AFP: Oil pushes higher, stock markets sluggish in Asia
HONG KONG — Oil prices remained high in Asia on Thursday as a Japanese minister fretted about the effects of Middle East unrest, while stock markets were mixed, some edging higher on increased global confidence.
Japan's economy minister voiced disquiet about crude supplies to his energy-poor country after violent clashes from Bahrain to Libya, with tensions also heightened by Iran's efforts to send naval ships into the Mediterranean.
"Stability in the Middle East has important implications for Japan because the region is a big supplier of crude, which is a lifeline for our economy," economy minister Kaoru Yosano said at a news conference.
With crude posting strong gains recently, dealers took an opportunity to take some profits, but prices remained high due to tensions in the Middle East and North Africa.
Brent North Sea crude for April delivery edged down five cents to $102.54 a barrel and New York's main contract, light sweet crude for March, fell 19 cents to $86.17.
Among regional stock markets, Tokyo edged up 6.16 points to 10,842.80, with holders of some exporter stocks taking profits due to a stronger yen, but foreign investment in Japan was expected to stay strong.
"The overall trend continues to be foreign investor buying" of Japan stocks, Masayoshi Yano, a senior market analyst at Meiwa Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.
Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 index was virtually unchanged, ending down 1.7 points at 4,936.7.
Shanghai fell 0.93 percent, or 27.17 points, to 2,899.79 amid concern about the likelihood of further monetary tightening and as traders anticipated a 23-billion-yuan ($3.5 billion) bond issue by top Chinese refiner Sinopec.
However Hong Kong rose 1.26 percent, or 293.4 points, to 23,595.24, partly lifted by banking giant HSBC, which has gained about seven percent so far this month ahead of its annual results, and partly led by property stocks following a series of steep falls for the sector.
Hong Kong-based investment bank Core Pacific-Yamaichi said traders were picking up on more positive signals out of the United States and that these would mean a boost for industrial machinery makers, metals and energy companies.
"We expect construction materials, coal miners as well as the shipping and port sector to outperform in the coming quarter," Core Pacific-Yamaichi said.
On Wall Street markets came close to two-year highs after a report by the Philadelphia branch of the Federal Reserve indicated a surge in industrial activity in that region to a seven-year high.
That helped offset data showing a rise in new weekly jobless claims in the United States and a surge in consumer prices.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.24 percent, while the broader S&P 500 rose 0.31 percent and the tech-rich Nasdaq gained 0.21 percent.
The dollar was rangebound against major currencies in lacklustre Asia trade ahead of key British data and the G20 finance ministers' meeting in Paris at the weekend.
The dollar traded at 83.45 yen in early European trade, from to 83.30 in New York late Thursday while the euro was down at $1.3575 from $1.3606. The single European currency was flat at 113.33.
Gold ended at $1,386.00-$1,387.00 an ounce in Hong Kong, up from Thursday's close of $1,379.00-$1,380.00.
In other markets:
-- Singapore rose 0.13 percent, or 4.09 points, to 3,086.92.
DBS Bank increased 0.14 percent to Sg$14.60 and Singapore Telecom was down 0.34 percent to Sg$2.95.
-- Seoul rose 1.82 percent, or 35.92 points, to 2,013.14.
-- Taipei gained 1.84 percent, or 159.96 points, to 8,843.84.
Hon Hai rose 1.3 percent to Tw$116.5, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company was 0.69 percent higher at Tw$73.0.
-- Manila fell 0.39 percent, or 15.14 points, to 3,851.24.
Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. was unchanged at 2,300 pesos while Aboitiz Power Corp. slipped 2.07 percent to 28.30 pesos.
Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. was down 0.5 percent at 59.85 pesos.
-- Jakarta rose 1.95 percent, or 67.10 points, to 3,501.49.
Car distributor Astra International jumped 3.9 percent to 53,000 rupiah, while Unilever gained 3.7 percent to 15,500 rupiah.
-- Kuala Lumpur gained 0.60 percent, or nine points, to 1,517.56.
Genting ended up 2.2 percent at 10.34 ringgit, Coastal Contracts soared 7.9 percent to 2.61 and AirAsia rose 3.4 percent to 2.76.
-- Wellington rose 0.50 percent, or 17.04 points, to 3,412.74.
Contact Energy rose 0.5 percent to NZ$6.25, infrastructure company Vector fell 1.2 percent to NZ$2.51 and Auckland International Airport rose 0.9 percent to NZ$2.26, ahead of quarterly results from all three companies.
Sky Television rose 3.1 percent to NZ$5.58 after it said net profit in the six months to December 31 was 19 percent up on a year earlier.
-- Mumbai slipped 1.60 percent, or 295.30 points, to 18,211.52.
Reliance Communications fell 6.8 percent to 93.15 rupees while Reliance Infrastrucrture slipped 5.6 percent to 605.6 rupees.
