Mixed outing for Asia

Worries over Egyptian crisis offset overnight gains in US markets

Asian markets closed mixed today with select indices gaining modestly. The concerns over Egyptian crisis offset the overnight gains in Wall Street, which closed firm on hopes of a steady global economic recovery. The Consumer credit in the US expanded by much more than expected in the month of December, according to a report released by the Federal Reserve on yesterday. The report showed that consumer credit increased by $6.1 billion in December following an upwardly revised $2.0 billion increase in November. Non-revolving credit, such as car loans, continued to increase in December, rising by $3.8 billion after a revised $5.5 billion increase in the previous month. US stocks managed to start the week with moderate gains following the merger-and-acquisition activity. The Dow added 69.48 points or 0.6% to close at 12,161.63 while the tech heavy the Nasdaq added14.69 points or 0.5% to 2,783.99 – its three-year closing high.



In Japan, the equities added gains for a second consecutive day following strong economic data and upbeat overnight cues. A report released by Japan's Ministry of Finance revealed that the country posted a current account surplus of 1.195 trillion yen in December, jumping 30.5 percent on year. The adjusted current account surplus came in at 1.555 trillion yen, up from the 1.530 trillion yen surplus in the previous month. The stocks were boosted and index linked counters gained with the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index finishing with a gain of 43.94 points, or 0.41 percent to 10,635.98 – its 9-month high.

The Australian stocks closed in green following buying interest in banking stocks on impressive corporate earnings as well as M&A activities also lifted market sentiment. The markets seemed to have factored in the fall out from recent floods and cyclone and are looking more stable now. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 Index added 21.90 points, or 0.45% to close at 4,890.40 points. On the economic front, results of a survey released by the National Australia Bank revealed that business confidence bounced back during January in Australia. NAB's Business confidence index for January 2011 was plus-4, an improvement of seven points from the minus-3 reading in December.

In Mumbai, downward bias extended further today as sustained worries over inflationary expectations and a political mess up given the unveiling of yet another scam in economy. The BSE Sensex closed at 17771.57, down 265.62 points or 1.47%. BSE Midcap Index was down 2.41% and BSE Smallcap Index fell 3.17%. Amongst the sectoral indices, BSE Realty Index fell the most with a loss of 3.45%, BSE Auto Index dropped 2.92% and BSE Bankex shed 2.19%.

In other markets, the HangSeng Index In Hong Kong dropped 0.29%, the Strait Times Index In Singapore also lost 0.21% while KOSPI Index in South Korea gave up 0.58%. Chinese markets are closed on account of Chinese New Year holiday. In commodities, gold edged higher, rising near $1360 per ounce while crude dropped under $87 per barrel on expectations of rising US inventories