International Markets Roundup
A roundup of trading on major world markets:
NEW YORK – Stocks have opened mixed on Wall Street as Greece inches closer to a deal to resolve its debt crisis.
The Dow Jones industrial average gave up an early gain and was down 35 points at 12,843 shortly after the opening bell on Wednesday.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 edged up less than a point to 1,351.
The Nasdaq composite rose nine points to 2,941.
LONDON – European shares have mostly risen despite a Greek bailout hanging in the balance, with supportive Chinese comments lifting sentiment.
London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index ended the day down 0.13 per cent at 5,892.16 points, but in Frankfurt the DAX 30 added 0.44 per cent to 6,757.94 points and in Paris the CAC 40 also gained 0.44 per cent to close at 3,390.35 points.
The single currency meanwhile slid to $US1.3085 ($A1.23) from $1.3134 late in New York on Tuesday.
HONG KONG – Asian markets have soared, with Tokyo hitting a more than six-month high, despite eurozone finance ministers putting a Greek bailout on hold and the release of disappointing US retail data.
The 17-nation bloc had demanded that Greece’s finance minister come to Brussels with an extra 325 million euros ($A400.67 million) in budget cuts and written pledges from politicians to implement EU-ordered austerity measures.
Tokyo’s benchmark index soared 2.30 per cent, or 208.27 points, to its highest close since August at 9,260.34 after the Bank of Japan on Tuesday said it would pump another $US130 billion ($A122.09 billion) into the country’s anaemic economy.
Seoul closed 1.13 per cent higher, or 22.68 points, at 2,025.32, while Sydney inched up 0.25 per cent, or 10.6 points, at 4,253.4.
Hong Kong, led by property developer shares on optimism for the city’s real estate market, was up 2.18 per cent in afternoon trade, while Shanghai closed nearly one per cent higher at 2,366.70.
WELLINGTON – The NZX 50 Index fell 36.458 points, or 1.1 per cent, to 3293.87, the lowest level since Jan. 26. Within the index, 28 stocks fell, 13 rose and nine were unchanged.
Turnover was $123 million, marking it as one of the busiest days this year.
