Stock market fixing:
Nikkei -13.36
-0.1% 12,851.69
Topix -2.17 -0.2% 1,233.37
FTSE +51.40 +0.97% 5,371.80
DAX +35.37 +0.56%
6,317.80
CAC +33.08 +0.76% 4,365.87
Dow +68.88 +0.61%
11,417.43
NASDAQ +4.72 +0.20%
2,389.08
S&P +7.85 +0.62%
1,274.54
10yr Note -0.4300 -0.112%
3.799%
NYMEX Crude Oil +0.45
+0.39% 114.98
Gold -0.50 -0.06% 816.30
Japan's stock on Wednesday falls, led by shipping lines. Japan's
Topix stock index fell as a drop in transportation fees dragged down shipping
lines, overshadowing a gain by oil explorers as crude rebounded.
Nippon Yusen K.K. tumbled 2.7% and
led a gauge of shipping companies to its biggest drop in two weeks. Sony Corp.
slipped 2.8% after the fewest U.S.
home starts in 17 years sapped confidence in a recovery in the world's largest
economy. Inpex Holdings Inc., Japan's
biggest oil explorer, jumped to the highest in a month after crude rose a
second day.
Nippon Yusen, Japan's biggest shipping company,
slid 2.7%, while closest rival Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. sank 2.5%. Kawasaki
Kisen Kaisha Ltd. tumbled 1.5%.
Sony retreated 2.8%, while
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., the world's biggest maker of consumer
electronics, slumped 2.4%. Canon Inc., the largest digital-camera maker, dipped
2%.
Inpex added 2.5%, the highest since
July 22. Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. surged 4.3%, after gold climbed for a third
day.
European stocks rose for the first time in three days as mining shares near their
cheapest in seven months lured investors and Hewlett-Packard Co.'s earnings
spurred gains by chipmakers.
BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto
Group rose the most since Feb. 1. Infineon Technologies AG, Germany's
largest semiconductor maker, climbed after Hewlett- Packard reported profit
that topped analysts' estimates. Yara International ASA led chemical makers
higher on Israel Chemicals Ltd.'s more than fivefold surge in profit.
BHP Billiton, which reported record
earnings this week, rallied 6.7%. Rio Tinto, the world's third- largest mining
company, gained 7.4%.
Infineon climbed 1.8%. STMicroelectronics NV, Europe's biggest chipmaker, rose 2.4 percent to 8.301
euros.
Yara, the world's largest fertilizer
maker, climbed 3.9%, while K+S AG, Europe's largest
producer of potash used in fertilizers, jumped 6.4%.
Israel Chemicals, which harvests
minerals from the Dead Sea to make fertilizers
and chemicals, said second-quarter profit rose more than fivefold on soaring
potash prices.
Equities jumped as oil prices erase losses and turn lower. HP's earnings news overshadows
Fannie and Freddie fears.
Stocks had fallen in the first hour
of trade as oil prices jumped and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac concerns
overshadowed HP's earnings.
But the tone improved after the release
of the government's weekly oil inventories. That report showed a
stronger-than-expected jump in crude inventories, sending oil prices lower.
Hewlett-Packardreported higher quarterly sales and earnings
that topped forecasts late Tuesday. The company also forecast that fiscal
fourth-quarter earnings would top current expectations.
Mortgage finance companies Fannie
Mae and Freddie Mac slumped for a third straight session on worries that a
government takeover of the two companies is unavoidable.
Additionally, Goldman Sachs cut
third-quarter and full-year earnings estimates on five brokerages, according to
published reports, saying that more writedowns are on the way.