Asian stocks sharply fall
Friday, 22 June 2007
SINGAPORE, June 21 (Reuters): Asian stocks have brushed aside a sharp fall in US shares with encouraging data for global economy.
The yen bounced along near recent lows against the euro and the dollar and some traders say the low-yielding currency will continue to drift lower.
At the other end of the spectrum, the New Zealand dollar rose to a 22-year-high against the US currency.
Spot gold held on to early gains after dropping more than 1 per cent the day before on falling oil prices.
But European stocks fell in early trade, with London's FTSE 100, dropping 0.4 per cent and Germany's DAX falling 0.6 per cent.
But Asian markets shrugged off a spike in US treasury yields and the weaker Wednesday finish for the Dow Jones Industrial Average Nasdaq Composite Index, which of both fell 1 per cent.
US investment banks fell across the board on Wall Street, led by a 2.5 per cent drop in Bear Stearns Cos as it struggled to keep afloat two hedge funds that suffered big losses on securities tied to the sub prime mortgage market.
Japan's Nikkei share index recovered from early lows to end at its highest close in seven years. Taiwan shares, too, ended at a seven-year peak, up 1.1 per cent, while Hong Kong stocks touched a fresh record high.
Major memory-chip makers across Asia rose after rising spot prices of computer memory chips, possibly signaling a long-awaited chip market recovery.
The Nikkei ended up 0.16 per cent as chip-related stocks such as Tokyo Electron gained on surging DRAM chip prices, while Mitsubishi Corp. And others seen as beneficiaries of the global economic expansion also ended higher.
Elpida Memory Inc., Japan's sole maker of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips, jumped 4.4 per cent and Toshiba Corp., which makes NAND flash memory, ended up 2 per cent.
The yen bounced along near recent lows against the euro and the dollar and some traders say the low-yielding currency will continue to drift lower.
At the other end of the spectrum, the New Zealand dollar rose to a 22-year-high against the US currency.
Spot gold held on to early gains after dropping more than 1 per cent the day before on falling oil prices.
But European stocks fell in early trade, with London's FTSE 100, dropping 0.4 per cent and Germany's DAX falling 0.6 per cent.
But Asian markets shrugged off a spike in US treasury yields and the weaker Wednesday finish for the Dow Jones Industrial Average Nasdaq Composite Index, which of both fell 1 per cent.
US investment banks fell across the board on Wall Street, led by a 2.5 per cent drop in Bear Stearns Cos as it struggled to keep afloat two hedge funds that suffered big losses on securities tied to the sub prime mortgage market.
Japan's Nikkei share index recovered from early lows to end at its highest close in seven years. Taiwan shares, too, ended at a seven-year peak, up 1.1 per cent, while Hong Kong stocks touched a fresh record high.
Major memory-chip makers across Asia rose after rising spot prices of computer memory chips, possibly signaling a long-awaited chip market recovery.
The Nikkei ended up 0.16 per cent as chip-related stocks such as Tokyo Electron gained on surging DRAM chip prices, while Mitsubishi Corp. And others seen as beneficiaries of the global economic expansion also ended higher.
Elpida Memory Inc., Japan's sole maker of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips, jumped 4.4 per cent and Toshiba Corp., which makes NAND flash memory, ended up 2 per cent.