Hong Kong shares up on Citic Pacific, China banks

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 02:23:41 GMT

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Hong Kong shares opened higher Wednesday after modest overnight gains on Wall Street, with Citic Pacific Ltd. and Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. rising ahead of their 2009 earnings reports. The Hang Seng Index advanced 0.2% to 21,247.61, after also rising in the previous three sessions, while the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index advanced 0.3% to 12,247.02. Cathay Pacific gained 0.8% and Citic Pacific climbed 1.9%. Chinese banks advanced despite a mainland Chinese media report that February bank lending nearly halved after a surge in January loans, with Bank of China Ltd. rising 0.3%. China's Shanghai Composite index rose 0.4% to 3,080.47.

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China banks lent $102.6 billion in February:report

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:29:52 GMT

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Chinese banks made loans for about 700 billion yuan ($102.6 billion) in February, around half the 1.39 trillion yuan worth of loans issued in January, according to a report Wednesday. China's four largest lenders together lent about 294 billion yuan of the total loans made during the month, with unlisted Agricultural Bank of China leading with total loans of 82 billion yuan, according to Dow Jones Newswires, which cited a Chinese-language news account. China is officially targeting to slow bank lending in 2010 to 7.5 trillion yuan, after record loan disbursals of 9.6 trillion yuan in 2009.

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Japan shares edge up as technology stocks advance

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:52:54 GMT

TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- Japanese shares traded modestly higher Wednesday morning in Tokyo, finding support from technology stocks and some financial shares. The Nikkei 225 Average was up 0.1% at 10,579.85 while the broader Topix was at 925.83, up 0.2%. Shares of NEC Electronics Corp. were up 2% and Elpida Memory Inc. added 0.8%. Among the financials, shares of Citigroup climbed 7.7% after leading a rally in financials in Wall Street trading Tuesday on upbeat comments and optimism of an early repayment of its debt to the U.S. government. Elsewhere, South Korea's Kospi fell 0.1% while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was 0.2% higher.

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Japan's core machinery orders down 3.7% in January

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:09:36 GMT

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Japan's closely watched core machinery orders data showed a 3.7% drop in January, the Cabinet Office said Wednesday. The result matched analysts' average expectations, according to Dow Jones Newswires, but was below a 4.4% forecast drop reported by the Kyodo news agency. Private-sector core machinery orders, which exclude volatile shipping and electric-power orders, are considered a leading indicator of the nation's capital spending. Compared to January 2009, core orders were down 1.1%. However, reports cited the government as saying the indicator was bottoming out. Total orders were also down 3.7% from December.

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Japanese wholesale prices rise 0.1% in February

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:08:30 GMT

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Japan's corporate goods price index rose 0.1% in February from the month before, the Bank of Japan reported Wednesday. Compared to a year earlier, the CGPI measure of wholesale prices was down 1.5%. The results compared to a 0.3% month-on-month rise and 2.1% year-on-year fall in January.

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Australian shares move higher as financials gain

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:43:05 GMT

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Australian shares gained in early Wednesday trading, helped by financial stocks tracking an advance by their U.S. peers overnight. The S&P/ASX 200 pulled higher by 0.4% to 4,837.1, with Westpac Banking Corp. up 0.9%, Macquarie Group Ltd. adding 1%, and Commonwealth Bank of Australia rising 1.3%. Energy-services firm WorleyParsons Ltd. enjoyed a 2.2% bump up in its share price, a day after it announced that Sakhneftegaz Engineering LLC, of which it owns 49%, had won a $400 million contract in eastern Russia, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

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NYSE short interest drops, first time since Dec.

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:25:33 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch)-- The NYSE Group Inc. said late Tuesday that short interest decreased to 13.8 billion shares at the end of Feb. 26 from 13.99 billion shares at the end of Feb. 12. A short sale is a bet by an investor that the stock's price will fall. This is the first decrease in short sales in the past five bi-monthly counts.

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InterMune shares jump on FDA panel recommendation

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:19:06 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- InterMune Inc. shares jumped after a Food and Drug Administration panel recommended the agency approve the biotech's Esbriet lung treatment. InterMune is trying to get marketing approval for Esbriet to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a rare and fatal lung disease that currently lacks an approved treatment. IPF affects about 200,000 people in the United States and Europe. Shares of InterMune, which were halted during the trading day, jumped 59% to $37.11 in after-hours activity.

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Crude oil falls after API reports inventories gain

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:16:48 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures fell further in electronic trade late Tuesday after the American Petroleum Institute reported an unexpected rise in crude-oil stockpiles for the week ended March 5. The industry group said oil stockpiles rose 6.5 million barrels. Analysts polled by Platts were expecting an increase of 2.1 million barrels. Gasoline stocks fell 3.2 million barrels versus an expected decline of 338,000 barrels. Distillate stocks fell 2.8 million barrels. Analysts expected a drop of 950,000. The refinery utilization rate fell to 80.9%. Crude for April delivery traded at $81.36 a barrel, down from a floor close of $81.49 a barrel.

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Staples hikes quarterly dividend by 9% to 9 cents

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:16:11 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Staples Inc. said late Tuesday its board raised the quarterly cash dividend by 9% to 9 cents from 8.25 cents a share. The dividend will be paid on April 15 to shareholders of record on March 26.

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American Eagle to close MARTIN+OSA brand

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:10:58 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- American Eagle Outfitters Inc. said late Tuesday it plans to close its MARTIN+OSA brand, including all 28 stores and its online operations. "Although performance improved from fiscal 2008, management determined that the brand was not achieving performance levels that warrant further investment," American Eagle said in a statement. In fiscal 2009, MARTIN+OSA reported an after-tax loss of about $44 million. The retailer will now focus its resources on the American Eagle family of brands including, AE, aerie and 77kids, which it believes have a greater potential of creating long-term shareholder value. Shares of American Eagle were up 6.4% to $18.24 in after-hours action.

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Abbott Labs to buy Facet Biotech for $722 million

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:05:51 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Abbott Laboratories said late Tuesday that it will acquire Facet Biotech Corp. for $27 a share. The total purchase price of $722 million includes $272 million of Facet's cash and securities, resulting in a net cost of about $450 million, Abbott said. In December, Facet turned down an unsolicited offer from Biogen Idec Inc. of $17.50 a share. Shares of Facet were halted in after-hour activity and last traded at $16.37 a share.

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