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PanAust Limited (PNA) entered a trading halt Friday, pending what it said was a proposed acquisition. The South-East Asian gold and copper producer said, vaguely, that the acquisition was in a different time zone and likely to be completed.

Macarthur Coal Limited (MCC), as has been widely covered in the press, today officially confirmed it would lodge a bid for Gloucester Coal. The coal miner said it had today lodged with ASIC its off-market takeover offer for all of the shares in Gloucester Coal and its Bidder’s Statement in relation to that offer and has served these documents on Gloucester. Last year the company launched a $710 million takeover of Gloucester The miner last year launched a friendly share-based takeover offer for Gloucester and also struck a deal to buy the out the remaining 25.3% of the Middlemount coal project for $207 million from Noble Group.

Aquila Resources Limited (AQA) has recorded a net loss for the six months to 31 December 2009 of $12.4 million, widening from the $1.1 million loss in the previous corresponding period. Despite revenue for the company increasing to $75 million from $56 million, the company reported EBITDA for its flagship Isaac Plains coal mine had halved to $15 million. The coal miner also reported record sales tonnage of nearly 1.5 million tonnes of coal, against just 662,614 tonnes in the previous corresponding period, however at a lower selling price for its product.

On the last day of reporting season local shares edged 0.3% higher at lunch, on the back of a string of upbeat earnings from blue chip companies. The move into positive territory came as a surprise to many following a negative lead from Wall Street where at one stage the market was down around 2% following worse-than-expected jobs data.

The All Ords was up 7.4 to 4,622.3, while the ASX/200 added 11.5 to 4,605.6. Over 1.1 billion shares worth around $3.6 billion had changed hands.

The Banks and Financials sector was 0.2% higher, with ANZ the standout among the big four banks, its shares rose 58c, or 2.6% to $22.83 after announcing a better-than-expected four month result of $1.6 billion profit.

NAB was close behind, up 55c, or 2.2% to $25.24, while the CBA and Westpac were little changed.

Over among the insurers, QBE countered with a 7.2% slump in profit to $21.34. QBE announced a modest 6% increase in net profit to just under $2 billion, below expectations.

AMP rose 9c, or 1.5% to $5.95, while Macquarie Group drifted 21c lower to $44.99.

Property Trusts gained 0.6%, led by sector heavyweight Westfield which rose 16c, or 1.4% to $11.97.

Despite heavy losses in base metals prices overnight in London, an uptick in the US commodity outlook helped our Materials and Resources sector to a 0.6% gain.

BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto were up 1.2% and 1.1% to $40.93 and $70.17 respectively, while Australia’s third-largest iron ore producer Fortescue also added 1.1%.

The gold miners bounced back from yesterday’s heavy sell-off. Lihir Gold was up 9c, to $2.67, while Newcrest put on 69c, or 2.2% $31.44.

Energy stocks were more mixed, with the sector down 0.5% as it paced a decline in crude oil prices.

Sector major Woodside tacked on 23c, or 0.5% to $43.33.

Whitehaven continued its volatile run, down 25c, or 5.3% to $4.63 as it struggles to find fair value. Its shares were trading as high as $5.33 on Monday, and $4.45 the prior Monday.

Origin Energy shares rose 28c, or 1.7% to $16.78. Many of the larger broking houses kept a neutral view of the stock, although with a higher target price than being currently seen.

Oil Search and Santos were both down around 1%.

Among Consumer Staples stocks Woolworths rallied 91c, or 3.6% to $26.36. The retailer announced a $400 million share buyback plan this morning.

Wesfarmers dipped 0.2%. Coca-Cola was 1.3% stronger.

The sector was 1.1% stronger, while among the Consumer Discretionary sector, it was also a mixed bag.

Harvey Norman outperformed on what was a generally disappointing day for the retailers.

It shares rose 7c, or 1.9% to $3.84 after announcing a 59% climb in half yearly net profit to $158 million for the six months to 31 December. In a reminder of how strong 2007 was, Harvey Norman’s profit then was $230 million.

