Asia Pacific stock markets climbed as geopolitical risks decrease

European shares traded mixed as EU economy stagnates

Share prices of European companies traded in a mixed environment during the previous week, partly reversing the negative development of the weeks before. Economy of the Eurozone turned to stagnate in the April-June quarter, while German GDP declined 0.2%. Moreover, Russian sanctions against the EU and U.S. have negatively influenced the business confidence in the region.

The benchmark Eurostoxx 600 Index traded almost unchanged during the week ended on August 15, adding 0.1% to 329.72 points. Almost the equal number of industries slowed down and increased from Monday until Friday. The gains were led by the real estate and utility sectors, which rose 1.7% and 1.5%, respectively. On the other hand, basic materials and automobile industries lost as much as 2% and 1.9%. Among markets leaders, Banco Comercial Portugues climbed 12.8% to 0.09 euro per share, as the bank received a governmental approval to pay back more than 50% of the bailout loan received in 2012, namely 1.85 out of 3 billion euro. Meanwhile, Meda AB, a Stockholm-based pharmaceuticals company, crashed 9% to 91.40 Swedish kronor amid a decreased revenue forecast for the current year.

The British FTSE 100 Index advanced the most among the main European indicators, rising 0.9% to 6,689.08 points during last five trading days, while German DAX dropped 1% to trade at 9.092.60 points on Friday of the previous week.

U.S. markets erased losses from previous weeks

American stock market stayed mostly bullish in terms of share price movements in course of the last week, as U.S. Federal budget deficit fell more than expected, while the industrial production increased more than it was forecasted by the majority of analysts.

The main S&P 500 Index, which represents 500 largest companies of the country, advanced 1% to 1,955.06 points. The vast majority of sectors expanded during the week, while only the energy industry slipped 0.3%. Health care companies were among the best performers, adding as much as 2.3% in five days. Monster Beverage Corp, one of the biggest energy drink manufacturers in the world, surged 34.6% to $93.49 per unit of share, as the Coca-Cola Company decided to buy 17% of the former for $2.15 billion, opening wider perspectives for the Monster’s business to expand around the globe. Kinder Morgan Inc added 14.7% to $41.43, limiting the overall decline of the energy sector.

Among other major indexes, Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6% to 16,662.91 points, while NASDAQ led the market gain with a jump of 1.4% to 4,464.92 points at the market closing time on Friday.

Japanese equities surged as transportation sector jumped the most

Equity market in Japan performed notably positively during the August 11-15 trading week, as the majority of companies posted an increase in their share value. Despite overall bullish sentiment of the global stock market, Japanese data added some pessimism, with country’s GDP declining in Q2 and industrial production falling.

At the same time, the major TOPIX Index advanced almost 1.5% in five trading days, reaching the 1,270.68 points mark. The greater part of industries jumped, with transportation companies climbing the most. Maritime, air and land transportation sub-sectors added 6.3%, 3.6% and 2.7%, respectively. Among market leaders, FULLCAST Holdings Co Ltd, a representative of the consumer discretionary industry, rose 34.9% to 515 yen. Kanto Denka Kogyo Co Ltd and Fukuda Corp followed with a 31% advance and 26.9% increase, respectively. On the other hand, Kito Corporation plunged 23.5% to trade at 2,124 yen on Friday, prolonging the negative trend started on August 4.

Alongside, the Nikkei 225 Index climbed 1.2% to hover around 15,318.34 points at the end of the market session last Friday.

Asia Pacific stock markets climbed as geopolitical risks decrease

Along with the global positive tendency on the stock markets during the previous week, companies from the Asia-Pacific region have registered an increase in value as well. Market was supported by strong retail sales data in New Zealand and stable industrial production levels in China.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index advanced 2% to 5,566.50 points during last five trading sessions. All but one industry posted a solid jump, with health care and telecommunications sectors adding 5.6% and 3.2%, respectively. Financial sector companies rose 2%, while the gains were led by the Magellan Financial Group Ltd, based in Australia, as it surged 16.7% to A$12.84 per share. Bradken Ltd and Sirtex Medical Ltd followed with a 13.7% and 10.3% growth, respectively. Meanwhile, technology sector dropped 1.2%. Among the biggest losers, Mirabela Nickel Ltd plummeted 12.5% to A$0.105, as Moody’s pointed on increasing risks for small mining companies in Australia.

Among other important benchmarks of the Asia-Pacific region, Hang Seng rose 1.2% to 24,954.94 points, while NZX 50 Index added 0.6% up to the 5,078.08 mark. Moreover, the latter one has significantly limited the quarterly decline, as now it is decreased to 2.1%.

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