Asian stocks lower after Wall Street tumble
Asia's markets were mostly lower on Thursday as dealers followed a fall on Wall Street, after the US Federal Reserve kept interest rates on hold to support the fragile economy.
Hong Kong led the way down, losing 2.52 percent on selling stoked by the Fed's cautious reading of the economic picture and liquidity concerns ahead of the opening of a new board on the mainland.
US stocks tumbled Wednesday as investors reacted to the Federal Reserve announcement that it would maintain its stimulus effort to support a fragile economic recovery.
The Fed, ending a two-day policy meeting, acknowledged in a statement that the US economy is emerging from prolonged recession but maintained its near-zero interest rate and trillion-plus dollar effort to support the recovery.
TOKYO: Up 1.67 percent. The Nikkei-225 gained 173.68 points to 10,544.22.
Dealers returned from a five-day break in an upbeat mood, heartened by the better-than-expected domestic data showing exports outstripped imports for a seventh-straight month.
Investors had feared a further appreciation of the yen while Japanese markets were shut from the close of trade on Friday through Wednesday, Daiwa Securities analysts wrote in a memo to clients.
Tokyo Electron gained 5.7 percent to 5,900.
Banking shares fell after Financial Services Minister Shizuka Kamei reiterated he was considering allowing delays of debt repayments by small businesses.
HONG KONG: Down 2.52 percent. The Hang Seng Index finished down 544.79 points at 21,050.73.
The firm closed at 5.61 dollars, 11.7 percent below its initial public offering price of 6.35.
HSBC lost 2.3 percent to 88.70 Hong Kong dollars, contributing 74.99 points to the broader index's decline. ICBC fell 2.8 percent to 5.89 and Bank of Communications dropped 4.1 percent to 9.52.
SYDNEY: Down 0.69 percent. The S&P/ASX 200 fell 32.9 points to 4,701.2.
Lower commodities prices and the strong Australian dollar affected resources stocks, while the US Federal Reserve's move to keep stimulus measures in place to maintain a shaky recovery also hit sentiment, dealers said.
The big banks were mixed with ANZ falling 0.38 percent to 23.49 dollars, Commonwealth unchanged at 50.00 and Westpac 1.03 percent higher at 25.56.
BHP Billiton dropped 1.64 percent to 37.72 while Rio Tinto was off 1.33 percent at 60.92.
SHANGHAI: Up 0.38 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A and B shares, was up 10.83 points to 2,853.55.
Hopes of a rally before the week-long National Day holiday starts next week fuelled demand. The Chinese Communist Party will celebrate the 60th anniversary of its rule on October 1.
China Merchants Bank rose 2.6 percent to 14.98 yuan and China Citic Bank ended up 4.1 percent at 5.57 yuan. China Vanke, the country's largest property developer by market value, jumped 2.9 percent to 10.86 yuan.
SEOUL: Down 1.03 percent. The KOSPI lost 17.59 points at 1,693.88.
Samsung Electronics fell 2.1 percent to 803,000 won. Hynix Semiconductor dropped 1.2 percent to 20,600 won.
TAIPEI: Down 0.71 percent. The weighted index dropped 52.54 points to 7,324.22.
The market opened slightly lower and stayed in negative territory during much of the trade but was lifted by bargain-hunting.
Plastics led the decline, shedding 3.63 percent. Textiles fell 1.50 percent, financials were down 0.99 percent and electronics lost 0.67 percent.
Formosa Plastics lost 3.63 percent to 63.8. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co fell 2.41 percent to 60.8.
SINGAPORE: Down 0.69 percent. The Straits Times Index fell 18.51 points to 2,667.43.
DBS fell 18 cents to 12.96 dollars and United Overseas Bank eased eight cents to 16.64.
Property shares were mixed, with CapitaLand gaining two cents to 3.70 but Keppel Land lost three cents to 2.65.
BANGKOK: Down 0.27 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand was off 1.98 points to close at 728.54.
KUALA LUMPUR: Flat. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index lost 1.01 points, or 0.08 percent, to 1,218.06.
OilCorp slid 28.3 percent to 0.19 ringgit as gaming giant Genting was down 1.6 percent at 7.19 ringgit.
JAKARTA: Up 0.48 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index gained 11.91 points to 2,468.9.
Telkom jumped 4.2 percent to 8,750 rupiah, while rival Indosat gained 1.8 percent to 5,600.
Car distributor Astra International shed 1.2 percent to 31,800 rupiah on profit-taking.
MANILA: Down 0.18 percent. The composite index lost 5.17 points to 2,837.34.
Philippine Long Distance Telephone fell 0.41 percent to 2,395 pesos while Metro Pacific Investments was unchanged at 3.30 pesos.
WELLINGTON: Down 0.56 percent. The NZX-50 dropped 17.49 points to 3,130.42.
Of the market leaders, Telecom rose one cent to 2.62 dollars and Contact Energy was three cents up at 5.76. Fletcher Building dropped 18 cents to 8.31.
SkyTV rose six cents to 4.74, Mainfreight rose 10 cents to 5.25 but Auckland Airport was down two cents to 1.85.
MUMBAI: Up 0.37 percent. The 30-share Sensex index finished 61.93 points higher at 16,781.43.
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