Press Releases

Sydney, Mar 26, 2010 (ABN Newswire) - Wall Street Thursday closed with little change after the market trimmed its early gains. US stocks rose for most of the session, but in the afternoon the market declined as falls in crude oil future hit the energy shares. Higher metal price could help the Asian markets Friday to offset some negative sentiment that cut gains on Wall Street. Asian bourses ended mixed Thursday while fiscal concerns in euro zone persist. Hong Kong and Shanghai markets lost more than 1 per cent each. However, Japan's Nikkei 225 Average added 0.1 per cent, South Korea's Kospi rose 0.4% and Taiwan's Taiex finished 0.2% higher.

Company News

Japan's Nippon Steel Corp (TYO:5401) decided to raise the April contract price for H-beams, which are mainly used as steel frames in buildings and factories, by a record high of just over 20 percent on the month to around 80,000 yen a ton. The price increase comes after Japan's major steelmakers accepted a 55 per cent hike in the price of coking coal from BHP Billiton (ASX:BHP) for the April-June quarter. The Japanese steel industry relies on BHP Billiton for around 20 percent of its coking coal needs.

Japanese trading firm Itochu Corp (TYO:8001) will buy a 15 percent stake for 8.5 billion yen in London-based mining company Kalahari Minerals Plc (LON:KAH), in a move to secure supply of uranium for Japan. Kalahari holds a 40 per cent interest in Australia's Extract Resources Limited (ASX:EXT), which is the sole stakeholder in Rossing South uranium project in Namibia. The deal will give Itochu an effective stake of 6 percent in Rossing South.

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (SHA:601398) (HKG:1398), the world's biggest lender by market value, said it plans to sell up to 25 billion yuan in convertible bonds to shore up capital. It will not need to do further fundraising in the next three years after this planned bonds sale. Yesterday the bank posted a 16% rise in 2009 net profit to 128.65 billion yuan, up from 110.84 billion yuan a year earlier. The bank also said this year it aims to increase its total assets by 12 per cent, or 1.43 trillion yuan, down from a 21 per cent surge in 2009.

Contact

Michelle Liang Asia Business News Asia Bureau Tel: +61-2-9247-4344 Email: michelle.liang@abnnewswire.net