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Monday May 12, 7:17 AMSTOCKS NEWS ASIA-Shares defensive after oil scales new peakSYDNEY, May 12 (Reuters) - Asian shares are set for a lacklustre open on Monday, tracking falls on Wall Street after oil's jump to another record raised worries about the health of the U.S. economy.Oil prices rose to an all-time peak above $126 a barrel on Friday, stoking worries about inflation and slowing consumer spending. Record-high oil prices are also likely to dent cost-sentive airline stocks such as Korean Air , though energy firms such as Australia's Woodside Petroleum Ltd may rise. Australian financial firms could be in focus after Westpac Banking Corp Ltd , the nation's fourth-biggest lender, said it had entered merger talks with St George Bank Ltd to create Australia's largest home lending and wealth management provider. Asian stocks listed on Wall Street fell 0.8 percent, while the MSCI's measure of Asia Pacific stocks excluding Japan shed 0.5 percent last Friday. HEADLINES: > AIG's loss and record oil sour mood on Wall St [nN09513042] > Oil hits record $126 on supply worry, fund buying [nSP115466] > Westpac says in takeover talks with St George [nSYU004345] > US March trade gap narrows on record import drop [nN09468867] > Citigroup aims to shed $400 billion of assets [nN09468753] > Platinum ends sharply higher on ETN launch [nL09683783] > Soft demand drags metals lower, tin at new peak [nL09824515] > China forms company to make regional, jumbo jets [nPEK192239] > China's Pudong Bank, Shandong Trust to tie up [nSHA29895] > News Corp unexpectedly drops bid for Newsday [nN10539978] > VW, Sanyo to develop lithium-ion battery-paper [nT165587] KEY INDEXES pct change Bank of New York Asia ADR index -0.76 Dow Jones Industrial Average -0.94 Nasdaq Composite Index -0.23 MSCI Asia Pacific ex-Japan -0.49 Nikkei futures in Chicago -2.15 Nikkei futures in Osaka -0.66 ASIAN ADR ACTION: 5 most actively traded: price change/pct TSMC -0.72 Infosys Tech +0.19 BHP Billiton +1.41 Siliconware -0.61 AU Optronics -1.60 Top 5 performers: price change/pct Chartered Semi +3.81 APT Satellite +3.29 Tom Online +2.47 Satyam +1.68 BHP Billiton +1.41 Bottom 5 performers: price change/pct Makita Corp. -3.55 Advantest -3.51 Telecom Corp. NZ -3.48 PetroChina -3.10 Hitachi -2.96 TOP ASIA EVENTS: For more Asian company earnings, see [ASIA/EQTY]
JAPAN - Earnings: Marui Group , Sumitomo Realty
& Development , Nikon Corp ,
Dentsu Inc , Maruha Nichiro Holdings
Inc
SEOUL - Korea Development Institute to give first-half
2008 economic forecasts
SYDNEY - Housing finance, March (Reporting by Geraldine Chua, Editing by Jacqueline Wong) |
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