By Pratish Narayanan & Yoshiaki Nohara - Apr 26, 2013 10:28 AM GMT+0400
The yen rose as the Bank of Japan maintained a pledge to double the nation’s monetary base in two years. Gold headed for its biggest weekly increase since October 2011 and European stock futures dropped.
The yen strengthened 0.5 percent to 98.73 per dollar as of 7:27 a.m. in London. Euro Stoxx 50 futures slid 0.3 percent, indicating the region’s shares may fall for the first time in six days, while contracts on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost 0.1 percent. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.1 percent, paring a 0.4 percent advance. Spot gold increased 0.4 percent, while copper in London sank 0.7 percent.
A pedestrian walks past an electronic stock board in Tokyo. Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg
April 26 (Bloomberg) -- Herald Van Der Linde, head of equity strategy for Asia Pacific at HSBC Holding Plc in Hong Kong, talks about the outlook for the region's stocks and his investment strategy. He speaks with Rishaad Salamat on Bloomberg Television's "Asia Edge." (Source: Bloomberg)
April 26 (Bloomberg) -- Mikio Kumada, a Hong Kong-based global strategist for LGT Capital Partners, talks about Bank of Japan monetary policy, the yen, and his investment strategy. Japan’s consumer prices fell at a faster pace in March, underscoring the challenge facing BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda as he works to meet a 2 percent inflation target within two years. Kumada speaks with Susan Li on Bloomberg Television's "First Up." (Source: Bloomberg)
April 26 (Bloomberg) -- May Yan, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Barclays Plc, talks about the outlook for the China's banking industry. She speaks with Susan Li on Bloomberg Television's "First Up." (Source: Bloomberg)
April 26 (Bloomberg) -- Yujiro Goto, a foreign-exchange strategist in New York at Nomura Holdings Inc., talks about Bank of Japan monetary policy and the outlook for the yen. He speaks with Susan Li on Bloomberg Television's "First Up." (Source: Bloomberg)
April 26 (Bloomberg) -- Jacob Frenkel, chairman of JPMorgan Chase International, talks about Japan's economy and central bank monetary policy, shadow banking in China and the outlook for Europe. He spoke with Bloomberg Television's Stephen Engle in Beijing yesterday. (Source: Bloomberg)
The BOJ did not outline any additional measures to meet inflation targets following the central bank’s first meeting since announcing unprecedented monetary easing this month. Data today may show the U.S. economy grew 3 percent in the first quarter amid speculation the European Central Bank will cutinterest rates next month. Some 54 percent of Stoxx Europe 600 Index companies reported quarterly profit that missed analyst estimates, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
“Equities can go higher, but it’s not without risk because earnings aren’t really justifying prices moving higher,” said Tim Schroeders, a portfolio manager who helps manage $1 billion in equities at Pengana Capital Ltd. in Melbourne. “Policy settings are very accommodative. The question remains globally in terms of how effective that policy is.”
European Stocks
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 0.8 percent yesterday, rising a fifth day in their longest rally this year. Spain’s government will present budget plans today, while the ECB will publish data showing how much money savers withdrew from the euro region’s banks after a botched attempt to tax Cypriot savers as part of a European Union-led bailout.
About three stocks declined for every two that rose in the MSCI Asia Pacific Index. Bank of China, which reported record quarterly profit, gained 1.4 percent in Hong Kong, where theHang Seng Index (HSI) climbed 0.9 percent. Japan Tobacco, the world’s best-performing cigarette maker this year, surged 2.7 percent after it forecast profit that beat analysts’ estimates.
Samsung Electronics Co. lost 0.5 percent, trimming its gain in the past year to 11 percent, even as it posted a record quarterly profit that topped analyst estimates on surging sales of Galaxy handsets. Investors may not buy on today’s news as the company already reported preliminary operating profit on April 5, said Heo Pil Seok, chief executive officer at Midas International Asset Management Ltd.
Yen, Won
The yen rose against all 16 of its major counterparts as Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda and his fellow board members concluded their second policy meeting this month. The Japanese currency has strengthened 0.7 percent this week against the dollar.
New Zealand’s currency advanced 0.4 percent to 85.31 U.S. cents after the country’s trade surplus widened more than forecast.
China’s yuan was poised for its biggest weekly gain in six months after the central bank set a record reference rate for the currency amid signs capital inflows are gathering pace.
The yuan rose 0.25 percent this week to 6.1620 per dollar, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System. It gained 0.15 percent today and touched 6.1616, the strongest level since the government unified the official and market exchange rates at the end of 1993.
Gold Rebound
Gold for immediate delivery climbed 0.4 percent to $1,474.01 an ounce, taking its gain this week to 5 percent. The metal, rebounding after the worst slump in three decades, has surged 12 percent from a two-year low on April 16 as coin and jewelry demand expanded from the U.S. to China and India. Bullion is 5.6 percent below the close on April 11, the day before the rout began.
“Emerging-markets central banks’ growing appetite for gold is likely to help support prices,”James Steel, an analyst at HSBC Securities (USA) Inc., wrote in a note.
Copper futures in London dropped 0.7 percent to $7,127.25 a metric ton, reversing an earlier gain of as much as 1.1 percent.
To contact the reporters on this story: Pratish Narayanan in Mumbai at pnarayanan9@bloomberg.net; Yoshiaki Nohara in Tokyo at ynohara1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Darren Boey at dboey@bloomberg.net
