On 10 August, 2015 – Stocks advanced in the US and Europe but were mixed in Asia Pacific

Investors reacted to a poor set of numbers from China over the weekend and bought shares in anticipation of more stimulus from the government.
United States
Stocks rebounded from Friday’s losses due to a rebound in oil prices. Chevron and Exxon Mobil rebounded on the news. The Dow Jones industrials gained 1.3%, the S&P climbed 1.2% and the Nasdaq added 1.1%.
Precision Castparts soared after Warren E. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway said it would buy the maker of industrial components for US$37.2 billion. Precision Castparts, a maker of equipment for the aerospace and energy industries, jumped on the deal. Boeing advanced. Energy and raw-materials shares climbed. Apple increased the most in three months, rebounding after its worst week since January. Consol Energy Inc., Diamond Offshore Drilling and Transocean advanced as oil rebounded from an almost five month low as China’s oil import surged to a record on a monthly basis. Shares of industrial companies including Joy Global and Caterpillar climbed as the group got a boost from Precision Castparts’ gain and speculation on further stimulus in China.
Materials companies also advanced the most in nearly two weeks as copper rose from a six-year low after torrential rains in Chile halted work at some of the world’s biggest mines. Freeport-McMoRan and Alcoa advanced. Texas Instruments gained on a broker upgrade. Intel and Avago Technologies also advanced. Dean Foods dropped after the company declined to offer an explanation for the sudden resignation of its board chairman.
Gold at the afternoon London fixing was up US$3.50 to US$1,097.00. Copper futures were up 2.4% to US$2.39. WTI spot crude was up 92 US cents to US$44.79. Dated Brent spot crude was up US$1.61 to US$50.22. The US dollar was up against the yen. It was virtually unchanged against the Australian dollar. However, it declined against the euro, pound, Swiss franc and the Canadian dollar. The Dollar Index dropped 0.6%. The yield on US Treasury 30 year bond was up 8 basis points to 2.90% while the yield on the 10 year note added 7 basis points to 2.23%.
Europe
European stocks advanced Monday, in part on a confidence boost from Warren Buffett’s latest takeover. He bought an aerospace parts firm for US$37.2 billion, expressing faith in the global economy. Also contributing to Monday’s moves was Friday’s US jobs numbers that appeared to keep the Federal Reserve on track to raise interest rates for the first time in almost a decade. The FTSE was up 0.3%, the CAC added 1.0% and both the DAX and SMI were 1.1% higher.
Airbus Group retreated after saying it received 26 new aircraft orders in July. German insurer Allianz advanced after it beat expectations in the second quarter. RWE AG was up after it said it will merge most of its German RWE companies. The changes will be implemented by 2017. Dixons Carphone was up after the company said its Carphone Warehouse business had been hit by a cyber-attack. Esure was down after reporting poor half-year results. Zurich Re was up after it said it may cut hundreds of millions of pounds from prospective takeover target RSA’s annual reinsurance spending.
Asia Pacific
Shares were mixed Monday as disappointing data out of China only served to heighten expectations of more policy stimulus. Investors also took in their stride a solid US jobs report that opened the door wider to a Federal Reserve rate increase in September.
The Shanghai Composite gained the most in a month as disappointing trade and producer-price data reinforced expectations that Beijing would unveil more stimulus to support the economy. Sentiment was also buoyed by speculation that the government is ready to embark on a fresh round of consolidation among state-owned enterprises. The Shanghai Composite jumped 4.9%, marking its best single day gain since July 9. The Hang Seng slipped 0.1%. Chinese exports tumbled 8.3% in July from a year earlier in dollar terms, their biggest drop in four months and reversing an increase of 2.8% in June. Imports sank 8.1% in July, compared with a 6.1% drop in June, indicating weak domestic demand. Producer prices declined at a steeper than expected pace of 5.4% on the year and by the most in 6 years. The consumer price index rose 1.6% on the year in July after a 1.4% rise in June.
The Nikkei added 0.4% with encouraging quarterly earnings and the strong gains in Chinese shares despite weaker than expected data underpinning investor sentiment. KDDI, Toray Industries, Yokogawa Electric and Sumco Corp rallied. However, Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings, Nisshin Steel, JFE Holdings, Sumitomo Chemical, Tokyo Electric Power and Mitsui Mining & Smelting dropped. Suzuki Motor, Toyota Motor, Sony, Sharp and Nikon closed up, helped by a weaker yen.
On the economic front, Japan posted a current account surplus of 558.6 billion yen in June, official figures showed, taking the half-year surplus to its highest since the second half of 2010 as lower crude oil prices pushed down imports and tourism receipts prospered. Another report showed that overall bank lending in Japan grew 2.6% in July from a year earlier, matching expectations.
Both the S&P/ASX and All Ordinaries rebounded from Friday’s steep losses and added 0.6%. The strong rally in Chinese markets on expectations for further monetary and fiscal easing measures in the coming months also offered some support. The Kospi was down 0.4% as continuing worries over an interest rate increase by Federal Reserve sapped investors’ appetite for risk. The Sensex retreated 0.5%.
Global Stock Market Recap

Please remember, the value of investments and the income from them can do down as well as up. Funds that invest in overseas markets may be subject to currency fluctuations. Investments in small and emerging markets can be more volatile than other overseas markets. Reference in this document to specific securities should not be construed as a recommendation to buy or sell these securities, but is included for the purposes of illustration only.
Looking forward*
Japan reports June tertiary index. In the US, July NFIB index, second quarter productivity and costs and June wholesale trade will be released.
*Note — all releases are listed in local time.