Japan, Australian Stock Futures Rise As Oil, Gold Prices Gain

sumber: www.publicgold.com.my April 04, 2011, 7:35 PM EDT More From Businessweek Asian Stocks Drop as Tepco Dumps Radioactive Water; Toyota Falls Hyundai Motor, Metro Pacific, YTL: Asia Ex-Japan Equity Preview Asian Stocks Rise on U.S. Jobs, Takeover Bid; Equinox Surges Most Japan Stocks Fall as Real Estate, Fishing Shares Drop Japan, Australian Stock Futures Rise After U.S. Jobs Report By Anna Kitanaka and Satoshi Kawano April 5 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese and Australian stock futures rose as higher oil  and gold prices boosted commodity- related shares. American depositary receipts of Mitsui & Co., Japan’s second-biggest trading  company, gained 0.6 percent in New York. Those of Mitsubishi Corp., Japan’s  largest commodities trader, advanced 0.9 percent. ADRs of BHP Billiton Ltd.,  the world’s No. 1 mining company, climbed 1.1 percent in New York trading.  Those of Newcrest Mining Ltd., an Australian gold producer, climbed 0.6  percent after the price of the precious metal rose. Yen-denominated futures on Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average expiring in  June closed at 9,730 in Chicago on April 1, compared with 9,710 in Osaka,  Japan. They were bid at 9,720 in the pre- market in Osaka at 8:05 a.m. local  time. The Bank of New York Mellon Japan ADR Index fell 1.4 percent in New  York yesterday. Futures on Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.2 percent  today and New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index climbed 0.1 percent in Wellington. “There may be some buying in resource-related shares,” said Fumiyuki  Nakanishi, a strategist at Tokyo-based SMBC Friend Securities Co.  “However, there may not be clear moves today, and we expect the market  to fluctuate.” Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.1 percent today. The  index closed little changed yesterday, with most stocks rising as optimism  about takeovers outweighed a drop in technology shares following a report  showing lower chip sales. Oil, Gold Crude oil for May delivery advanced gained 0.5 percent to $108.47 a barrel  on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest settlement since  Sept. 22, 2008. Prices are up 28 percent from a year ago. Gold futures for June delivery rose 0.3 percent to close at $1,433 in New  York, the third gain in four sessions. The metal has jumped 27 percent in  the past year. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 1.2 percent this year through yesterday,  compared with gains of 6 percent by the S&P 500 and 1.6 percent by the  Stoxx Europe 600 Index. Stocks in the Asian benchmark are valued at  13.2 times estimated earnings on average, compared with 13.7 times for  the S&P 500 and 11.3 times for the Stoxx 600. In Tokyo, Sumitomo Light Metal Industries Ltd., a producer of rolled  aluminum products, may be active today after the company and  Sumitomo Corp., Itochu Corp., Furukawa-Sky Aluminum Corp. and Itochu  Metals Corp. said they will jointly acquire Arco Aluminum Inc. for $680  million from BP Plc. Sumitomo Light Metal surged 10 percent to 106 yen  yesterday. In Sydney, Rio Tinto Group may be active today after Nomura International  Ltd. said the world’s second-largest mining company by sales may double  a share buyback plan to $10 billion after purchasing $800 million of its stock,  or 16 percent of the program announced in February. Rio shares gained  0.8 percent to A$85.50 yesterday. --Editors: John McCluskey, Sam Waite. source: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-04-04/japan-australian- stock-futures-rise-as-oil-gold-prices-gain.html