Asian Stocks Rise; Australian Benchmark Shrugs Off Election Morass
Asian stock benchmarks moved higher on Monday as the Australian market shrugged off inconclusive Federal elections.
Saturday elections yielded no majority for any of the parties, raising the prospect of a hung parliament. Incumbent Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, of the conservative Liberal Party, said on Sunday there may be no clear outcome for several days. The Liberal Party and coalition partner the National Party had 67 seats, with the Australian Labor Party holding 71, according to the Australian Electoral Commission.
Towards the end of the trading day the S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.67% at 5,281.80. The Australian dollar recovered from early losses and was recently up 0.11% against the U.S. dollar, at 75.06 cents. The Reserve Bank of Australia is seen likely to leave the cash rate untouched at 1.75% at tomorrow's meeting.
In Tokyo the Nikkei 225 was up 0.60% at 15,775.80 and the Topix was also up 0.60% at 1,261.97.
In Hong Kong the Hang Seng was up 1.40% at 21,085.25 and on mainland China the CSI 300 climbed 1.59% to 3,204.30.
S&P 500 mini futures were up 0.33%. The U.S. market is closed on Monday for Independence Day.
Silver surged and gold also rose. Silver was recently up 4.99% at $20.57 an ounce.
Silver Mines (SLVH) was recently up almost 18% in Sydney.
Also in Sydney Rio Tinto (RIO) - Get Report was up 3.8%. The company said it had sold its Blair Athol mine for a symbolic A$1 (75 cents) to TerraCom. The mine ceased production in 2012. Anglo-Australian peer BHP Billiton (BHP) - Get Report was up 2.3%.
West China Cement (WCHNF) was down 25% in Hong Kong as investors got their first chance to react to news that a merger with the larger Anhui Conch Cement had fallen through. Anhui Conch was recently up almost 1%. The companies said conditions for the deal, including government approvals, hadn't been met by a June 30 deadline.
FTSE 100 futures were up 0.64%. The U.K.'s Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne told the Financial Times he wanted to cut corporate tax rates to 15% from 20%, a deeper cut than previously planned, in the wake of Britain's vote to leave the European Union.
Brent crude was up 0.58% at $50.64 per barrel.