Meanwhile Billabong lost 33c, or 3.2% to $10.06.

Crown shares rose 12c, or 1.5% to $7.95. The gamer reported a profit of $115.3 million.

Elsewhere, Fairfax was down 4.5c, or 2.7% to $1.65.

The sector dipped 0.3%.

The Industrials sector was 0.2% lower. Toll lost 20c, bringing its two day losses to 21.6%.

Leighton tacked on 52c, or 1.4% to $37.99, while MAP was up 8c to $3.13.

The normally popular Bradken slumped 29c, or 4.3% to $6.42.

Media group Salmat surged 7.7%.

Telstra gave up some of yesterday’s gains. Its shares were down 4c, or 1.3% to $2.97. The broader Telecommunications sector was down 0.8%.

Utilities giant AGL Energy rose 3.6% to $14.29 after reporting its underlying profit had climbed 22% in the six months to 31 December.

The sector rallied 2.2%.

Around the region, the Nikkei 225 was up 18.9 to 10,120.9, while the NZSE50 rallied 1.1 to 3,150.6. The Straits Times Index dipped 4.6 to 2,744.5.

Spot gold was trading at US$1,107.70 per ounce, while the Aussie was buying US$0.8885.

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AGK underlying profit climbs 22%
AGL Energy said its statutory post-tax profit was down 88.9% to $183.7 million for the six months to 31 December 2009. At the same time, AGL has reaffirmed full-year earnings guidance for underlying NPAT of between $390 million to $420 million despite mild temperatures in southern states.

At midday, AGL Energy shares were trading up 47c to $14.27.

Harvey Norman posts $158m HY profit
Harvey Norman this morning said its profit for the half-year to 31 December had soared 59% to $158 million, although remained well down on the $230 million profit in 2007. Profit for the half-year to 31 December had climbed 46.8% to $237.77 million, the company said.

Half way through the day, Harvey Norman shares were trading up 9c to $3.86.

Crown back in black
Crown said its profit for the six months to 31 December 2009 had jumped 128.1% to $115.3 million, with revenue remaining steady at $1.19 billion. Last year the group posted a $409.7 million loss on the back of asset write downs, especially in the US market.

By midday, Crown shares were trading up 15c, to $7.98.

QBE earnings disappoint, shares slump
QBE Insurance Group posted a modest 6% increase in net profit to $1.97 billion for the year ended 31 December 2009. QBE said that the strengthening Aussie dollar and continued low interest rates had adversely impacted the company’s reported profit, and would continue to do so.

By noon, the result disappointed investors with the share price slumping $1.67 to $21.33.

Woolworths HY10 profit tops $1bn
Woolworths reported a post-tax profit up 11.4% to $1.095 billion for the 27 weeks to 3 January 2010. The retailer also announced it would recommence its capital management program, investing $400 million in a share buyback.

At midday, Woolworths shares were trading up 88c to $26.33.  

ANZ 4 month profit hits $1.6bn, up 16%
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group this morning reported a 16% jump in post-tax profit for the six months to 31 January of around $1.6 billion, 16% higher than the previous corresponding period. At the same time the New Zealand stock exchange said that the bank there had requested a trading halt pending a material announcement.

Half way through the day, ANZ shares were trading up 57c to $22.82.

AGL Energy Limited (AGK) said its statutory post-tax profit was down 88.9% to $183.7 million for the six months to 31 December 2009. At the same time, AGL has reaffirmed full-year earnings guidance for underlying NPAT of between $390 million to $420 million despite mild temperatures in southern states.

Last year’s statutory profit of $1.65 billion was boosted by assets sales, with underlying post-tax profit for the half-year ended 31 December 2009 of $234.8 million, up 22.0%.

Managing director Michael Fraser said that the growth in the company was underpinned by strength in the retail business, which had seen an increase in both customer numbers and customer profitability.

