Asian Market Update

Daily Forex Fundamentals | Written by Trade The News | Jul 30 08 04:32 GMT |

Asian stocks track Wall Street's rebound The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced plans to extend its emergency order against naked short selling. The extension, which was widely expected, will last until but not beyond August 12, the SEC said. The NZD plummeted after RBNZ governor Bollard said that he sees plenty of room for easing as the economy and inflation weakens. Bollard added that, in his opinion, the NZD remains overvalued. Higher interest rates and rising building costs lead to sharp pullback in Australia's building approvals: (AU JUNE BUILDING APPROVALS MOM: -0.7% V 1.0% expected, -7.2% prior; YOY: -7.8% V -4.1% expected, -0.4% prior) 'The drop in the number of home building approvals has been especially pronounced during the first half of 2008 and points to a weak second half for home building,' said Stephen Roberts, a research director at Lehman Brothers. 'Such weak housing activity will contribute materially to the downward trend in growth in domestic spending,' he added. Japan's industrial production falls more than expected in June: (JP JUNE PRELIMINARY INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION MOM: -2.0% V -1.7% expected, 2.85 prior; YOY: 0.2% V 0.6% expected, 1.1% prior) 'As industrial output fell (in April-June) for the second straight quarter, there will be a growing view that the economy has probably entered into a recessionary phase,' said Yoshimasa Maruyama at BNP Paribas. Analysts also said that soft output of information and communication electronics equipment and electronic devices suggested that Olympic-led demand was probably not as good as expected. Equities: At 0:06 EDT Japan's Nikkei is +1.44%, the S&P/ASX200 is +2.03%, South Korea's KOSPI is +0.97%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index is +2.03% and the Shanghai composite index is +0.65%. The S&P500 futures contract lost -0.05% since the U.S. close, last trading at 1,261.40. The Nikkei tracked Wall Street's rally, driven by an overnight decline in oil prices and better than expected U.S. consumer confidence data. The S&P/ASX200 also managed to hold on to most of its early session gains, led by advances in shares of financials and resource stocks. Tech companies and financials lifted the Kospi index, while Chinese stocks also recovered from yesterday's sell-off. Commodities: Nymex crude oil prices slipped further in Asia, losing -0.06% between 18:00 EDT and 0/:06 EDT to trade at $122.12/bbl. Spot gold is little changed, last trading at $926.30/oz. Trade The News Staff Trade The News, Inc. Legal disclaimer and risk disclosure All information provided by Trade The News (a product of Trade The News, Inc. "referred to as TTN hereafter") is for informational purposes only. Information provided is not meant as investment advice nor is it a recommendation to Buy or Sell securities. Although information is taken from sources deemed reliable, no guarantees or assurances can be made to the accuracy of any information provided. 1. Information can be inaccurate and/or incomplete 2. Information can be mistakenly re-released or be delayed, 3. Information may be incorrect, misread, misinterpreted or misunderstood 4. Human error is a business risk you are willing to assume 5. Technology can crash or be interrupted without notice 6. Trading decisions are the responsibility of traders, not those providing additional information. Trade The News is not liable (financial and/or non-financial) for any losses that may arise from any information provided by TTN. Trading securities involves a high degree of risk, and financial losses can and do occur on a regular basis and are part of the risk of trading and investing.