Asian Markets End In Positive Territory; Commodity Stocks Rise

(RTTNews) - The markets across Asia, open for trading, ended in positive territory on Monday led by commodity related stocks following rise in commodity prices in the international market. The market in Japan is closed for a public holiday. Volumes were relatively less as traders await more cues on global economy and more economic data from the U.S. for further direction.

In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 Index advanced 31.20 points, or 0.67% to close at 4,717, while the All-Ordinaries Index ended at 4,739, representing a gain of 32.50 points, or 0.69%.

On the economic front, data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed that the sale of new motor vehicles in Australia were up a seasonally adjusted 3.3% year-on-year in October, coming in at 81,122 vehicles. In the previous month, the sales declined 2.0%. On a monthly basis, new auto sales gained 3.7% in October following a 2.9% gain in September.

Retail stocks led the gains in the market after Mr Gerry Harvey of Harvey Norman, told the reporters on Sunday that he expects record sales in the upcoming Christmas season. "Our sales this year are going to be an absolute record, this is going to be the biggest Christmas we have ever had, we are going to break all records." Following the comments, the stock of Harvey Norman surged up 5.19%. Other retail stocks also ended in positive territory. David Jones advanced 2.30%, JB Hi-Fi Ltd rose 3.60%, Wesfarmers climbed 1.71% and Woolworths added 0.29%.

Among mining stocks, Rio Tinto surged up 3.59% after stating that it expects record iron ore volume for the year. In addition, rival company BHP Billiton stated it is unlikely to submit another bid for Rio Tinto,which also lifted sentiment. BHP Billiton advanced 1.07%. Among other metals and mining stocks, Fortescue Metals added 0.71%, Iluka Resources surged up 5.00%, Murchison Metals climbed up 3.59% and Oz Minerals edged up 0.39%.

Oil related stocks ended in negative territory with minor losses. Santos Ltd slipped 0.07%, Oil Search shed 0.17% and Origin Energy fell 0.25%. However, Woodside Petroleum bucked the trend and edged up 0.04%.

Gold related stocks ended in positive territory. Lihir Gold rose 3.35%, Newcrest Mining gained 3.24% and Sino Gold Mining added 0.13%.

Mixed trading was witnessed among the banking stocks. ANZ Bank added 0.69% and Commonwealth Bank of Australia edged up 0.08%. However, National Australia Bank slipped 1.01% and Westpac Banking Corp. shed 0.21%. Investment banking company Macquarie Group added 0.19%.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index ended in positive territory with a gain of 1.41% or 315.55 points, at 22,721, following rise in commodity prices in the international market and positive trading across other markets in the region. All the components in the index, except 5 stocks, ended in positive territory. Banks, resource stocks and china-related stocks led the gains. Among the banks, Bank of Communications rose 2.19%, ICBC or Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, climbed up 3.26% and China Construction Bank surged up 4.08%.

In South Korea, the KOSPI Index ended flat with a marginal loss of 1.55 points, or 0.10%, at 1,619, as profit taking in blue-chip stocks by domestic and foreign institutional investors offset the gains in retail stocks. The markets opened in positive territory on positive cues from other markets in the region, but drifted into the negative territory as traders, especially foreign institutional investors, preferred to lock in gains and move to sidelines awaiting further direction on global economic recovery.

The Indian market showed a notable gain on Monday, lifted by market heavyweight Reliance Industries after it made a preliminary, non-binding cash offer to buy a controlling stake in U.S-based bankrupt chemicals maker LyondellBasell. The stock ended up 3.31% on a heavy volume of 12.6 lakh shares. Strong global cues, especially a rally in European stocks and the U.S index futures, also helped improve sentiment, while weakness in the telecom, realty and IT space restricted big gains. The BSE Sensex finished at 17,180, up 158 points or 0.93%, and the S&P CNX Nifty rose 51 points or 1.01% to 5,104.

Among the other major markets in the region, China's Shanghai Composite Index gained 30.32 points or 0.92% to close at 3,339, Singapore's Strait Times Index rose 36.34 points, or 1.32% to close at 2,798 and Taiwan's Weighted Index edged up 4.18 points, or 0.05%, to close at 7,687. However, Indonesia's Jakarta Composite Index bucked the trend and ended lower with a loss of 5.95 points, or 0.24% at 2,481.

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