Stock market: review, July 22

ASIA

Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average  added 0.47% at 14,658.04, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index retreated 0.05% to 21,351.91 and  China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.61% to 2,004.76.

The performance in Tokyo came after the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s coalition easily won a majority of the 121 seats contested in the upper house elections over the weekend. The victory gave Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s LDP control over both houses, consolidating its political power.

Telecommunication and insurance shares advanced, though a strengthened yen weighed on many exporters.

Shares of Softbank Corp.  climbed 0.6%, Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp.  gained 1%, and Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co.   rose 0.3%.

On the downside, Nissan Motor Corp.  eased 0.8%, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.   retreated 3.5%, and Renesas Electronics Corp.   dropped 3.6%, as the U.S. dollar fell to below the ¥100-level.

In Monday trade, shares of China Construction Bank Corp. lost 2.8%, and those of Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd.  shed 1% in Shanghai.

Among other notable decliners, Poly Real Estate Group Co.  fell 1.4%, and Datang International Power Generation Co.  shed 1%.

In Hong Kong, China Resources Land Ltd. fell 0.4%, while most of the major Chinese banks suffered losses of less than 1%.

Elsewhere, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200  rose 0.6% and South Korea’s Kospi  added 0.7%, with the Australian shares propped up by the mining and financial sectors.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia   gained 1%, and Macquarie Group Ltd. rose 2.8%, while Newcrest Mining Ltd.   jumped 6.9% as gold prices climbed back above $1,300 an ounce.

 

EUROPE

European stocks rose for a fourth day, extending a seven-week high, as companies from UBS (UBSN) AG to Royal Philips (PHIA) Electronics NV reported increased profit.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.2% to 300.29. National benchmark indexes fell in 10 of the 18 western European markets today.

Portugal’s PSI-20 Index (PSI20) advanced 2.4% as President Anibal Cavaco Silva affirmed that he doesn’t want to call early elections

Companies from Apple Inc. to Ford Motor Co. are set to post earnings in the U.S. this week. About 71% of Standard & Poor’s 500 Index members that have reported second-quarter results so far topped analyst estimates.

UBS, Switzerland’s largest bank, rallied 2.8%, to a two-year high. Philips, the Dutch maker of light bulbs and electric toothbrushes, gained 2.4% for an eighth day.

Royal KPN NV (KPN), the former Dutch phone monopoly, surged 12% as three people familiar with the matter said Telefonica SA is in advanced talks to take over its German mobile-phone business.

Mobistar (MOBB) SA slumped 30%, the most on record after the Belgian mobile-phone company cut profit forecasts and suspended its dividend.

 

USA                                                                                                                                                                                              
U.S. stocks fluctuated, after monthly flows into equity exchange-traded funds reached a five-year high, as housing data and earnings from companies including McDonald’s Corp. fueled speculation stimulus would continue.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.1 percent to 1,694.52 at 2:20 p.m. in New York, extending a record. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 3.38 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 15,540.36.

More than 150 S&P 500 companies, including Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Facebook Inc., report their earnings this week. Of the 108 companies on the gauge to have already reported quarterly results, 71 percent have exceeded analysts’ profit estimates and 52% have beaten sales projections.

Six of 10 S&P 500 main industries gained as financial and raw-materials shares rose more than 0.4%.

Newmont Mining Corp. climbed 5.95, leading gains among gold producers, as the metal’s price rose to a one-month high. McDonald’s slipped 2.6% after revenue missed forecasts. Yahoo Inc. dropped 3.7% after saying activist investor Daniel Loeb is leaving the board. Homebuilders fell, with D.R. Horton Inc. losing 1.8%, as sales of previously owned houses unexpectedly dropped in June, hurt by a lack of supply and rising mortgage rates.

 

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