Philippine Markets: 10 March 2011

10 March 2011

USD/PhP: 43.495 (as 12:00pm) PSEi: 3959.94 + 33.08
USD/JPY: 82.82 PFINC: 876.42 + 14.05
EUR/USD: 1.3883 BDO: 49.25 + 0.60
GBP/USD: 1.6187 BPI: 56.30 + 1.10
PDSTF3M: 1.2625 MBT: 63.15 + 2.15
Prices as of 12:00pm Source: Bloomberg, Reuters



Asian Stocks Decline on Escalating Libyan Conflict, Japan GDP

By Jonathan Burgos and Satoshi Kawano
March 10 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks declined, sending the
benchmark regional index to its lowest level in two weeks, as
violence in Libya tempered optimism in a global economic
recovery and Japan’s economy shrank more than estimated.
Chiyoda Corp., a Japanese contractor that gets almost half
of its sales from the Middle East, led declines in the Nikkei
225 Stock Average, and Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest
automaker, sank 2 percent in Tokyo. BHP Billiton Ltd., the
world’s biggest mining company, lost 2 percent in Sydney after
copper futures fell. Samsung Electronics Co., South Korea’s No.
1 company by market value, retreated 2.4 percent in Seoul after
the central bank increased interest rates.
“Libya is chaotic and a sense of uncertainty for the
future is increasing even in countries surrounding Libya,” said
Mitsushige Akino, who oversees about $450 million in Tokyo at
Ichiyoshi Investment Management Co. “It’s hard to know how high
oil prices will go and how much that will damage the economy.
That’s deterring investors from putting new money into stocks.”
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 1 percent to 136.71 as of
12:30 p.m. in Tokyo, heading to its lowest close since Feb. 25.
About four shares declined for each that rose. The gauge climbed
1.9 percent last week as better-than-estimated economic data
from South Korea to the U.S. boosted confidence in a global
recovery, overcoming concern that Middle East unrest will drive
oil prices higher and slow growth.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 1.1 percent. The
country’s gross domestic product shrank at an annualized 1.3
percent rate in the three months ended Dec. 31, more than the
1.1 percent contraction reported last month, the Cabinet Office
said today. The median forecast of 26 economists surveyed by
Bloomberg News was for a 1.2 percent contraction.

New Zealand, Korea

South Korea’s Kospi Index declined 1.2 percent. The Bank of
Korea raised interest rates for the second time this year after
inflation exceeded its targeted ceiling for two consecutive
months. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slid 0.4 percent, while
China’s Shanghai Composite Index decreased 0.8 percent.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index retreated 1.1 percent. The
country’s employers unexpectedly retrenched workers in February
as floods and cyclones disrupted hiring in the nation’s
northeast. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index slipped 0.1 percent as the
nation’s central bank lowered its benchmark interest rate and
pledged to keep borrowing costs low until rebuilding from the
Christchurch earthquake revives an economy near recession.
Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 0.3 percent
today. The index dropped 0.1 percent yesterday in New York,
falling for the third time in four days.

Libyan Strikes

Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi’s forces carried out air and
artillery strikes on central oil facilities as the government
posted a 500,000 dinar ($407,000) reward for anyone who arrests
the head of the rebel leadership council. Oil rose for the first
time in three days in New York as escalating violence in the
North African nation renewed concern that supply disruptions may
spread to the Middle East.
Chiyoda, an industrial-plant builder, slumped 4.2 percent
to 685 yen in Tokyo. The company had its 12-month share price
estimate cut to 570 yen from 600 yen at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan
Stanley Securities Co. JGC Corp., a plant-engineering company
that gets 34 percent of sales from the Middle East, lost 1.3
percent to 1,793 yen. Hyflux Ltd., which has desalination
projects in Algeria and Libya, fell 1.4 percent to S$2.09 in
Singapore.
Toyota dropped 2 percent 3,640 yen. Honda Motor Co.,
Japan’s second-biggest carmaker by market value, slid 0.9
percent to 3,395 yen. Sony Corp., the maker of Bravia
televisions and PlayStation video-game consoles, slipped 1
percent to 2,869 yen.

Oil Risks

Risks to a Japanese recovery include higher oil prices that
could depress capital spending and private consumption,
according to Yoshiki Shinke, senior economist at Dai-Ichi Life
Research Institute in Tokyo. Crude oil prices have risen more
than 10 percent this year and are approaching their 2008 peak.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index has almost doubled in the past
two years. It sank to an eight-year low on March 9, 2009,
following the bankruptcy filing of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.
in September 2008.
Gauges of raw-material producers and information-technology
companies led declines among the MSCI Asia Pacific Index’s 10
industry groups, all of which fell.
BHP Billiton dropped 2 percent to A$45.10 in Sydney.
Jiangxi Copper Co., China’s largest producer of the metal,
declined 2.5 percent to HK$23.75 in Hong Kong. Mitsubishi Corp.,
a Japanese trading house that gets about 40 percent of sales
supplying metals and energy, slipped 1.8 percent to 2,216 yen in
Tokyo.

Riversdale Bid

Rio Tinto Group, the world’s second-biggest mining company,
sank 2.3 percent to A$80.53 in Sydney after raising its bid for
Riversdale Mining Ltd. by 3 percent to A$3.9 billion ($3.9
billion).
Samsung Electronics, Asia’s biggest maker of chips, flat
screens and mobile phones, dropped 2.4 percent to 869,000 won in
Seoul after South Korea’s central bank raised the benchmark
seven-day repurchase rate to 3 percent from 2.75 percent.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.5 percent this year
through yesterday, compared with gains of 5 percent by the S&P
500 and 1.9 percent by the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. Shares in the
Asian benchmark were valued at 13.9 times estimated earnings on
average as of the last close, compared with 13.7 times for the
S&P 500 and 11.2 times for the Stoxx 600.


Jonathan Ravelas
Chief Market Strategist
(632) 858-3145

Rhys Cruz
Junior Researcher
(632) 858-3001