Japan market summary for Monday (Nov. 5)
Nikkei 225 Stock Average: -248.56 (-1.5%) to 16,268.92
Nikkei 225 futures Osaka: -190 (1.15%) to 16,300, Singapore (SGX) -145 (-0.9%) to 16,320, Chicago (CME) *11/2 -30 (-0.2%) to 16,510
TOPIX: -25.04 (-1.6%) to 1,575.13; Advancers 270 x decliners 1,376 (unch. 76), New highs 10 x new lows 85
Nikkei Jasdaq: -8.61 (-0.5%) to 1,838.79
Yen: strengthened 0.3% against the US$ to the 114.40-45 level late in Tokyo; strengthened by a similar amount to the 165.45-50 level against the euro
Notes: MOTHERS -1.0%, HERCULES -1.7%. As expected, Monday was a bearish trading session, following news of Citigroup’s chief Chuck Prince resigning, as writedowns related to the subprime mess jump by the billions. Japanese financial stocks naturally fell pretty much across the board along with the broader market decline. Coincidentally, Monday was Citigroup’s debut on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (no, Prince wasn’t there to ring the bell) and despite the company’s problems, shares rose 5% to Y4,550, although on less than 10,000 shares traded — typical of foreign listings on the TSE. The Citi TSE listing is a strategic move for local expansion (facilitating acquisitions), as opposed to one expected to bring a lot of trading liquidity.
We also had China’s premier Wen Jiabao throwing up a roadblock to a proposal to allow mainland investors to invest in Hong Kong. The Hang Seng has been on fire of late, surging past 31,000; however, it tanked 5% today, or about 1,500 points to 28,942. FT Alphaville says four conditions the PM attached for final approval of allowing HK trading are “so open-ended that Beijing could take months, if not longer, to permit it to go ahead.” Look at below Monday for the iShares MSCI Hong Kong ETF (EWH).
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