BUSINESSNEWS
VALUE
VALUE
VALUE
VALUE12
12MTH
CURRENCY
ATSTART
ATEND
CHANGE
%CHANGE
MTHSAGO
%CHANGE
CNY
6.248
6.270
0.0222
0.36
6.06
3.46
€
0.8815
0.8913
0.0098
1.11
0.7376
20.84
Yen
117.77
119.31
1.53
1.30
102.51
16.39
UK£
0.6630
0.6497
-0.0133
-2.01
0.6119
6.18
Period:Week5-9
13
INTERNATIONAL
ANDSPECIALIZED TRANSPORT
■
MARCH 2015
Continued rally
high, eclipsing theprevious
one set in1999, and the
Nikkei 225grew6.36% to a
15-year high.
Cranemanufacturingwas
pulledalongby this,with the
IC
Share Indexmanaging
tooutstrip thegainsof the
mainstream indexeswitha
7.76% rise invaluebetween
weeks 5and9.All the
companieswhichmakeup
the Index saw their shareprices
rise invalue inFebruary, and
manymanufacturers enjoyed
double-digit gains.
This all seemed tobe
aproduct of thegenerally
buoyant economicoutlook.
Themain component of
this is the lowoil price,which
is expected tobe a significant
Crane
manufacturers’
shares continued
to rally inFebruary,
against theusual
seasonal run of
things. CHRIS
SLEIGHT reports
stimulant to economies
around theworld, particularly
those likeEuropewhichare
net importersof oil and
where energy costs are
relativelyhigh.
Stimulation
Akey forEurope is the
quantitative easing (QE)
announcedby theEuropean
Central Bank in January; this
should stimulate the economy
andhas already triggered
depreciation in theEuro.
This isoneof the reasons
why shares for companies
headquartered in theEuro zone
havebeenparticularly strong
this year. It has also lifted share
indicators in the currencybloc,
includingGermany’sDAXand
France’sCAC40.
As it stands, thesepositives
seem tobeoutweighing the
negatives that doggedmarkets
last year.
It remains tobe seenhow
these factorsplayout this
year.While the fall inoil
prices is generallypositive
formajordeveloped economies
suchasEurope, Japanand the
USA, it isnot universal good
news andwill cause aproblem
for countrieswhich relyon
oil andother energy exports.
Obvious examples include the
Organisationof Petroleum
ExportingCountries (OPEC),
andRussia,whichwas
already suffering the impact
of sanctions.
So it remains tobe seen
whether the economic and
sharepricegrowthwill be
sustained, ornegativenews
will burst thebubble.
■
A
round late January
or earlyFebruary it
is common for share
prices to take a sharpdip,
following the rallywhich
usually starts in the run-up to
the endof the previous year.
It often seems asmuchdue
tohumanpsychology as hard
economic data, as the ‘feel
good factor’ ofChristmas and,
perhaps, the incentive of
year-endbonuses, sees share
prices rise, only for them to
tumble in January.
The trendhas yet to
materialise,with shareprices
continuing to climb through
January andFebruary. In
February theDowwas up
4.58%,while theFTSEgained
2.05% to set anew record
MARCH ICSHARE INDEX
EXCHANGERATES – VALUEOFUS$
PRICE
PRICE
PRICE
%
PRICE12
12MTH
STOCK
CURRENCY ATSTART ATEND CHANGE CHANGE MTHSAGO %CHANGE
IC
Share Index*
68.05 73.33
5.28
7.76
63.65
15.21
Legacy ICShare Index**
329.89
364.27
34.38
10.42
393.23
-7.37
DowJones Industrial Average
17417
18214
798
4.58
16273
11.93
FTSE 100
6808
6948
139
2.05
6804
2.11
Nikkei 225
17674
18798
1124
6.36
14841
26.66
Hitachi ConstructionMachinery YEN
2202
2213
11
0.50
1974
12.11
Konecranes
€
26.90
30.93
4.03
14.98
25.54
21.10
KobeSteel
YEN
208
236
28
13.46
139
69.78
Liugong
CNY
10.29
11.35
1.06
10.30
5.81
95.35
Manitowoc
US$
19.24
22.11
2.87
14.92
30.98
-28.63
Palfinger
€
22.78
26.05
3.27
14.35
29.06
-10.36
SanyHeavy Industry
CNY
8.14
8.52
0.38
4.67
5.75
48.17
Tadano
YEN
1431
1549
118
8.25
1319
17.44
Terex
US$
23.04
27.37
4.33
18.79
44.14
-37.99
XCMG
CNY
11.87
13.50
1.63
13.73
6.95
94.24
YongmaoHolding
SGD
0.14
0.20
0.07
48.15
0.21
-4.76
Zoomlion
CNY
6.12
6.26
0.14
2.29
5.00
25.20
*
IC
Share Index, 1 Jan2011 = 100
**Legacy
IC
Share Index, endApril 2002 (week 17) = 100