“Importantly, we are on track to meet our full-year guidance of $390 million to $420 million and are well placed to continue to grow through a combination of organic growth and acquisitions.”

Looking ahead AGL said that although it expected that any privatisation of electricity assets in NSW would not happen before this financial year, it remained ‘interested’ in evaluating assets for sale.

Looking at the numbers for its key Retail Energy division, operating EBIT was $183.5 million, up 25.9% on the prior corresponding period.

Importantly, AGL said, dual fuel customers grew by 76,500, or 6.2% to 1.32 million.

”Now 40.9% of AGL’s customer accounts source both electricity and gas from AGL,” the company said.

The board declared a dividend of 29c per share, up from 26c per share in the previous corresponding period.

At 1145 AEDT, AGL Energy shares were trading up 49c to $14.29.

Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (HVN) this morning said its profit for the half-year to 31 December had soared 59% to $158 million, although remained well down on the $230 million profit in 2007. Profit for the half-year to 31 December had climbed 46.8% to $237.77 million, the company said.

In yet another measure, net profit from its underlying business operations was $171 million, up 38.4% from the previous corresponding business.

Meanwhile, total revenue in the half was $1.31 billion.

Chairman Gerry Harvey said he was pleased with our extremely solid result and we are determinedly optimistic about the remainder of the 2010 financial year.

”The franchising operations segment continued to be the main driver of performance as seen by our franchising operations margin increasing to 6.7% from 5.8% in the HY Dec 2008,” Mr Harvey added.

Mr Harvey also highlighted the recent announcement that it had teamed up with IKEA to build a 72,000 square metre home maker centre at Springvale in Melbourne, expected to open in the first quarter of 2012.

This would to the conglomerates 265 current stores, covering brands such as Domayne and Joyce Mayne.

As the board declared a dividend of 7c per share, up from 5c per share in the previous period, Gerry Harvey said the company was well placed for the future.

At 1125 AEDT, Harvey Norman shares were trading up 9c to $3.86.

Crown Limited (CWN) said its profit for the six months to 31 December 2009 had jumped 128.1% to $115.3 million, with revenue remaining steady at $1.19 billion. Last year the group posted a $409.7 million loss on the back of asset write downs, especially in the US market.

However, taking out these non-recurring items, Crown's normalised net profit for the six months rose 3% to $145 million.

CEO Rowen Craigie was subdued in welcoming the results saying they were ‘satisfactory’.

Commenting on its two Australian casinos, Burswood and Crown Melbourne Mr Craigie said it was a tale of two halves.

”While we started the half strongly, our domestic casino operations were adversely impacted later in the half due to a softening of consumer confidence and a greater than expected impact of refurbishment works at the two properties,” Mr Craigie said.

Meanwhile this year, main floor gaming revenue had grown by around 3% on the previous corresponding period, with non-gaming revenue up around 7%.

Solid levels of VIP Commission play were achieved across the two casinos, assisted by Chinese New Year,” Crown said.

Crown also said that it remains committed to the Melco joint venture and had not had any negotiations with any party in relation to this invesment.

”Crown sees long term potential for growth in the Macau market given its exposure to China,” Crown said.

At 1105 AEDT, Crown shares were trading up 19c, to $8.02.

QBE Insurance Group Limited (QBE) posted a modest 6% increase in net profit to $1.97 billion for the year ended 31 December 2009. QBE said that the strengthening Aussie dollar and continued low interest rates had adversely impacted the company’s reported profit, and would continue to do so.

The result disappointed investors with the share price slumping 7.2% to $21.34.

However, QBE CEO Francis O’Halloran still struck an upbeat, if cautious tone.

”The 2009 result was an excellent achievement considering the difficult economic conditions,” Mr O’Halloran said. ”We are confident about our prospects for maintaining our underlying underwriting profit.”

