A good summary on Asian Trade from Bloomberg on line !!
"May 2 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks rose, led by Taiwan and mainland China, while regional bond risk fell after data showed improved manufacturing in the U.S. and China, the two biggest economies. The won rose to the highest in almost a month.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.6 percent as of 12:41 p.m. in Tokyo, while the Taiex Index jumped 1.8 percent and the Shanghai composite gauge rose 1.6 percent. The won touched 1,126 per dollar, the strongest since April 4. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 0.1 percent after the gauge closed at the highest level since 2007 yesterday. Oil declined 0.2 percent on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
U.S. manufacturing unexpectedly expanded and a Chinese factory index rose in April, reports showed. Three voting members of the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee said they don’t see a need to ease policy further as the economy maintains its expansion. U.S. companies probably added 170,000 workers in April after a 209,000 gain the previous month, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg before the ADP Employer Services report.
“There’s no doubt that this data is moving in the right direction,” Angus Gluskie, managing director at White Funds Management in Sydney, who manages more than $350 million. “It’s a good indication of the health of the U.S. economy.”
Asian Indexes
Two stocks climbed for each that fell in the MSCI Asia Pacific Index. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index, Taiwan’s Taiex gauge and the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index led gains in the major Asian benchmarks.
Brambles Ltd., the world’s biggest supplier of wooden pallets, rallied 3.2 percent in Sydney after reaffirming its profit forecast for 2012. APA Group, whose pipelines carry more than half of Australia’s natural gas, dropped 5.8 percent after its largest shareholder, Petroliam Nasional Bhd., sold its entire stake in the company.
HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics said China’s Purchasing Managers’ Index for April rose to 49.3 from 48.3 the previous month, above the preliminary reading of 49.1. The PMI from the statistics bureau and logistics federation yesterday signaled the strongest expansion since March 2011.
Federal Reserve
In the U.S., the Institute for Supply Management’s index of manufacturing rose to 54.8 in April, the highest since June, from 53.4 a month earlier. Readings above 50 signal growth.
Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker said yesterday that more monetary stimulus risks stoking inflation while doing little to strengthen the recovery. The San Francisco Fed’s John Williams said the outlook he expects doesn’t warrant more bond buying, and Atlanta’s Dennis Lockhart repeated that he’s skeptical of the benefits of such action.
“The combination of the commentary from Fed governors and the stronger-than-expected data asks the question, ‘Should we be putting more weight on the recovery in the U.S. economy,’” Robert Rennie, chief currency strategist in Sydney at Westpac Banking Corp., Australia’s second-largest lender. “That is something that clearly should be supporting the U.S. dollar.”
Bond Risk Drops
The dollar strengthened 0.1 percent to 80.19 yen after gaining 0.3 percent yesterday.
The cost of insuring Asia-Pacific corporate and sovereign bonds from default decreased, according to traders of credit- default swaps. The Markit iTraxx Australia index slid 3.5 basis points to 153 basis points, according to Westpac Banking Corp. The gauge is set for its lowest close since April 6, according to data provider CMA.
Oil for June dropped 0.2 percent to $105.95 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract advanced 1.2 percent to $106.16 yesterday, the highest close since March 27.
Gasoline for June delivery added 0.1 percent after falling 0.9 percent to settle at $3.0971 a gallon on the Nymex yesterday. Gasoline has declined 8.6 percent since March 30, paring its 2012 gain to 15 percent.
The fuel surged 26 percent in the first quarter as tension over Iran’s nuclear program boosted Brent oil prices and refineries serving the U.S. East Coast planned to close. Demand is near a 10-year seasonal low, Energy Department data show.
To contact the reporters on this story: Mariko Ishikawa in Tokyo at mishikawa9@bloomberg.net Adam Haigh in Sydney at ahaigh1@bloomberg.net "
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Steven
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