Asian markets gain
Tuesday, 3 July 2007
HONG KONG, July 2 (AP): Most Asian markets posted modest gains Monday as foreign buying, optimism about earnings reports and positive economic outlooks helped give stocks an upward nudge. Indian shares hit a new record.
Japanese blue chips inched up, rising for a third straight session, boosted by gains in machinery and trading company shares. The market was also cheered up by Monday's release of the Bank of Japan's quarterly "tankan" business survey results, which squared with the market consensus, analysts said.
The Nikkei 225 index advanced 7.94 points, or 0.04 per cent, to 18,146.30 points.
The tankan's survey's most-watched index, the major manufacturers' sentiment index, remained unchanged at 23 from three months ago. The index subtracts the percentage of companies saying business conditions are bad from the percentage of those saying they are good.
Advancers included machinery maker Okuma Corp., up 4.04 per cent to 2,030 yen (US$16.50), and trading company Mitsui & Co., which rose 3.05 per cent to 2,530 yen ($20.57).
Markets in Hong Kong were closed for a holiday marking the former British colnony's return to Chinese rule.
On the Chinese mainland, stocks bounced back from a midday sell-off to eke out gains on expectations of strong first-half earnings, led by blue-chip steelmakers and power utilities.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.40 per cent to 3,836.29 in volatile trading. It fell 2.50 per cent early in the afternoon on liquidity concerns over plans for a massive government bond issue, but later rebounded.
Japanese blue chips inched up, rising for a third straight session, boosted by gains in machinery and trading company shares. The market was also cheered up by Monday's release of the Bank of Japan's quarterly "tankan" business survey results, which squared with the market consensus, analysts said.
The Nikkei 225 index advanced 7.94 points, or 0.04 per cent, to 18,146.30 points.
The tankan's survey's most-watched index, the major manufacturers' sentiment index, remained unchanged at 23 from three months ago. The index subtracts the percentage of companies saying business conditions are bad from the percentage of those saying they are good.
Advancers included machinery maker Okuma Corp., up 4.04 per cent to 2,030 yen (US$16.50), and trading company Mitsui & Co., which rose 3.05 per cent to 2,530 yen ($20.57).
Markets in Hong Kong were closed for a holiday marking the former British colnony's return to Chinese rule.
On the Chinese mainland, stocks bounced back from a midday sell-off to eke out gains on expectations of strong first-half earnings, led by blue-chip steelmakers and power utilities.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.40 per cent to 3,836.29 in volatile trading. It fell 2.50 per cent early in the afternoon on liquidity concerns over plans for a massive government bond issue, but later rebounded.