Forex Yellow Pages

HONG KONG (AP) — Asian stock markets advanced Monday as better-than-expected news about U.S. retailers buoyed confidence in the world’s largest economy and gold prices hit a new record. European shares were modestly higher.

Major markets across Asia rose between 1 percent and 2 percent as the foundering dollar led investors to pour more money into commodities and shares of resource companies. Gold broke above $1,130 for the first time and oil traded higher around $77.

Encouraging quarterly reports Friday from large U.S. retail chains, as well as The Walt Disney Co., helped ease investor worries about American consumer spending, long a major source of growth for Asia’s export-oriented economies.

“The data is improving, the news is on the upswing, and first and foremost this helps boost confidence,” said Lorraine Tan, director of equities research at Standard & Poor’s in Singapore.

Also on investors’ minds was President Barack Obama’s first visit to China, where issues of trade, the economic recovery and the two countries’ currencies were likely to figure in meetings with Beijing’s leaders.

As trading opened in Europe, benchmarks in Britain, Germany and France gained nearly 1 percent each. Meanwhile, Wall Street futures augured a stronger open in the U.S. Monday, with Dow futures up 0.6 percent and S&P futures adding around 0.7 percent.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 stock average closed up 20.87 points, or 0.2 percent, to 9,791.18. But investors largely brushed off news that Japan’s economy expanded at an annual pace of 4.8 percent in the third quarter, marking a second straight quarter of expansion and the strongest surge in gross domestic product since 2007.

In greater China, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 390.35, 1.7 percent, to 22,943.98, and Shanghai’s benchmark surged 87.40 points, or 2.7 percent, to 3,275.05.

Markets in South Korea, Taiwan, India, Singapore and Australia rose between 1 percent and 2 percent.

Tan and other analysts point to the weakening dollar and record low interest rates as key reason for the continuing advance in global equities, as well as commodities. With bonds and savings accounts yielding so little these days, investors big and small have been looking for bets with higher payoffs.

“What that means is people are going to favor investments like equities,” Tan said. “There just aren’t that many alternatives if you want returns.”

Friday on Wall Street, the Dow rose 73.00, or 0.7 percent, to 10,270.47.

The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 6.24, or 0.6 percent, to 1,093.48. The Nasdaq composite index rose 18.86, or 0.9 percent, to 2,167.88.

Oil prices rose in Asia amid a weaker U.S. dollar and an improving global crude demand outlook next year. Benchmark crude for December delivery was up $1 to $77.35 a barrel; the contract settled down 59 cents at $76.35 on Friday.

The flailing greenback also lifted gold, seen as a hedge against a lower U.S. currency. Gold prices gained $12.7 at $1,129.4 after touching a new high of $1,130.6.

In currencies, the dollar was flat at 89.52 yen. The euro gained to $1.4974 from $1.4923.

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This entry was posted on Monday, November 16th, 2009 at 6:04 pm and is filed under Trading & Investing, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.