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Japan hikes as yen weakens(Baystreet Foreign Markets Wrap (Canada) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Japan stocks ended higher on Monday, returning to its pattern of steady gains after a mild retreat at the end of last week, as a softer yen aided export-related stocks. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo gained 74.06 points, or 0.5%, to 15,613.25 Meanwhile, the yen weakened against the U.S. dollar to ¥104.039 from ¥103.955 on Friday. The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong gathered 54.68 points, or 0.2%, to 25,166.91 Many tech exporters saw solid gains, with semiconductor firm Renesas Electronics Corp. advancing 2.1%, electronics maker Hitachi, Ltd. adding 1.7%, camera maker Olympus Corp. rising 1.5%, and IT services provider Fujitsu Ltd. up 1.2%. China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., or Sinopec, China's largest oil refiner, rallied 4.3% after its interim earnings climbed 7.5%. Electric-car and battery maker BYD Co, in which Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway holds a stake, shook off morning losses and finished 2.2% higher, shrugging off a more than 15% plunge in its first-half earnings due to lower traditional car sales and solar-operation losses. In other markets; The Shanghai CSI 300 index gave back 22.50 points, or 1%, to 2,342.86 In Singapore, the Straits Times STI Index picked up 4.78 points, or 0.1%, to 3,330.28 In Korea, the Kospi index added 4.19 points, or 0.2%, to 2,060.89 The Taiex Index in Taiwan added 10.52 points, or 0.1%, to 9,390.62 In New Zealand, the NZX 50 improved 15.75 points, or 0.3%, to 5,182.74 Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slid 10.73 points, or 0.2%, to 5,634.89 © 1998 - 2014 Baystreet.ca Media Corp. All rights reserved. |