BLBG:Chinese Shares Drop on Falling Home Prices; Oil, Won Rise
Treasuries fell for a ninth day, while Asian stocks and oil rose on speculation the global economy is strengthening. Chinese stocks slid as the nation’s home prices had the worst performance in a year.
Yields on 10-year Treasuries added one basis point to 2.31 percent as of 1:49 p.m. in Tokyo. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.3 percent and Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures advanced 0.2 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.3 percent. South Korea’s won rose 0.2 percent. Oil gained 0.3 percent to $107.40 a barrel. Bond risk in Asia fell.
South Korean department sales rose and consumer confidence in New Zealand improved, economic data showed. U.S. home sales and housing starts probably rose last month, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg before reports this week. Apple Inc. (AAPL) plans to discuss its $97.6 billion in cash and investments on a call today. Credit-default swaps dealers will hold an auction to settle as much as $3.2 billion of Greek bond insurance triggered by a debt restructuring.
“The market should continue to look fairly positive,” Stephen Halmarick, Sydney-based head of investment markets research at Colonial First State Global Asset Management, said on Bloomberg Television. His firm oversees about $150 billion. “This week will be focused on whether the world economy can continue to recover. Data has been more positive lately, with some signs of stability in Europe.”
Japanese Stocks
The Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 0.3 percent, poised for its highest close since the earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, which left 19,000 people dead or missing. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index and South Korea’s Kospi Index increased 0.5 percent. The Hang Seng Index gained 0.3 percent. The MSCI Asia- Pacific gauge climbed 0.8 percent last week, the 12th advance in three months.
China Vanke Co. and Poly Real Estate Group Co. led property developers to the biggest decline among industries in the Shanghai Composite Index. (SHCOMP) China’s new home prices fell in 27 of 70 cities last month from a year earlier and prices were unchanged in six cities, the national statistics bureau said.
Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd. slid 3.2 percent in Hong Kong. The nation’s biggest producer of the metal swung to a wider- than-estimated loss in the second half of 2011 and said it may also be unprofitable in the first quarter of this year.
Apple Dividend
Futures signal the S&P 500 may advance in U.S. trading after climbing 2.4 percent last week, the biggest gain this year. Apple is likely to announce a dividend during the conference call scheduled for 9 a.m. New York time, according to analysts’ predictions and data compiled by Bloomberg.
The difference between yields on 10-year notes and Treasury Inflation Protected Securities, a gauge of trader expectations for consumer prices over the life of the debt, widened to 2.42 percentage points today, the most since August.
Bonds of all types worldwide are generating their biggest losses since 2010 this month, raising concern that the four-year bull market that pushed interest rates to record lows may be ending as the flood of easy money from the U.S. Federal Reserve subsides. Fixed-income securities have lost 0.65 percent on average in March, according to the Bank of America Global Broad Market Index that tracks about $40 trillion of bonds.
“The increase in Treasury yields is a recognition that the economy is in better shape,” said Peter Jolly, head of market research at National Australia Bank Ltd. in Sydney.
Australian Bonds
Australian government bonds declined, pushing the yield on 10-year securities up by six basis points to 4.29 percent. The yield breached 4.25 percent on March 15, putting the 10-year rate above the central bank benchmark for the first time since August.
The cost of insuring Asia-Pacific bonds from default declined, according to traders of credit-default swaps. The Markit iTraxx Asia index of 40 investment-grade borrowers outside Japan dropped 3 basis points to 132, set for the lowest close since Aug. 5, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and CMA prices show.
The won advanced against all of its 16 major counterparts. A government report showed today sales at major South Korean department stores rose 2.9 percent in February from a year earlier, following a 4.1 percent decline in January.
South Korea’s interest-rate swaps rose to a seven-month high on speculation the central bank is unlikely to lower its benchmark interest rate. The five-year swap rate increased one basis point to 3.68 percent, taking its advance this year to 31 basis points, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Oil advanced for a second day as investors bet Saudi Arabian crude output near the strongest level since at least 1980 signals fuel demand is increasing. The largest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries pumped 9.87 million barrels a day in January, according to government data.
To contact the reporters on this story: Lynn Thomasson in Hong Kong at lthomasson@bloomberg.net; Susan Li in Hong Kong at sli31@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Darren Boey at dboey@bloomberg.net
