Asian markets managed to trade higher today despite lingering global concerns

Asian markets managed to trade higher today despite lingering global concerns on rising oil price and the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.

In Hong Kong, stocks rose for the fourth time in five days as financials gained and BYD Co surged after receiving a business license from the Chinese authorities for a joint venture with Daimler AG.

ICBC, the world’s largest lender by market value rose 0.8%. Evergrande Real Estate Group Ltd, a Chinese developer jumped 3.2% after reporting that full year profit may have increased.

Japanese shares were also trading higher today, led by the telecommunications sector, which rose 2.6 per cent. The Nikkei followed the lead from Wall Street overnight.

In Australia, the stockmarket traded on a tight range for most of the day before gaining some momentum in the afternoon.

It’s really more the global issues and developments that are proving to be a dampener on the local market.

This week, I think there are more downward pressures on the market. The US recovery is still patchy and fragile. Then you have the oil price rising and the Middle East situation. All these are creating uncertainties among investors.

We are seeing some investors selling into the rallies. This means they are cutting their long positions and maybe moving into safe haven assets like gold.

At the moment, it’s the energy and materials sectors propping up the market. But we see some softness in finance and the utilities sector, which is offsetting any gains from other areas.

Gold and oil stocks are definitely benefitting from the rise in the prices of those commodities. We may see gold hit a high of $1,500 if the global uncertain continues.