Asia Pacific market trades mixed on improving U.S. economy

European Shares rebound on positive corporate profits

European shares rebounded from their weekly losses in the week ending April 17. The European stock markets finished higher on Thursday for a second consecutive day, as U.S. released better than expected manufacturing data and Goldman Sachs published better than forecast earnings results.

The Stoxx Europe 600 added 0.8% over the week to close it at 332.43 points. Nine out of 19 sub-industry groups included in the gauge edged higher. ThromboGenics NV, Belgian eye-medicine company, was the last week’s biggest gainer, as Novartis AG and Shire Plc were said to be among main bidders for the company. The company’s stock price surged 17.1% to close the trading week at 22.55 euros, pushing the firm’s value up to 794.1 million euros. On the downside, National Bank of Greece slumped 21.5% last week, with its share price losing nearly 16 cents and ending Thursday’s trading session at 3.17 euros.

The German DAX Index rallied 0.8% on the short trading week ending April 17 to close at 9,409.71 points. The index has retained the positive trend this week and was trading at 9,548.38 close to the end of the session on Monday.

The British FTSE 100 Index surged 0.6% on week to 6,625.25 and reached 6,694.64 by the end of Tuesday’s session, its highest in more than one month.

U.S. Stocks rebound as earnings season kicks off

U.S. stock markets finished the week in the green territory, as corporate earnings results from Morgan Stanley, General Electric and PepsiCo pushed higher the share prices and strengthened positive outlook among investors. The markets stayed closed on Friday due to Easter Holiday. This week the investors will be focusing on company profit results and CEO comments on them.

The S&P 500 Index advanced 1.9% on week to finish at 1,864.85 points. Nine of the ten industry sectors in the gauge inched higher, with the energy stocks jumping as much as 5.2% on week. In the meantime, internet and biotechnology stocks were sold off last week amid concerns the shares were overvalued. The Botox maker Allergan Inc., was the last week’s best performing blue chip company with a 15% gain, lifting one of the weakest performing health care sector. Canadian health care firm Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. is now willing to buy Allergan in a cash-and-stock deal.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 1.5% on week to end at 1,864.85 points and continued gaining on April 21 to close at 1,871.89 points.

The Nasdaq finished last week at 4,150.72 points, 1.8% up on week.

Asia Pacific market trades mixed on improving U.S. economy

Asia Pacific traded mixed in the last week, finishing mostly higher on Thursday, 17 April 2014, following an advance on Wall Street Overnight amid positive report on the U.S. economy, raising optimism that the Fed would keep low interest rates.

The S&P/ASX Index closed the week at 5,454.23 points to post a weekly gain of 1.8%. The index managed to break above the 5,500 mark throughout the week. The gauge continued surging this week, closing Tuesday’s session at 5,479.31 points. Consumer staples sector showed the best weekly performance, as Echo Entertainment Group Ltd dragged higher the sector with its share price rising from A$2.76 to A$2.79 on week, reminding investors of the benefit of holding undervalued stocks. On the downside, Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd that erased nearly 18% of its stock price, capping further gains in the best performing consumer staples sector.

The Hong Kong Hang Seng Index dropped 1.2% on week to end Friday’s trading session at 22,760.24 points. The stock market resumed trading today and traded flat to end the session at 22,730.68 points.

The New Zealand’s stock index increased 0.8% to close the preceding week at 5,103.35 points.

EXPLANATIONS

Indexes

• Standard & Poor's 500 Index (S&P 500) or (SPX) - U.S. stock market index consisting of the 500 large-cap shares widely traded on the New York Stock Exchange and the NASDAQ.

• Dow Jones Industrial Average Index (INDU) - U.S. stock market index consisting of the 30 large publicly owned U.S. companies , primarily industrials

• NASDAQ Composite Index - U.S. stock market index representing all the stocks that are traded on the Nasdaq stock market, mostly technology and Internet-related

• New Zealand Exchange 50 Gross Index (NZX 50) - stock market index consisting of the top 50 companies listed on the New Zealand Stock exchange

• S&P/ASX 200 -a market-capitalization weighted stock market index of stocks listed on the Australian Securities Exchange from Standard and Poor’s

• Hang Seng Index (HI) - Hong Kong’s stock market index consisting of 48 largest companies listed on the Hong Kong Exchange

• Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average (Nikkei 225 Index) or (NKY) - Japanese stock market index consisting of the 225 largest companies listed on Tokyo Stock Exchange

• FTSE 100 Index (UKX) - U.K. stock market index consisting of the 100 most capitalized U.K. companies trading on the London Stock Exchange

• DAX Index (DAX) - German stock market index consisting of the 30 largest and most liquid German companies trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange

• Eurostoxx 600 - stock market index, derived from the Stoxx Europe Total Market Index, consisting of 600 large, mid– and small-sized companies from 18 European countries

Chart

• Correlation - statistical measure of the linear relationship between two random variables. It is defined as the covariance divided by the standard deviation of two variables.

• Historical price changes - chart reflecting the historical price changes of particular region’s stock indices

Indicators

• Industry performance - weekly performance of industries within the particular stock market index

• Top performers - companies within a particular stock market index showing the best or worst weekly performance

• Performance - relative historical change of stock market index value