Monday, June 23, 2014

Monday Newsline:Asian Shares Rise;GE Acquires Alstom Power;Michelle Wie Champion

Asian shares rose Moday,but trimmed their early gains as trading progressed,with the CNBC 100 ASIA IDX falling from an 0.24% gain down to an 0.13 rise.The Hang Seng index,for instance,had been up 0.25,but even slipped into negative territory,down 0.11%.India's Nifty Fifty futures were down 0.32%.
The CNBC 100 ASIA IDX was lifted by a strong ASX 200 as Australians were reassured by robust commodity prices,with both NYMEX and Brent crude futures appreciating on the Iraq crisis,and copper and aluminium markets being cheered by the flash HSBC China PMI Index,which showed expansion of Chinese manufacturing for the first time in six months.The index registered 50.8 in June versus 49.4 for the final May reading.A reading of 50 or above means increased factory activity.
South Korea's KOSPI was up 0.35% on the strength of Samsung Electronics' good showing.*
The S&P futures presaged a positive morning for US stocks,with the S&P futures up 0.25%.This follows on a record high for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones indexes on Friday.
One factor in play this morning is General Electric's succussful 17.6 billion dollar bid for the power assets of the French company Alstom,beating out the German conglomerate Siemens.This was in part due to several trips to Paris by GE CEO Jeff Immelt to sell the deal to French authorities.*
In sport,American Michelle Wie,24,long one of the star players of LPGA golf,finally achieved the milestone of winning her first major championship Sunday as she took the US Women's Open at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina.It was the end of a long quest by the tall Stanford graduate and onetime wunderkind to meet the high expectations which were set for her.She clinched the national trophy with a two under par 70 on the rigorous Donald Ross Pinehurst #2 course.She now has won a total of four LPGA tournaments,her popularity with the media and her colleagues tending to exceed her actual career accomplishments until this point.*
General Electric(GE),Samsung Electronics Ltd(OO5930:Korea SE)

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