Asia stocks bolstered by US earnings, home sales Asian stock markets posted moderate gains Wednesday, bolstered by solid U.S. earnings and home sales. Indonesian stocks advanced after the official vote count showed Joko Widodo the clear winner of a bitterly contested presidential election. Hong Kongs Hang Seng was up 0.6 percent to 23,933.73 and Australias S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.7 percent to 5,588.90. Stocks in mainland China and Southeast Asia also rose. Tokyos Nikkei 225 was little changed at 15,331.66 and South Koreas Kospi was steady at 2,028.57. Markets have been roiled the past week by heightened tensions between Russia and the West after a Malaysia Airlines jet was shot down over an area of eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russia separatists, killing all 298 people on board. The tensions eased Tuesday after the separatists released a train packed with bodies and handed over the aircrafts black boxes. The focus of investors was returning to earnings, with hundreds of U.S. companies set to report quarterly results this week. Many of the U.S. earnings reports have been positive so far, easing jitters that stock prices have climbed too high in the past several months. Indonesias benchmark was up 0.5 percent after the countrys election commission said Widodo, the governor of Jakarta, won 53 percent of the vote. He was the first candidate in a direct presidential election in Indonesia with no ties to the former dictator Suharto, who ruled for 30 years before being overthrown in 1998. Widodos rival, former general former Prabowo Subianto, withdrew from the contest shortly before the final numbers were released by the commission, saying there was massive fraud during the election, and that it was unfair and undemocratic. On Wall Street, stocks advanced as big companies, such as Chipotle Mexican Grill and Comcast, reported forecast-beating quarterly earnings. The Standard & Poors 500 added 0.5 percent to 1,983.53 and the Dow Jones industrial average finished 0.4 percent higher at 17,113.54. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite gained 0.7 percent to 4,456.02. After U.S. markets closed, two tech giants again boosted investor sentiment with their better-than-expected earnings reports. Apple Inc. reported a 12 percent increase in its quarterly profit for the three months ending June 28, exceeding analysts estimate. The company said its iPhone shipments rose 13 percent over a year earlier, showing consumers still snapped up its devices even as the next version will likely to come out this fall. Media reports have said Apples Taiwanese contractors are ramping up production of its next iPhone models which are expected to feature a bigger screen than its predecessors. Microsofts CEO painted a rosy vision for the companys future after saying its profit excluding items related to the absorption of Nokia was higher than forecasts. U.S. home resale numbers also bolstered sentiment. Sales of previously owned homes rose 2.6 percent in June, a third straight monthly gain and the highest level in eight months. The report from the National Association of Realtors provided the evidence that housing is regaining lost momentum. In energy markets, U.S. benchmark crude for September delivery was down 30 cents to $102.09 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The August contract, which expired Tuesday, fell 47 cents to $102.39 a barrel on Tuesday. The euro edged lower to $1.3465 from $1.3466 late Tuesday. The dollar fell to 101.42 yen from 101.47 yen.
Posted on: Wed, 23 Jul 2014 04:52:15 +0000
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