While saying that organic growth would remain low due to subdued prices and competition the insurer would aim to increase its customer retention and increase premiums by an average of 2%.

Meanwhile, QBE said it expected 3% growth in Gross Written Premiums (“GWP”).

Looking at its earnings figures,  QBE’s net earned premium, climbed 10% to $12.15 billion from $11.09 billion.

The board declared a final dividend of 66c cents a share, up from 65c ccents a year earlier.

Woolworths Limited (WOW) reported a post-tax profit up 11.4% to $1.095 billion for the 27 weeks to 3 January 2010. The retailer also announced it would recommence its capital management program, investing $400 million in a share buyback.
 
CEO Michael Luscombe said it was a strong result given the economic challenges of the prior year and the significant decline in food inflation, with now over 3,500 prices lower than one year ago.

Looking ahead, the retailer said the second half of the year was expected to be impacted by low price inflation and the cycling of the government stimulus packages.

Woolworths also said macroeconomic influences such as petrol prices and interest rates would be telling factors when forecasting the full year bottom line.

The company said it expected overall sales to grow in the upper single digits, not including petrol sales, in FY10.

“We also expect that EBIT will continue to grow faster than sales in FY10. We also expect net profit after tax for FY10 will grow in the range of 8% to 11%,” Woolworths said.

Looking at the previous half year, including petrol the retailer said sales were $27.2 billion, around $1 billion per week, up 4.2% from the previous corresponding period.

“Our Balance Sheet and Cash Flow remain strong” Mr Luscombe said.

“We were one of the few major Australian companies that did not raise equity during the recent financial crisis.”

Looking across its divisions, Food and Liquor – and including petrol – performed strongly with sales increasing by $1.160 billion or 6.8% to $18.143 billion, although increasing at a slower rate than the previous corresponding period.

Across its liquor franchises including BWS and Dan Murphy’s, sales totalled $3.1 billion.

Petrol sales, however, declined 9.5% to $2.8 billion.

Globally, consumer electronics sales rose 5.9% to just under $1 billion for the six months.

The owner of such brands as Dick Smith’s and Tandy said it was continuing to invest in store refurbishments and new stores with 47 new stores planned by June 30.

”This sales result was achieved against a background of cycling the benefits from the first government stimulus package in December 2008,” the company said.

The board declared an interim dividend of 53c, totalling $657 million, or 10.4% higher than the previous corresponding period.

At 1022 AEDT, Woolworths shares were trading up 44c to $25.89.

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) this morning reported a 16% jump in post-tax profit for the six months to 31 January of around $1.6 billion, 16% higher than the previous corresponding period. At the same time the New Zealand stock exchange said that the bank there had requested a trading halt pending a material announcement.

In its trading update, the bank said that looking ahead, the ‘new normal’ would be lower economic growth compared to the last 10 years.

ANZ CEO Mike Smith said the outlook for the economies of Australia, New Zealand and Asia is significantly more positive than at the same point in 2009.

”The improved conditions are reflected in a more positive outlook for provisions,” Mr Smith said.

“The economic cycle is unfolding much as we anticipated although the resilience of the economy in Australia now means that we are unlikely to see the stress that might originally have been expected in the consumer portfolio.”

Mr Smith did however say that it was right to be cautious, saying that the problems with European sovereign debt showed volatility was still present in the market

Turning to the current results ANZ said the growth in underlying post-tax profit came from higher earnings in core business and lower provisions despite softer Global Markets income and the deleterious effects of a stronger Australian.

Meanwhile, credit provisions, the banks provisions for bad loans, was down 9% on the previous corresponding period, and 35% below the FY09 average, the bank said.

”A small number of existing large exposures are continuing to be monitored where additional provisioning may be required,” the bank cautioned.

Overall, the provision charge for the full year was currently expected to be modestly higher than that implied by the first 4 months total of $0.67 billion.

The proforma Tier One ratio at 31 January 2010 was 10.4% with a core Tier One ratio of around 8.3%.

