Majors close
Nikkei 225 -18.92 (-0.19%) 9932.90
Topix -1.44 (-0.01%) 881.57
FTSE +19.51 (+0.38%) 5111.84
DAX +13.41 (+0.24%) 5498.26
CAC +5.49 (+0.15%) 3612.76
Dow +150.25 (+1.52%) 10058.64
S&P 500 +13.78 (+1.30%) 1070.52
Nasdaq +24.82 (+1.17%) 2150.87
10YR -21/32 3.64% 97 25/32
Oil +1.99 (+2.77%) $73.87
Asian stocks rose on Tuesday, bouncing off Monday’s four-month low.
However, Tokyo went against the trend with the Nikkei 225 Average dropping 0.2% to 9,932.90.
Toyota
Motor Corp’s shares rallied 2.9% even though it
announced another car recall. The company’s shares have fallen by
almost 20% from their mid-January high.
Shares in Japan’s
third-largest automobile maker Nissan rose 2.4% just
before announcing quarterly results that were better than expected.
The
company has seen an 8.7% climb in its shares over the past
three months, restoring confidence that the wider automobile sector has
not been affected by Toyota.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng advanced
1.2% to 19, 790.28 as it climbed from Monday’s five-month low.
CNOOC, China’s largest offshore oil producer, rose 3.5% one day after its partner, Husky Energy , announced a large
gas discovery off the coast of China.
Hopes of a European Union
bail-out of Greece helped the wider market edge higher at the end of a
choppy session.
The FTSE 100 closed up 19.51 points, or 0.4% to 5,111.84.
Miners led the blue-chip risers, with Xstrata 4.5% higher after brokers gave a positive response to its
results on Monday.
Rio Tinto
moved 3.7% higher tahead of numbers on Thursday, while
Antofagasta took on 4.1% and Fresnillo added 3.4%.
Lloyds Banking Group bounced 2.1%,
having dropped 14% in recent days as investors hedged for a
£1.5bn debt-for-equity swap the pricing of which is due to be set on
Friday.
Back among the gainers, AstraZeneca was up 1.3% after US regulators approved its Crestor drug for a wider range
of patients.
In the wake of Friday’s profit warning, Icapinched 0.3%
higher after Merrill Lynch added the stock to its
European recommended list.
Stocks rallied Tuesday afternoon as
growing bets that European officials will rescue Greece from its debt
problems reassured investors following a four-week selloff.
The
threat of a default in Greece has sparked fears of a broader crisis
that could impact Portugal, Spain, Ireland, Italy and other
debt-challenged European nations. U.S. investors have been trying to
gauge what kind of impact such a crisis would have on financial
institutions as well as the still-fragile global economic recovery.
News that European leaders will meet to discuss how to manage a growing debt crisis reassured investors Tuesday.
Stocks
have fallen for four weeks straight on worries about China curbing bank
lending, Washington cracking down on bank trading practices, and more
recently, Europe's debt woes.
Since peaking at a rally high on Jan. 19, the Dow has lost 7.6%, the S&P 500 has lost 7.3% and the Nasdaq has lost 8.4%.
On
the move: Financial shares bounced Tuesday, with the KBW Bank (BKX)
index rising 1.5%. The index has slipped nearly 5% since the stock
market peaked on Jan. 19.
Big energy stocks including Exxon Mobil
and Chevron rallied as the dollar
slipped versus the euro. Barrick Gold, Goldcorp and Alcoa
were among the other big commodity shares rising.
Caterpillar gained after it was reportedly upgraded to "overweight" from "underweight" by Morgan Stanley.
Economy:
Wholesale inventories fell by 0.8% in December after rising 1.6% in
November, according to a government report released in the morning.
Economists thought inventories would rise
0.5%, on average.
Toyota:
Following its recalls totaling 8.1 million
vehicles for accelerator problems, troubled automaker Toyota Motor
announced another global recall involving 437,000 hybrids, including
the 2010 Prius, for problems in their anti-lock braking systems
software.
Earnings: Coca-Cola reported
fourth-quarter earnings of $1.54 billion or 66 cents per share, up 55%
from a year earlier and in line with analysts' estimates. The Dow
component reported revenue of $7.51 billion, up five percent from a
year ago and better than expected. Shares of Coca-Cola rose 3.6%.
