Asian markets open on Wednesday session stronger, rebound from yesterday’s sell off, as US stocks recovered on speculation that the $ 700 billion bailout package can still be passed through congress.

Few Asian markets are shut today. Singapore, Indonesian and Malaysia markets are closed for the Eid holidays. The Chinese and Hong Kong markets are closed for the national day holidays. Hong Kong will reopen on Thursday while China will reopen next Monday.

Japan’s Nikkei gained 1.24% or 139.74 points at 11,399.60. Taiwan’s Taiwan Weighted surged 0.97% or 55.56 points at 5,774.84. However, South Korea’s Seoul Composite was down 0.68% or 9.9 points at 1,438.16.

Asian markets are trading mostly higher barring a few. China’s Shanghai Composite is trading up 7.32% at 2227.079, KLSE Composite is trading up 3.43% at 1025.70, Japan’s Nikkei 225 is trading up 1.98% at 12156.90, NZSE 50 is trading up 2.27% at 3259.536, South Korea’s Seoul Composite is trading up 0.17% at 1458.22 and Taiwan’s Taiwan Weighted is trading up 1.25% at 6045.28.

Among the losers, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is trading down 0.87% at 19159.65 and Singapore’s Straits Times is trading down 0.31% at 2551.08.

Asian markets open strong, financials rally post Fannie, Freddie news; Taiwan up 5.5%, Hang Seng up 4.5%, Kospi up 4.4%, Straits Times up 3.8%, Nikkei up 3.5%. Emerging Markets like Brazil up 1%, Russia down 3.7%, Chile down 0.64%. CBOE VIX down 4% at 23.06. Dow Jones & Nasdaq futures have rallied with more than 2% gains each.

Breaking News on Sunday: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac to be taken over by regulator. US markets recover from days low helped by financial stocks after reports that Blackstone & KKR looking to buy stake in Lehman Brothers & crude cools further. Dow Jones ends up 32.7 points at 11221; recovers 185 points from days low. Nasdaq ends down 3.16 points at 2256; recovers 40 points from days low.

Crude Oil ends down 1.5% at $ 106.4/bbl helped by strong dollar on Friday. Crude oil trading up 2.5% at $ 108.7/bbl in today’s trade as Hurricane Ike delayed restoration of output in the Gulf of Mexico. Gold gains $ 16 at $ 819/ounce. Crude oil down 7.8% last week. Dollar gained around 0.5% Vs basket of trade-weighted currencies, up 3% this year. Yen depreciates by 1.5% at 108.33/$ 1.

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac to be taken over by regulator. Federal Housing Finance Agency to manage companies temporarily. Plans to purchase mortgage-backed securities from firms in open market. Bernanke says that the move will help strengthen housing & financial markets. Fannie-Freddie own/guarantee $ 6 trillion of outstanding home mortgage debt. Fannie, Freddie have together run up losses of $ 14 billion over past 4 quarters.

Mike Huckman of CNBC reports that Wall Street was focused on the American consumer this week now begins today with a report on consumer credit. Analysts expect their credit or consumer debt to have risen by at least USD 8.5 billion in August as shoppers use their credit cards more to buy the basics like food and gasoline.

With personal debt rising, more Americans have been denied loans for new homes, so look for Tuesday’s report on pending home sales in the US to fall by 1%. Later this week, we could see a decline in producer prices, a measure of wholesale inflation; companies that make the things that American buyers are starting to see their commodity costs come down but so far they are not passing those savings along to cash trapped consumers.

Billboard Magazine celebrates 50 years of tracking the word’s music sales with a weeklong celebration. Billboard kicks things off with a list of the most number one songs recorded by an artist. A list currently topped by the Beatles.

Global Mkts Last Week
MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 6.7%, biggest slump since Aug 2007. Nikkei fell 6.6%, Kospi index down 4.7%, Hang Seng down plunged 6.3% to close below 20,000 for the first time since April 2007, Thailand’s SET Index down 5.7% after Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej declared a state of emergency. Measure of 6 metals traded on LME dropped 6.5%. BHP Billiton down 11% & Rio Tinto down 14%, after metal and crude oil prices tumbled. Cnooc, China’s largest offshore oil explorer, lost 13%.

US Economic Data:
Unemployment rate rises to 6.1% at 5-year high, higher than expectations.
Nonfarm payrolls fell by 84,000 in Aug, in-line with expectations.

Data To Watch
UK Ind Production Data
UK PPI Aug
UK NIESR GDP Estimate

US markets ends down on renewed concerns about financial sector from JPMorgan, UBS, Goldman Sachs, overshadowing decrease in the trade deficit. Dow Jones ends down 140 points at 11642.5 while Nasdaq ends down 9.5 points at 2430.6. Financials sector fall over 5% post concerning comments from UBS, JPMorgan. Asian markets open in the red, Nikkei down 2.2%, Shanghai down 1.4%, Hang Seng, Kospi, Straits Times down 1%. EMs; Russia up 3.6% after President Dmitry ordered a halt to the military operation in Georgia, Chile down 0.26%, Brazil down 0.4%. CBOE VIX ends up 5.2% at 21.17.

Commodities/ Currencies:

Crude oil falls below $113/bbl during yesterdays trading session; settles down 1% at around $113/bbl. Gold lose around 1.5% at $15/ounce. Yen appreciates by 1.5% at 108.6/$1 after Japan’s economy shrank fanned concerns of global slump.

US stocks in news:

JPMorgan Chase disclosed that trading conditions have deteriorated compared to the 2Q, spreads on mortgage-backed securities have widened, causing $1.5 bn loss since July. Oppenheimer, Deutsche Bank & Credit Suisse cuts Goldman Sachs earnings estimates. Wachovia reported a wider 2Q net loss in its SEC filing than was first reported.

US economic news:

June trade balance unexpectedly narrowed, fell to $39.1 bn from $43.1 bn in May.

Global news:

Japan 2Q GDP shrank 0.6% (QoQ). Japans 2Q shrank 2.4% (YoY) after expanding 3.2% in 1Q (YoY). UK Inflation rate at 4.4% in July Vs central bank’s upper target rate of 3%.

Data to watch:

US Import Price Index
US Retail Sales
UK BoE Inflation Letter
UK Jobless Claims

US markets end higher after a range bound session; Dow gained 52 pts

US markets bounced back from the prior session’s slide, led by techs and materials. Technology shares rebounded with Intel and Apple posting gains of over a percent.

Alcoa was the top gainer where as financials like Bank of America, UBS and Morgan Stanley skid.

In economic news, initial jobless claims fell by 18,000  to 365,000 last week. Wholesale inventories fell by 0.1% in March, the first drop since December 2006, while sales jumped 1.6%.

The Dow gained 52 points to close at 12,866. While the Nasdaq gained 13 points and shut at 2,451. The S&P 500 also gained 5 points and shut shop at 1,398.

Asian mkts trading negative; Nikkei down 0.91%

Asian markets were trading negative in the morning session today. Japan’s Nikkei was down 0.91% or 127.58 points at 13,815.68. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.16% or 40.78 points at 25,409.01. Taiwan’s Taiwan Weighted plunged 0.27% or 24.15 points at 8,842.47. South Korea’s Seoul Composite declined 0.98% or 18.14 points at 1,829.86. Hpwever, Singapore’s Straits Times was up 0.13% or 4.01 points at 3,175.89. China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.73% or 26.86 points at 3,683.70.