Business

Published: Monday November 23, 2009 MYT 2:37:00 PM

Asian markets mostly up at midday

By Laalitha Hunt


KUALA LUMPUR: Asian stocks rose for the first time in three days and the Australian dollar led gains in the region’s currencies on signs impending economic recovery.

Meanwhile, gold for immediate delivery jumped 1% to a record US$1,162.22 an ounce as investors sought alternatives to the weakening US dollar. Copper, zinc and oil prices also rose.

Bloomberg’s survey of economists revealed that economic reports this week would show rising export orders in Taiwan and South Korea as well as faster economic growth in the Philippines.

In the US, according to a separate survey by Bloomberg, data would indicate climbing personal spending, durable goods orders and home sales.

“People remain positive that the recovery is in place but we are not getting carried away. Valuations are fairly reflective of a bullish economic environment and you don’t need much (in terms of of softer-than-anticipated growth or a withdrawal of stimulus measures) to make investors nervous,” said Tim Schroeders, who helps manage US$1.1bil at Melbourne-based Pengana Capital Ltd.

At home, the benchmark KLCI was 0.15% lower at 1,272.45 while Singapore’s Straits Times Index added 0.47% to 2,774.59.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 declined 0.54% to 9,497.68, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.55% to 22,578.64, Shanghai’s A share index added 0.38% to 3,320.78 and Seoul’s Kospi Index was 0.37% lower at 1,614.66.

At Bursa Malaysia, 174 counters were up, 356 were down while 226 others were traded unchanged. There were 411.5 million shares done with a total value of RM365.152mil.

Gainers included LPI, which rose 12 sen to RM12.90, Jerneh Asia climbed 12 sen to RM1.60, Top Glove advanced 12 sen to RM9.02 while Hartalega added 11 sen to RM5.71.

KFC lost 17 sen to RM7.23, HaiO dropped 17 sen to RM6.83, Petra Perdana declined 9 sen to RM1.63 and Nestle fell 8 sen to RM32.70.

Among plantation stocks, United Plantations was up 10 sen to RM13.70 while Glenealy Plantations lost 18 sen to RM4.01.

Crude palm oil was up RM21 to RM2,440 per tonne.

Nymex crude oil in electronic trade added 71 cents to US$78.18 per barrel.

The ringgit was quoted at 3.3795 to the US dollar.

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