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HONG KONG: A strong earnings report from US chip giant Intel boosted most Asian shares Wednesday but some traders kept to the sidelines as they awaited key economic news from the United States and China.
The euro remained firm after Greece, which has secured a bailout deal for its debt problem, successfully launched a bond auction amid strong demand. Intel, the world's biggest computer chip maker, said after the US market closed Tuesday that first quarter net profit rose nearly four-fold to 2.4 billion dollars.
The company also said it plans to hire more than 1,000 employees this year, highlighting its optimism for the chip market, a key economic sector in Asia.
'The industry has nearly fully recovered,' Intel president and chief executive Paul Otellini said in a conference call with analysts. Tokyo closed 0.39 percent, or 43.67 points, higher at 11,204.90, while Sydney was 0.87 percent, or 43.1 points, stronger at 4,994.7. Taipei added 0.84 percent, or 67.40 points to 8,097.13, with chip giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co rising 1.43 percent to 63.8 Taiwan dollars and United Microelectronics Corp 0.3 percent higher at 16.65. 'After taking in all the positives, the Nikkei will stay in positive territory,' Kazuhiro Takahashi, general manager at Daiwa Securities Capital Markets, told Dow Jones Newswires.
'We'd like to see how Intel's influence spreads to other companies and industries this (upcoming) earnings season,' he said. Singapore was one percent higher after the government upgraded its forecast for economic growth to 7.0-9.0 percent, up from its previous estimate of 4.5-6.5 percent. The Dow Jones also gave regional stocks a good cue after it posted a 0.12 percent rise to finish above the key 11,000 mark for a second straight day. However, the gains were muted as investors look ahead to the release in the United States of retail sales figures for March, which will indicate the strength of consumer spending, a major driver of the world's biggest economy. They are also looking to the Federal Reserve's Beige Book this week to give an insight into the US economic outlook. Hong Kong and Shanghai both edged lower as investors remained cautious ahead of Thursday's release of key Chinese economic data for the first quarter, including consumer prices and gross domestic product.
The indexes were also hit by news that property prices in 70 Chinese major cities rose 11.7 percent year on year in March, the biggest rise for a single month since the survey was widened in July 2005. The data stoked fears that Beijing will soon move to cool the property market with credit-tightening measures. 'Uncertainty about the possibility of fresh policy changes, especially those aimed at the property market, is causing some jitters among investors,' said Qian Qimin, an analyst from Shenyin Wanguo Securities.
The euro rose after Greece received a fresh boost when it successfully launched its bond auction. Dangling a return of more than 4.0 percent, Athens raised 1.56 billion euros (2.12 billion dollars) from six-month and one-year Treasury bills compared to an initial target of 1.2 billion euros. The European unit was at 1.3642 dollars, up from 1.3616 dollars, while also rising to 127.26 yen from 126.86 yen. The dollar edged up to 93.30 yen in Tokyo morning trade from 93.15 yen in New York late Tuesday. Meanwhile, Toyota said it was temporarily suspending the sale of its Lexus GX 460 SUV in North America over a safety warning from a leading US consumer magazine.
However, it still managed to rise 0.94 percent in Tokyo. Oil was higher, with New York's main contract light sweet crude for May delivery climbing 30 cents to 84.35 dollars a barrel and Brent North Sea crude up 24 cents to 84.96 dollars. Gold opened higher in Hong Kong at 1,153.00-1,154.00 US dollars an ounce, up from Tuesday's close of 1,151.00-1,152.00 dollars. Bangkok is closed for a public holiday. In other markets: -- Seoul closed 1.45 percent higher, rising 24.74 points to 1,735.33. The South Korean market also welcomed figures showing unemployment fell from 4.9 percent to 4.1 percent in March, its second successive drop. -- Manila ended flat, edging 0.21 points lower to 3,299.69.
