Japanese Stock Futures, Australian Shares Decline on Currency, Commodities
Dec. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Richard Wright, an investment manager at RBW Capital Advisors LLC, talks about the outlook for Japanese stocks and bonds. He speaks with Pimm Fox on Bloomberg Television's "Surveillance Midday." (Source: Bloomberg)
Japanese stock futures and Australian shares fell as commodity prices dropped and the euro weakened against the yen, damping the outlook for exporters.
American depositary receipts of Advantest Corp., the world’s biggest maker of machines used to test memory chips, declined 0.4 percent from the closing share price in Tokyo. Those of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan’s largest publicly traded bank, slid 0.3 percent. BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s No. 1 mining company and Australia’s top oil producer, lost 0.7 percent in Sydney after crude and metal prices fell.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose to its highest level in 2 1/2 years this week. Economists expect a U.S. Labor Department report today to show employment improved in December in the world’s largest economy.
“Investors are getting concerned about overheating in the short-term,” said Juichi Wako, a senior strategist at Tokyo- based Nomura Holdings Inc. “Investors will likely be in a wait- and-see stance ahead of the jobs data.”
Futures on Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average expiring in March closed at 10,495 in Chicago yesterday, compared with 10,515 in Singapore. They were bid in the pre-market at 10,510 in Osaka, Japan, at 8:05 a.m. local time today. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.3 percent and New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index was little changed.
Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 0.1 percent today. The index slipped 0.2 percent in New York yesterday.
Oil, Metals, Euro
Crude oil for February delivery declined 2.1 percent to $88.38 a barrel in New York yesterday. The London Metal Exchange Index of six metals including copper and aluminum dropped 0.2 percent yesterday, falling for a second day. Gold futures for February delivery declined for the third straight day yesterday.
The euro depreciated to as low as 108.12 yen yesterday in New York, the least since Jan. 3. A weaker euro cuts the value of European income at Japanese companies when repatriated.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 14.3 percent last year, compared with gains of 12.8 percent by the S&P 500 and 8.6 percent by the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. Stocks in the Asian benchmark were valued at 14.3 times estimated earnings on average at yesterday’s close, compared with 13.5 times for the S&P 500 and 11.1 times for the Stoxx 600.
To contact the reporters on this story: Norie Kuboyama in Tokyo at nkuboyama@bloomberg.net; Kotaro Tsunetomi in Tokyo at ktsunetomi@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Gentle at ngentle2@bloomberg.net.
Rate this Page