Elsewhere, group lending growth was slightly up, with growth in mortgages and credit cards offset by lower demand in corporate and institutional and the continued repositioning of the institutional book.

At the close Thursday, ANZ shares were trading at $22.25.

US stocks were well below the gain line for most of the session on concerns about Greece’s debt and US economic data. However, the market trimmed losses in afternoon trading.

Concerns about Greece’s debt burden were triggered by news that ratings agencies S&P and Moody’s might have to cut their rating on the country’s debt barring austerity measures such as reduced spending to reduce the deficit.

Looking to US macroeconomic picture, the number of Americans filing new unemployment claims jumped last week to 496,000 from a revised 474,000 the previous week. The disappointing result also pressured markets throughout the day.

Against this, durable goods order rose by a better than expected 3% in January after rising 1.9% in the previous corresponding period. However, excluding transportation order the result was worse than expected, down 0.6%.

Looking to the equity markets, by the end of the session the Dow Jones was down 53.13 points, or 0.51% to 10,321.03. The blue chip index was as low as 10,189 during the day.

The S&P 500 was down 2.31 points or 0.21% to 1,102.93 and the NASDAQ lost 1.68 points or 0.08% to 2,234.22.

In company news Coca-Cola said it would buy the North American operations of its biggest bottler, Coca-Cola Enterprises in an effort to cut costs and gain control of distribution. Coca-Cola Enterprises jumped 32.9%, while Coca Cola shed 3.7%.

The Coca-Cola company's acquisition of the assets and liabilities of CCE`s North American business includes consideration of Coca-Cola’s current 34% equity ownership in CCE, valued at US$3.4 billion. In addition, consideration includes the assumption of $8.88 billion of CCE debt.

PepsiCo, which is looking to complete a deal to buy its largest bottlers, was up 0.1%.

Among technology stocks, Palm said it expects revenue to fall far below current forecasts due to worse-than-expected sales of its new smartphones. Its shares plunged 19.3%, while rival blackberry marker Research in Motion slid 0.5%.

Among banks Citigroup was off 1.7% and JPMorgan slid 0.5%, while Bank of America added 1.4%.

NYMEX light crude oil for April delivery fell US$1.96 to US$78.04 a barrel.

Exxon Mobil lost 0.6%, while Chevron was down 0.3%.

COMEX gold for April delivery rose US$7.80 to US$1,105 per ounce.

European Markets

Stocks in Europe were sold, with investors moving to the sidelines as Greek debt woes, US unemployment and consumer confidence worries play out.

The UK benchmark FTSE 100 gave up 64.69, or 1.21% to 5,278.22. The German DAX lost 83.18, or 1.48% to 5,532.33, while the French CAC40 retreated 74.91 or 2.02% to 3,640.77.

UK banking heavyweight Barclays retreated 1%, however RBS and Lloyds more than made up for the loss, with gains of 6.2% and 2.6% respectively.

RBS, Britains largest government owned bank, posted better than expected earnings figures.|

In Germany Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank gave 2% and 0.6%.

Meanwhile, Hays, Britain largest recruiter tumbled more than 8% on disappointing earnings in a challenging job market.

British American Tobacco, slumped a more subdued 2.3% after it too missed earnings estimates.

German chemicals giant BASF added 1.1%.

Pipe maker Tenaris sank 12% after Goldman Sachs pulled its ‘buy’ recommendation for the stock following weak earnings.

Miners were weaker, with the price of base metals sliding in London. BHP Billiton and Aussie peer Rio Tinto were down 2.1% and 3.3% respectively.

Energy stocks also slumped. StatoilHydro was 3.2% weaker, while in London BP and Royal Dutch Shell both lost 1.5% and BG Group slumped 2.9%.

Japanese Market

The Japanese index, which is very sensitive to the movement of its currency, gave up ground Thursday as the Yen strengthened to one-year highs against the euro. The strength of the Yen means overseas earnings in this export focused economy are less when repatriated back into domestic currency.