Top-traded Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. was unchanged at 51.50 pesos. SM Investments Corp. was down 0.62 percent to 397.50 pesos while Ayala Corp. slipped 0.72 percent to 345 pesos. -- Wellington rose 0.77 percent, or 25.58 points, to 3,335.51. The market is at its highest since September 15, 2008, when the collapse of Wall Street giant Lehman Brothers preceded the global financial crisis. Fletcher Building rose 2.1 percent to 8.45 New Zealand dollars and Telecom was up 1.8 percent at 2.24 dan/bsk
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The company also said it plans to hire more than 1,000 employees this year, highlighting its optimism for the chip market, a key economic sector in Asia.
'The industry has nearly fully recovered,' Intel president and chief executive Paul Otellini said in a conference call with analysts. Tokyo closed 0.39 percent, or 43.67 points, higher at 11,204.90, while Sydney was 0.87 percent, or 43.1 points, stronger at 4,994.7. Taipei added 0.84 percent, or 67.40 points to 8,097.13, with chip giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co rising 1.43 percent to 63.8 Taiwan dollars and United Microelectronics Corp 0.3 percent higher at 16.65. 'After taking in all the positives, the Nikkei will stay in positive territory,' Kazuhiro Takahashi, general manager at Daiwa Securities Capital Markets, told Dow Jones Newswires.
'We'd like to see how Intel's influence spreads to other companies and industries this (upcoming) earnings season,' he said. Singapore was one percent higher after the government upgraded its forecast for economic growth to 7.0-9.0 percent, up from its previous estimate of 4.5-6.5 percent. The Dow Jones also gave regional stocks a good cue after it posted a 0.12 percent rise to finish above the key 11,000 mark for a second straight day. However, the gains were muted as investors look ahead to the release in the United States of retail sales figures for March, which will indicate the strength of consumer spending, a major driver of the world's biggest economy. They are also looking to the Federal Reserve's Beige Book this week to give an insight into the US economic outlook. Hong Kong and Shanghai both edged lower as investors remained cautious ahead of Thursday's release of key Chinese economic data for the first quarter, including consumer prices and gross domestic product.
The indexes were also hit by news that property prices in 70 Chinese major cities rose 11.7 percent year on year in March, the biggest rise for a single month since the survey was widened in July 2005. The data stoked fears that Beijing will soon move to cool the property market with credit-tightening measures. 'Uncertainty about the possibility of fresh policy changes, especially those aimed at the property market, is causing some jitters among investors,' said Qian Qimin, an analyst from Shenyin Wanguo Securities.
The euro rose after Greece received a fresh boost when it successfully launched its bond auction. Dangling a return of more than 4.0 percent, Athens raised 1.56 billion euros (2.12 billion dollars) from six-month and one-year Treasury bills compared to an initial target of 1.2 billion euros. The European unit was at 1.3642 dollars, up from 1.3616 dollars, while also rising to 127.26 yen from 126.86 yen. The dollar edged up to 93.30 yen in Tokyo morning trade from 93.15 yen in New York late Tuesday. Meanwhile, Toyota said it was temporarily suspending the sale of its Lexus GX 460 SUV in North America over a safety warning from a leading US consumer magazine.
However, it still managed to rise 0.94 percent in Tokyo. Oil was higher, with New York's main contract light sweet crude for May delivery climbing 30 cents to 84.35 dollars a barrel and Brent North Sea crude up 24 cents to 84.96 dollars. Gold opened higher in Hong Kong at 1,153.00-1,154.00 US dollars an ounce, up from Tuesday's close of 1,151.00-1,152.00 dollars. Bangkok is closed for a public holiday. In other markets: -- Seoul closed 1.45 percent higher, rising 24.74 points to 1,735.33. The South Korean market also welcomed figures showing unemployment fell from 4.9 percent to 4.1 percent in March, its second successive drop. -- Manila ended flat, edging 0.21 points lower to 3,299.69.
Top-traded Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. was unchanged at 51.50 pesos. SM Investments Corp. was down 0.62 percent to 397.50 pesos while Ayala Corp. slipped 0.72 percent to 345 pesos. -- Wellington rose 0.77 percent, or 25.58 points, to 3,335.51. The market is at its highest since September 15, 2008, when the collapse of Wall Street giant Lehman Brothers preceded the global financial crisis. Fletcher Building rose 2.1 percent to 8.45 New Zealand dollars and Telecom was up 1.8 percent at 2.24 dan/bsk
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