Asian markets mostly up on upbeat earnings

Asian markets mostly rose yesterday following upbeat earnings results in the region and the US, while eurozone fears eased slightly on hopes over the funding of future bailouts. The first gain for the Dow in four sessions also provided some support, while the euro gave up some of the rare recent gains it had made in New York before moving higher in early European trade. Tokyo closed 0.92%, or 77.20 points, higher at 8,443.10, Seoul was up 0.74%, or 13.16 points, at 1,782.47, and Sydney gained 0.58%, or 23.8 points, to 4,147.7. Hong Kong ended flat, edging up 0.08%, or 15.46 points, to 18,892.79, while Shanghai eased 0.48%, or 10.15 points, to 2,126.00. Regional investors followed the lead from the Dow and most European markets after Spanish borrowing costs fell slightly after hitting record highs on the back of fears Madrid will ask for a bailout. The yield on Madrid’s 10-year bonds eased to a still-high 7.376% after soaring to as much as 7.621% at one point. Dealers were given some comfort after Austrian central bank chief Ewald Nowotny, a member of the European Central Bank governing council, said the soon-to-be launched European Stability Mechanism rescue fund might be granted a banking licence. Traders have been growing increasingly concerned that a possible rescue for Spain could cost hundreds of billions of dollars, which leaves very little in the pot to help other troubled economies. On Japan’s Nikkei, videogame maker Nintendo posted healthy gains of 3.19% after saying later Wednesday that its first-quarter losses were much lower than at the same time last year. And industrial robotics firm Fanuc surged 5.32% after saying earnings for the April-June period were better than expected. The earnings figures were followed by strong results on Wall Street from construction giant Caterpillar and airplane maker Boeing, which helped the Dow advance 0.47% on Wednesday. In Sydney flagship carrier Qantas jumped 9.6% after it said it was in talks with Emirates and other airlines about a possible tie up to save its struggling international arm. Oil prices were down. New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in September, dipped 34 cents to $88.63 a barrel in the afternoon while Brent North Sea crude for September delivery fell 38 cents to $104.00. Gold was at $1,613.90 at 1050 GMT from $1,592.40 late Wednesday. In other markets: Singapore closed up 0.46%, or 13.65 points, at 3,004.57. Wilmar International fell 3.38% to Sg$3.43 while DBS Group added 1.03% to Sg$14.66. Taipei was down 0.12%, or 8.44 points, at 6,970.69. Hon Hai Precision lost 1.71% to Tw$80.5 and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co rose 2.28% to Tw$76.3. Manila closed 0.18%, or 9.24 points, lower at 5,152.56. Philippine Long Distance Telephone slipped 0.22% to 2,674 pesos but Ayala Corp 0 rose 0.39% to 412.60 pesos. Wellington rose 0.77%, or 26.77 points, to 3,485.74. Fletcher Building was up 2.3% at NZ$5.90, Air New Zealand gained 0.6% to close at NZ$0.90 and Telecom Corp lifted 0.2% to NZ$2.57. Kuala Lumpur fell 0.68%, or 11.18 points, to 1,623.91. IHH Healthcare gained 1.9% to 3.15 ringgit but Axiata Group Bhd was down 0.9% at 5.76 ringgit while Genting shed 1.7% to close at 9.11 ringgit. Jakarta closed up 0.1%, or 3.93 points, at 4,000.77. Astra Agro Lestari gained 1.37% to 22,200 rupiah, Astra International rose 1.57% to 6,450 rupiah, and Timah lost 1.47% to 1,340 rupiah. Bangkok fell 1.32%, or 15.70 points, to 1,172.92. Banpu dropped 5.58% to 406Baht, while PTT lost 0.63% to 316Baht. from gulf times.