The Nikkei 225 lost 96.87, or 0.95% to 10,101.96.

Mizuho Financial, a major bank in Japan, was the most heavily traded stock, lost 0.6%.

Its larger rival, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, eked out a 0.2% gain, the only stock in the top ten, by volume, to see a gain.

Sony Corp, which earns most of its income in foreign markets, gave up 2.1%. Panasonic lost 1.9% and Hitachi retreated 1.3%.

Among the autos, Honda, Nissan and Toyota retreated 1.1%, 1.7% and 0.2% respectively.

The Baltic Dry Index, a measure of shipping stocks, fell for the first time in seven days, hurting the shippers.

Kawasaki Kisen slumped 3.3%, while Nippon Yusen retreated 1.5%. Merchant fleet giant Mitsui OSK was 1.2% weaker.

Nippon Steel was 0.3% below the line, however it was the glass makers which faced the biggest losses on the Topix.

Nippon Sheet Glass was 2.5% cheaper. Asahi Glass Co gave up 3.3%.

Hong Kong Markets

The usual suspects talked about for the other global indexes also contributed to a fall, including US consumer confidence, jobs and Greek debt. However, property stocks, strong all week, capped losses.

The Hang Seng lost 68.17, or 0.33% to 20,399.57.

The banks were mixed. Bank of China retreated 2.1%, while ICBC was 0.9% below the line.

HSBC on the other hand, advanced 0.8%, Bank of Communications advanced 0.6%.

State owned Sino Land rallied an impressive 4.5%. Sun Hung Kai Properties, which we have followed all week, continued to extend gains, this time up 1%.

Foxconn International, the world’s biggest contract maker of mobile phones, retreated 3.6%.

Among the shippers, Cosco Pacific, which has shipping operations in Greece, gave up 0.3%.

BYD, the car maker backed by Warren Buffet gave up 3.3%. Geely Automobile was down 0.8%.

Cnooc, the off-shore oil producer, was 1% weaker, while Petrochina was 1.3% below the line.

US stocks were well below the gain line for most of the session on concerns about Greece’s debt and US economic data. However, the market trimmed losses in afternoon trading.

Concerns about Greece’s debt burden were triggered by news that ratings agencies S&P and Moody’s might have to cut their rating on the country’s debt barring austerity measures such as reduced spending to reduce the deficit.

Looking to US macroeconomic picture, the number of Americans filing new unemployment claims jumped last week to 496,000 from a revised 474,000 the previous week. The disappointing result also pressured markets throughout the day.

Against this, durable goods order rose by a better than expected 3% in January after rising 1.9% in the previous corresponding period. However, excluding transportation order the result was worse than expected, down 0.6%.

Looking to the equity markets, by the end of the session the Dow Jones was down 53.13 points, or 0.51% to 10,321.03. The blue chip index was as low as 10,189 during the day.

The S&P 500 was down 2.31 points or 0.21% to 1,102.93 and the NASDAQ lost 1.68 points or 0.08% to 2,234.22.

In company news Coca-Cola said it would buy the North American operations of its biggest bottler, Coca-Cola Enterprises in an effort to cut costs and gain control of distribution. Coca-Cola Enterprises jumped 32.9%, while Coca Cola shed 3.7%.

The Coca-Cola company's acquisition of the assets and liabilities of CCE`s North American business includes consideration of Coca-Cola’s current 34% equity ownership in CCE, valued at US$3.4 billion. In addition, consideration includes the assumption of $8.88 billion of CCE debt.

PepsiCo, which is looking to complete a deal to buy its largest bottlers, was up 0.1%.

Among technology stocks, Palm said it expects revenue to fall far below current forecasts due to worse-than-expected sales of its new smartphones. Its shares plunged 19.3%, while rival blackberry marker Research in Motion slid 0.5%.

