|
Asian markets end mixed; Financials advance on U.S initiative to unclog credit markets
Mixed trading was witnessed among the major markets in Asia-Pacific region on Thursday, with markets in Japan, Taiwan and South Korea drifting lower while markets in Australia, China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Indonesia ended higher.
In Asian trading, crude oil advanced $0.87 a barrel to $49.01 in electronic trading, after closed down $1.02 at $48.14 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Wednesday.
The stock market in Japan ended lower on Thursday, notwithstanding the U.S. Federal Reserve's announcement to pump in an incremental $1.2 trillion to revive the U.S. economy. Exporters fell as the local currency gained sharply against the US greenback denting the value of export proceeds realized in local currency and impacting the bottomline.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index, which opened strongly above the 8,000 mark following Wall Street cues, gave up the early gains and slipped into negative territory on concerns about the stronger local currency. Although the index recouped some of its losses in the afternoon, it still ended lower by 26.21 points or 0.30% at 7,496. The broader Topix Index of all First Section issues remained flat at 765 with a gain of 0.10 points.
Among major exporters, Casio Computers plunged 13.81% and Fujitsu decreased 6.45%. Sharp lost 1.51% and Sony Corp declined 0.90%. However, Canon advanced 1.32%. Automakers ended weak. Toyota Motor lost 2.15% and Honda Motor declined 3.04%. The Nikkei business daily reported that Toyota has decided to recruit about 1,800 full-time employees in fiscal 2009, half the level of hiring planned for the current fiscal year, in an attempt to cut fixed costs amid the global sales slump.
Banking stocks continued to post gains following the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to buy long-dated Treasuries. Mitsubishi UFJ, Japan's biggest bank moved up 2.30%, Sumitomo Mitsui soared 5.36%, Mizuho Financial added 1.46% and Resona Holdings gained 2.52%.
Oil-related stocks ended mixed. While Inpex rose 2.55%, Nippon Oil closed down 0.43% and Showa Shell declined 0.12%.
Trading houses ended higher. Mitsubishi Corp advanced 0.74%, Itochu gained 1.56%, and Sumitomo Corp. added 1.22%.
Toshiba advanced 1.16% following the announcement that it has tapped Senior Executive Vice President Norio Sasaki as its new president. Under the new president, the company plans to accelerate streamlining of its chip and other operations in order to return to profitability in fiscal 2009.
Aeon, Japan's second-largest retailer, gained 1.80%. The company said Wednesday that it will revamp its merchandising and pricing strategies in an effort to revive earnings. The company will slash its product numbers by 40% and lower the price on 3,400 offerings.
In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index advanced 0.98% or 33.90 points to 3,480, and the broader All Ordinaries Index gained 32.20 points, or 0.95% to close at 3,417.
On the economic front, the Australia Bureau of Statistics or ABS data showed that sales of new motor vehicles in Australia fell 3.5% in February month-on-month to 73,190 vehicles, and dropped 18.6% on year. Another ABS report revealed that Australia's housing starts in the fourth quarter was down 9.9% quarter-on-quarter. Further, the value of Australia's merchandise imports declined 4.0% in February to A$16.58 billion from last month.
Among banking stocks, Commonwealth Bank of Australia advanced 3.84%, Westpac Banking added 2.59% and National Australia Bank gained 1.62%. Investment bank Macquarie Group surged 8.71%.
Resource stocks ended mixed. Index leader BHP Billiton added 0.55% as metal prices firmed and the company announced the sale of $3.25 billion in bonds. However, Rio Tinto declined 4.23%, extending Wednesday's losses, as political opposition grows to its $19.5 billion tie-up with Chinese state-owned firm Chinalco.
Gold miners ended higher as futures price of Gold for April delivery surged more than 5.5% following Fed announcement. Sino Gold soared 6.96%, Lihir Gold advanced 5.50% and Newcrest Mining gained 5.48%.
Among energy stocks, Woodside Petroleum gained 1.79%, while Santos and Oil Search declined 0.26% and 0.39% respectively.
In the retail sector, David Jones surged up 5.19% and Woolworths advanced 0.72%, while Coles' owner Wesfarmers declined 1.39%.
Telstra shed more than 2.3% on huge volumes following reports that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission alleged that the phone company had unfairly restricted access to its telephone line facilities and will seek penalties.
In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index managed to end in the green with a gain of 13.75 points, or 0.10% at 13,131. The Index, having opened 88 points higher on positive cues from Wall Street, drifted down on profit taking amid volatile trading in a broad range of 12,948 to 13,205, but managed to end higher, led primarily by china-related shares.
China -related shares advanced the most during the session. Wholesaler Citic Pacific increased 12.55%, Espirit Holdings rose 7.02%, China Resources added 1.92%, China Merchants Holdings advanced 3.96% and New World Development Company gained 6.09%.
Among financials, HSBC Holdings is down 2.81%, and Bank of Communications declined 1.52%. ICBC remained unchanged while Bank of China lost 0.42%. However, Hang Seng Bank managed to gain 0.39%.
Telecom stocks ended weak, with Hutchison Whimpoa losing 0.87% and China Mobile declining 2.06%. However, Tencent Holdings gained 2.31% after the Internet, mobile telecommunications service provider reported better-than-expected Q4 and full year results on Wednesday.
Aluminum Company of China, or Chalco, gained 4.61%, Petrochina added 2.02% and CNOOC ended higher by 1.22%. Insurance stocks advanced, with Ping An Insurance gaining 3.62% and China Life adding 2.04%.
In Seoul, the benchmark KOSPI index drifted down and ended 8 points or 0.70% lower at 1,162. After opening strongly on Wall Street cues, the market declined steadily as investors booked profit in blue-chip stocks and stronger local currency led exporters to drag the index down, despite a minor recovery in mid-day.
South Korea's Presidential office, at the conclusion of a special presidential council meeting on economic crisis, said that the Government is planning to spend an additional 4.9 trillion won, equivalent to $3.54 billion, for creating an additional 550,000 new jobs in the country in an effort to spur the economy. Meanwhile, a government report revealed that the jobless rate in South Korea rose to 4.0% during February, from 3.9% reported for January.
KB Financial, the holding firm of Kookmin Bank, declined 5.31% and Shinhan Financial Group shed 1.16%. However, Woori Finance remained unchanged from the previous close.
Shipbuilders ended weak. Hyundai Heavy Industries is down 1.04%; Samsung Heavy Industries lost 0.99%, and Daewoo Shipbuilding declined 1.68%%. Technology stocks declined on profit taking. LG Electronics declined 5.41%, LG Display ended lower by 4.01% and Hynix Semiconductor shed 0.92%.
Among the other markets, China's Shanghai Composite Index advanced 1.89% or 42.03 points to 2,266; Singapore's Strait Times Index gained 8.92 points, or 0.57% to 1,585; Taiwan's Weighted Index declined 11.61 points or 0.23% to 5,036; and Indonesia's Jakarta Composite Index advanced 18.77 points, or 1.42% to 1,342. |