Japanese, Australian Stock Futures Advance as Europe Debt Concerns Ease
Japanese and Australian stock futures rose after concern eased that the European deficit crisis will stall global economic growth and the yen pared its advance against the dollar and the euro.
American depositary receipts of Canon Inc., a maker of consumer electronics that gets more than 80 percent of its sales outside Japan, gained 0.9 percent from the Tokyo close yesterday. Those of Toyota Motor Corp., which counts North America as its biggest market outside Japan, rose 2.4 percent. ADRs of BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s biggest mining company, climbed 0.2 percent from the Sydney close after oil and metal prices gained.
“There is a sense of relief about Europe, so there is a temporary pause in risk aversion” said Mitsushige Akino,?who oversees about $450 million in Tokyo at Ichiyoshi Investment Management Co. “Exporters may be bought as they were heavily sold yesterday.”
Yen-denominated futures on Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average expiring in September closed at 9,120 in Chicago yesterday, 1.2 percent higher than 9,010 in Osaka, Japan. They were bid in the pre-market at 9,120 as of 8:05 a.m. in Osaka. The Nikkei 225 closed at 9,024.60 yesterday.
Futures on Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index for September rose 0.7 percent. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index dropped 0.4 percent.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index declined 1.1 percent yesterday after the strong yen deepened concerns over Japan’s recovery and caution spread ahead of the Federal Reserve survey on the U.S. economy. The decline cut the average price of shares in the gauge to 13.7 times estimated earnings, compared with 13 times on the Standard and Poor’s 500 Index and 11.7 times on the Stoxx Europe 600 Index.
Euro Gains
Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 0.2 percent. Yesterday, the gauge gained 0.6 percent in New York as concern eased that Europe’s sovereign debt crisis will derail the global economic recovery.
The euro gained against the yen after Portugal’s sale of bonds due 2021 attracted bids for 2.6 times the amount offered, compared with a bid-to-cover ratio of 1.6 in the earlier March sale. An auction of five-year debt by Poland attracted the biggest demand since 2008, while borrowing costs fell to the lowest level in four months after the government pledged to cut the budget deficit.
The yen depreciated to as much as 84.01 against the dollar today, compared with 83.46 at the close of stock trading in Tokyo yesterday. Against the euro, it fell to as much as 106.95 from 106.15. A weaker yen increases overseas income at Japanese companies when converted into their home currency.
Oil Advances
Crude oil for October delivery rose 0.8 percent, the first advance in three days, to settle at $74.67 a barrel yesterday on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The London Metal Exchange Index of six metals including copper and zinc gained 0.9 percent.
China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd. may be active in Hong Kong today after Telefonica SA, Europe’s second-biggest phone company, said a plan to boost its stake in Unicom is unaffected by Vodafone Group Plc’s sale of its China Mobile Ltd. holding.
Kia Motors Corp., the South Korean carmaker, may be active in Seoul today after saying it will buy back 3.9 million of its own shares and give them to employees. The shares are worth 130.6 billion won ($111.3 million) based on the Sept. 7 closing price, the company said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Anna Kitanaka in Tokyo at akitanaka@bloomberg.net
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