Among banks Citigroup was off 1.7% and JPMorgan slid 0.5%, while Bank of America added 1.4%.

NYMEX light crude oil for April delivery fell US$1.96 to US$78.04 a barrel.

Exxon Mobil lost 0.6%, while Chevron was down 0.3%.

COMEX gold for April delivery rose US$7.80 to US$1,105 per ounce.

European Markets

Stocks in Europe were sold, with investors moving to the sidelines as Greek debt woes, US unemployment and consumer confidence worries play out.

The UK benchmark FTSE 100 gave up 64.69, or 1.21% to 5,278.22. The German DAX lost 83.18, or 1.48% to 5,532.33, while the French CAC40 retreated 74.91 or 2.02% to 3,640.77.

UK banking heavyweight Barclays retreated 1%, however RBS and Lloyds more than made up for the loss, with gains of 6.2% and 2.6% respectively.

RBS, Britains largest government owned bank, posted better than expected earnings figures.|

In Germany Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank gave 2% and 0.6%.

Meanwhile, Hays, Britain largest recruiter tumbled more than 8% on disappointing earnings in a challenging job market.

British American Tobacco, slumped a more subdued 2.3% after it too missed earnings estimates.

German chemicals giant BASF added 1.1%.

Pipe maker Tenaris sank 12% after Goldman Sachs pulled its ‘buy’ recommendation for the stock following weak earnings.

Miners were weaker, with the price of base metals sliding in London. BHP Billiton and Aussie peer Rio Tinto were down 2.1% and 3.3% respectively.

Energy stocks also slumped. StatoilHydro was 3.2% weaker, while in London BP and Royal Dutch Shell both lost 1.5% and BG Group slumped 2.9%.

Japanese Market

The Japanese index, which is very sensitive to the movement of its currency, gave up ground Thursday as the Yen strengthened to one-year highs against the euro. The strength of the Yen means overseas earnings in this export focused economy are less when repatriated back into domestic currency.

The Nikkei 225 lost 96.87, or 0.95% to 10,101.96.

Mizuho Financial, a major bank in Japan, was the most heavily traded stock, lost 0.6%.

Its larger rival, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, eked out a 0.2% gain, the only stock in the top ten, by volume, to see a gain.

Sony Corp, which earns most of its income in foreign markets, gave up 2.1%. Panasonic lost 1.9% and Hitachi retreated 1.3%.

Among the autos, Honda, Nissan and Toyota retreated 1.1%, 1.7% and 0.2% respectively.

The Baltic Dry Index, a measure of shipping stocks, fell for the first time in seven days, hurting the shippers.

Kawasaki Kisen slumped 3.3%, while Nippon Yusen retreated 1.5%. Merchant fleet giant Mitsui OSK was 1.2% weaker.

Nippon Steel was 0.3% below the line, however it was the glass makers which faced the biggest losses on the Topix.

Nippon Sheet Glass was 2.5% cheaper. Asahi Glass Co gave up 3.3%.

Hong Kong Markets

The usual suspects talked about for the other global indexes also contributed to a fall, including US consumer confidence, jobs and Greek debt. However, property stocks, strong all week, capped losses.

The Hang Seng lost 68.17, or 0.33% to 20,399.57.

The banks were mixed. Bank of China retreated 2.1%, while ICBC was 0.9% below the line.

HSBC on the other hand, advanced 0.8%, Bank of Communications advanced 0.6%.

State owned Sino Land rallied an impressive 4.5%. Sun Hung Kai Properties, which we have followed all week, continued to extend gains, this time up 1%.

Foxconn International, the world’s biggest contract maker of mobile phones, retreated 3.6%.

Among the shippers, Cosco Pacific, which has shipping operations in Greece, gave up 0.3%.

BYD, the car maker backed by Warren Buffet gave up 3.3%. Geely Automobile was down 0.8%.

Cnooc, the off-shore oil producer, was 1% weaker, while Petrochina was 1.3% below the line.