Joe Saluzzi of Themis Trading has spotted a sharp almost flash-crash like move in India’s Sensex index on Monday:
It’s more diabolical than any dark scenario of a Bollywood plot. As India’s stock market investors watched in disbelief, Anil Ambani saw a whopping $2.6bn wiped off the value of his Reliance ADAG group of six publicly-traded companies in a single day on Wednesday.
In response, an angry – but rather helpless – Ambani has added charges of “vicious and illegal bear-hammering” of stocks, rumour-mongering and scare tactics to the growing controversy over India’s recent corruption scandals. Read more
Global stocks are brushing their best levels in nearly 27 months, before the collapse of Lehman Brothers, as investors continue to place bets that better economic growth in 2011 will power risky assets yet higher, the FT’s global market overview reports. The FTSE All-World equity index was up 0.2 per cent to 216.7, commodities were mixed and the dollar lower. Markets were unfazed as South Korea began a large-scale military exercise near the border with the North. The Kospi index fell just 0.03 per cent on soft technology stocks. Hopes that an improvement in the US economy will add an extra boost to growth in 2011 is continuing to buoy sentiment, pushing the FTSE Asia Pacific index up 0.4 per cent, close to the best levels since July 2008. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.4 per cent to a six-week high, after Riversdale Mining climbed as much as 2.2 per cent to A$16.84 on the back of Rio Tinto’s formal $3.9bn offer. China’s Shanghai Composite was down 0.8 per cent as oil refiners lost ground on concerns that operating costs would increase following recent gasoline and diesel price hikes. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was off 0.1 per cent and India’s Sensex was down 0.2 per cent. The FTSE 100 has tickled the 6,000 level in early skirmishing, up 0.2 per cent at 5,998 as resources stocks continue their storming run. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 index was up 0.1 per cent. The dollar index was down 0.3 per cent at 80.45, while the Korean won was up 0.4 per cent to the greenback as traders brushed off any worries surrounding Seoul’s military exercises. Read more
It looks like the Santa Rally is flagging, but then the old boy has had a good run, the FT’s global market overview reports. Bourses in Europe opened flat, the FTSE All-World index was up just 0.06 per cent, US stock futures were little changed and many industrial commodities were weaker. The FTSE Asia-Pacific index was up 0.1 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 dipped 0.2 per cent, though in earlier trading exporters got a lift from figures showing a 9.1 per cent rise in Japan’s exports in November compared with a year earlier. South Korea’s Kospi Composite was 0.1 per cent higher after investors remained largely unruffled by South Korea’s announcement that it would conduct a live-firing drill on Thursday near the border with the North. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.1 per cent, with oil-related shares benefiting from Beijing’s increase in gasoline and diesel prices. But on the mainland the Shanghai Composite fell as the rally in property stocks faded. India’s Sensex was up 0.2 per cent and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.1 per cent. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up just 0.1 per cent, while London’s FTSE 100 was flat as the oil and gas sector shed some of its recent gains.The euro has reclaimed the 200-day moving average around the $1.31 level, though judging from moves in other crosses this is as much about a period of dollar weakness than it is of single currency strength. The euro was up 0.3 per cent to $1.3132, while the dollar index, which tracks the buck against a basket of peers, was down 0.2 per cent to 80.50. Read more
An easing of tensions between North and South Korea and supportive comments on the eurozone from the Chinese government has emboldened the bulls, the FT’s global market overview reports. The FTSE All-World equity index was higher by 0.5 per cent, copper was leading commodities as the red metal hit a fresh record, and the dollar was slipping as risk appetite picked up. The FTSE Asia Pacific index was up 1.1 per cent, and South Korea’s Kospi index gained 0.8 per cent as the tensions on the Korean peninsula eased. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.5 per cent, after the Bank of Japan left its ultra-loose monetary policy unchanged, as widely expected. China’s Shanghai Composite added 1.8 per cent, as funds picked up property stocks that have had a difficult time of late on worries over Beijing’s drive to cool speculative activities. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 1.5 per cent, with energy stocks in good form as the winter draws in. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index advanced 0.7 per cent and India’s Sensex was up 0.8 per cent. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.5 per cent and London’s FTSE 100 was higher by 0.5 per cent, with miners and energy again in the driving seat. The dollar is suffering from the improved mood across the market as its haven attractions wilt. The dollar index, which tracks the buck against a basket of peers, was down 0.5 per cent to 80.27. Read more
Early-rising European dealers were rattled by the return of eurozone fiscal angst after Moody’s said it may downgrade Spain’s credit rating, reports the FT’s global market overview. It was the tail end of the Asian trading session before the Moody’s decision hit the wires, so response to the news has been relatively meagre in some exchanges. The FTSE Asia Pacific index was down 0.8 per cent after hitting its highest intraday level in 29 months on Tuesday. Sentiment in Asia was further damped by the Bank of Japan’s Tankan survey for December showing that confidence among big manufacturers fell for the first time in seven quarters. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.1 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was impacted by the Moody’s news, with a late slide leaving it down 2 per cent. The Shanghai Composite shed 0.5 per cent and India’s Sensex was down 0.5 per cent. Bucking the trend, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 eked out a fractional gain as banks were firmer, and South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.4 per cent to a fresh 37-month high as Seoul was an oasis of global growth hopes. The FTSE Eurofirst Bank index was down 1.6 per cent, dragging the broad FTSE Eurofirst 300 lower by 0.5 per cent. London’s FTSE 100 was off 0.5 per cent as softer commodities also hurt miners and Spain’s Ibex 35 was down 1.9 per cent. The euro was off 0.4 per cent at $1.3320 and down 0.1 per cent at Y111.84. The dollar index, which tracks the buck against a basket of its peers, was up 0.3 per cent to 79.69. The greenback had rallied sharply off its lows on Tuesday after the surge in Treasury yields following the Fed’s monetary policy announcement attracted income-seekers. Read more
Clearly, it’s a demand and supply thing – and not just a timely reminder that Friday marks the 20th anniversary of the October ’87 crash.
India’s benchmark Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index – consisting of 30 stocks and known as Sensex – fell more than 9 per cent on Wednesday as the Indian government slapped curbs on foreign investment flows in a heavy-handed attempt to take the wind out of the country’s runaway equity markets. Through the Securities and Exchange Board of India, curbs have been placed on participatory notes, which are used as an indirect route for foreigners to invest locally. Read more
1About China's capacity to absorb more capital
2Japan's mini crash: Blame China, not just Ben
3Spain's awful unemployment
4S&P 2,100, by Goldman Sachs
5The Nikkei: a market abducted by retail
Show more6Everlasting credit, the long view
7Measure it however you like: inflation has been low and falling
8Buyback to enrich
9Apple Operations International, facts (?) du jour
10Bernanke's testimony to the Joint Economic Committee
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