Market Gazer Hong Kong - Japan - Germany - UK - North America
market review : asia collision with Hero Honda were also cited
Japanese stocks fell on profit-taking as the
Nikkei index ended at 9,226.00 or down
75.32 points. The fall ended the 4 days
winning streak which started from
8,796.45 last week. Yen’s resurgence
against the dollar and the euro also
weighed on the sentiment. In Hong Kong,
Hang Seng index managed to gain again as
the index settled at 21,401.79 or up
0.22%. Shanghai Stock Exchanges settled
at 2,698.36, up 0.08%.
The Bank of Japan
concluded its meeting on
Tuesday with the decision
to maintain the interest
rates at 0.1%. Regarding the yen strength,
BOJ Governor Masaaki Shirakawa
indicated that the BOJ would watch the
yen’s impact on the economy. In addition,
he said that it would be wrong to judge
the success of its policy actions on short-
term market conditions only. Dollar is at
83.85 against the yen at the time of the
writing while the EURJPY fell as well as it
approaches 107.00.
Honda Motor would exit a joint venture
with the Munjals in Hero Honda within
the next six months. The 25-year old joint
venture will be ended in two stages as the
Munjals will take over Honda’s entire 26%
stake in the venture. The exit was aimed
to enable Honda to focus on its other
subsidiary: Honda Motorcycle and Scooter
India. Friction between Honda and the
Munjals as well as HMSI’s competitive
7 September 2010
as the reasons behind the exit.
Tokyo Electron was
reportedly going to upgrade
its production processes for
semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
The upgrade is expected to reduce the
order-to-delivery times by half while the
production costs could be reduced also by
more than 30%.
Higher cost of goods sold (COGS) and
potential resource tax reform were cited
as the risks being faced by China Shenhua
at the moment, according to Core Pacific-
Yamaichi. The house put the stock at
HOLD with target at HK$33.80.
PetroChina will increase its
crude processing in
September at the Linzhou
refinery after maintenance has been
completed, while the Jinzhou plant will
also increase crude runs after conducting
repairs earlier. Profit margins were a
concern as domestic price of fuel was
slow to change, creating lags between the
changes of fuel and crude prices.
Sinopec indicated that refining margins
were steady in July and August after it
experienced weak levels during the
second quarter when it was $5 per barrel,
down from $8.9 per barrel in 1H09.
Disclaimer: This report is provided for information purposes
only. It is not an offer to sell or to buy any securities. This
report has been prepared based on sources believed to be
reliable, but there is no assurance or guarantee regarding its
completeness & and accuracy. The author accepts no
responsibility or liability arising from any use of the report.
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