The Tokyo Stock Exchange is closed today and the MSCI Asia Pacific regional index excl. Japan is growing by 0,5% in the early afternoon in Hong Kong. The highest progress was recorded in Taiwan, although the reasons are perplexing: the finance minister has said that government-controlled investment funds should buy shares when prices fall. This equity dirigisme may please the markets but it is certainly not an example to follow.
The shares of companies producing rare earths such as the Australian Lynas Corp. made a leap on the markets. The largest mine located in Malaysia is about to start up, but even here there are doubts about these leaps: the prices of rare earths are going down, precisely because of the increases in supply. China Rare Earth Holdings Ltd in Shanghai has made progress, but only because the Chinese government has announced subsidies to companies producing rare earths (China is the world's largest producer).
The euro progresses towards 1,29 despite the tensions over the EU budget (which, moreover, are part of the ritual) and the yen remains weak, above the 82 mark, pending the elections in three weeks.
