 US cents at $US81.49 a barrel.

The euro fell as low as $US1.3537 on Tuesday as investors sought the safe-haven US dollar after ratings agencies warned about deteriorating credit quality in Europe.

A stronger US unit makes US dollar-denominated oil more expensive for buyers holding other currencies, and therefore tends to dent crude demand and prices.

The US Department of Energy (DoE) will publish its latest weekly snapshot of US crude inventories on Wednesday.

In London, Brent North Sea crude for April delivery shed 20 US cents to to $US80.27 a barrel.

Gold for April delivery fell $US1.70 to settle at $US1122.30 an ounce.

Silver for May delivery rose 6.6 US cents to settle at $US17.338 an ounce.

Copper for May delivery rose 0.01 US cent to settle at $US3.4115 per pound.

Global Market Indexes

Americas

Price

Change (%)

1 Year %

Last Updated

Toronto Composite

11917.13

-46.71 (-0.39%)

+57.49%

Mar 09, 4:00pm

Mexican Bolsa IPC Index

32514.65

-5.62 (-0.02%)

+91.66%

Mar 09, 4:00pm

Brazil Bovespa Index

69600.79

+1025.32 (1.50%)

+89.44%

Mar 09, 4:00pm

Argentina Merval Index

2319.14

+10.73 (0.46%)

+143.44%

Mar 09, 4:00pm

Chile IPSA Index

3792.35

-6.47 (-0.17%)

+59.85%

Mar 09, 4:00pm

Asian Pacific

Price

Change (%)

1 Year %

Last Updated

Nikkei 225 Index

10567.65

+0.00 (0.00%)

+49.13%

Mar 09, 4:00pm

ASX All Ordinaries

4829.30

+0.00 (0.00%)

+54.70%

Mar 09, 4:00pm

Seoul Composite

1660.83

+0.00 (0.00%)

+54.97%

Mar 09, 4:00pm

Hong Kong Hang Seng

21207.55

+10.68 (0.05%)

+86.94%

Mar 09, 4:00pm

Shanghai

3069.14

+15.91 (0.52%)

+44.86%

Mar 09, 4:00pm

Taiwan Weighted

7770.59

+0.00 (0.00%)

+67.90%

Mar 09, 4:00pm

Singapore Straits Times

2839.54

+4.97 (0.18%)

+94.90%

Mar 09, 4:00pm

Bombay Sensex Index

17052.54

+0.00 (0.00%)

+108.97%

Mar 09, 4:00pm

Jakarta Composite

2657.17

+0.00 (0.00%)

+106.51%

Mar 09, 4:00pm

Kuala Lumpur Composite

1317.94

-6.28 (-0.47%)

+53.57%

Mar 09, 4:00pm

PSE Composite

3107.35

+12.37 (0.40%)

+64.36%

Mar 09, 4:00pm

Sri Lanka All Share

3809.01

-26.05 (-0.68%)

+133.58%

Mar 09, 4:00pm

Europe

Price

Change (%)

1 Year %

Last Updated

FTSE 100 Index

5602.30

-4.42 (-0.08%)

+58.15%

Mar 09, 4:00pm

Paris CAC 40

3910.01

+6.47 (0.17%)

+55.20%

Mar 09, 4:00pm

Frankfurt Index

5885.89

+9.98 (0.17%)

+59.42%

Mar 09, 4:00pm

Milan BCI General

15743.00

+0.00 (0.00%)

+49.31%

Mar 08, 5:30pm

Belgium 20 Index

2606.31

+5.48 (0.21%)

+67.82%

Mar 09, 4:00pm

Swiss Market Index

6868.32

+17.12 (0.25%)

+59.44%

Mar 09, 4:00pm

OSE Norway All Share

415.23

-0.74 (-0.18%)

+66.41%

Mar 09, 4:00pm

ATX Vienna

2486.24

-6.01 (-0.24%)

+76.09%

Mar 09, 4:00pm

Amsterdam Total Return General

339.09

+0.92 (0.27%)

+70.18%

Mar 09, 4:00pm

Madrid General

1141.00

-8.38 (-0.73%)

+59.28%

Mar 09, 4:00pm

Stockholm General Index

315.89

-0.65 (-0.21%)

+67.91%

Mar 09, 4:00pm

Africa/Middle East

Price

Change (%)

1 Year %

Last Updated

Israel TA 100 Index

1132.32

-7.10 (-0.62%)

+96.69%

Mar 09, 10:45am

TEL-TECH INDEX

317.78

-3.88 (-1.21%)

+107.82%

Mar 09, 10:45am

TEL-TECH-15 INDEX

273.85

-2.59 (-0.94%)

+95.05%

Mar 09, 10:45am

 

Regional Currencies (USD per)

Americas

Price

Change (%)

Canadian dollar

1.025

-0.00 (-0.21%)

Mexican peso

12.63

-0.04 (-0.28%)

Brazilian Real

1.792

+0.00 (0.18%)

Argentine Peso

3.855

-0.00 (-0.09%)

Asia Pacific

Price

Change (%)

Japanese yen

89.95

-0.35 (-0.39%)

Australian dollar

1.094

-0.01 (-0.51%)

Hong Kong dollar

7.760

+0.00 (0.02%)

Chinese yuan

6.831

+0.00 (0.06%)

Europe

Price

Change (%)

Euro

0.7352

+0.00 (0.23%)

Pound sterling

0.6667

+0.00 (0.41%)

Swiss franc

1.075

+0.00 (0.18%)

Swedish krona

7.133

+0.03 (0.40%)

Africa

Price

Change (%)

South African rand

7.402

+0.04 (0.61%)

Egyptian pound

5.477

-0.00 (-0.04%)

Namibian dollar

7.341

-0.10 (-1.30%)

Tunisian dinar

1.382

+0.01 (0.38%)

Middle East

Price

Change (%)

Israeli new sheqel

3.764

-0.01 (-0.23%)

Kuwaiti dinar

0.2895

+0.00 (0.49%)

Saudi riyal

3.750

+0.00 (0.00%)

Iraqi Dinar

1167.40

+0.00 (0.00%)

Shayne Heffernan www.livetradingnews.com

THE HOT LIST

Ebeling Heffernan Strong Buy on Molycorp Inc MCP