Asia Pacific share market declined on first trading session of the week, Monday, 15 June 2015, as fears of a Greek debt default weighed on investor sentiments.
The market fears of a Greek debt default and possible exit from the euro currency bloc revived after a breakdown in talks between Greece and its European creditors over the weekend. No further talks with the Greek government are planned until a meeting of eurozone finance ministers on Thursday, leaving the two sides little time to reach an agreement before a deadline for a eurozone portion of Greece's 245 billion euro bailout on 30 June 2015 the same day Greece faces a 1.6 billion euro payment to the International Monetary Fund.
Investors also have an eye on a two-day policy meeting by Fed officials starting Tuesday. The Federal Open Market Committee will wrap up a two-day meeting on Wednesday followed by a news conference by Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen. Investors are monitoring closely to see if the Fed will give clearer signs of going ahead with a rate increase later this year following a set of brighter economic data
Among Asian bourses
Nikkei falls on Greek jitters
Japanese share market closed down in volatile trade on Monday, 15 June 2015, as weak finish of the Wall Street on Friday and downbeat reports over Greece's debt negotiations with its creditors helped drag investors risk sentiments significantly lower. The Nikkei Stock Average declined 19.29 points, or 0.09%, to end at 20387.79, off the intraday low of 20205.10. The Topix index of all Tokyo Stock Exchange First Section issues increased 0.03%, or 0.44 point, to close at 1651.92.
Shares of export-related companies mostly down after yen slightly appreciated against the dollar amid tension over unfruitful Greek debt talks and the U.S. central bank's looming decision on monetary policy. Among blue-chip exporters- Panasonic Corp fell 0.7%, Seiko Epson Corp 1.9%, and Nissan Motor Co 0.6%. TDK lost 1.8%, while Tokyo Electron fell 1% and Fuji Heavy Industries slipped 1.3%.
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Most of oil-related shares also fell as crude futures slipped; Inpex dropped 1.6% and JX Holdings fell 1.5%.
Honda Motor Co fell 0.7% after confirming that the death of a Honda driver in Louisiana was due to a defective airbag made by Takata Corp.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries lost 1.1%on reports that the company planned to launch reorganization which potentially costing up to $1.2 billion.
Isuzu Motors advanced 1.8% on reports that it will join General Motors Co in the latter's return to the U.S. medium-truck market under the Chevrolet brand.
ANA Holdings Inc gained 1%on reports the carrier was laying groundwork to start nonstop air service between Tokyo and Mexico City
Australia market falls on weak commodity stocks
The Australian share market closed softer on the first trading session of the week, as losses in energy, resources, and bullion stocks were more than offset by gains elsewhere. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 6.50 points, or 0.12%, to 5538.80, while the broader All Ordinaries Index decreased 10.60 points, or 0.19%, to 5541.50. Market turnover was relatively healthy, with 1.75 billion shares changing hands worth of A$3.9 billion.
Materials and resources stocks were also weak, with iron ore producer Fortescue Metals Group falling 0.8% to A$2.44 and gold miner NewCrest Mining lost 3.3% to A$13.09, while Rio Tinto added 0.3% to A$57.29 and BHP Billiton rose 0.1% to A$27.92. Shares of Arrium stumbled 6.3% to A$0.15 after debt-laden steel and mining group flagged potential major asset sales, downgraded earnings guidance and said it expects to book a A$320 million write-down as lower iron ore prices batter its mining business.
Energy-related players declined sharply after losses for crude-oil futures. Oil Search declined 2.7% at A$7.52, Woodside Petroleum 2.9% to A$35.67 and Santos 2.6% to close at A$8.12. Uranium extractor Energy Resources of Australia plunged 25.4% to A$0.50 after losing nearly half its value in the previous session on news it was cancelling a key project.
Shares of Ten Network fell 1.9% to A$0.26 amid news Foxtel was buying 15% of the company and that Ten planned to raise further funds through the issue of new shares.
China market tanks on margin tightening, IPO woes
Mainland China share market finished the session sharply lower, as risk aversion selloff triggered after Beijing's latest ruling on margin financing and as lack of progress on a Greek debt deal. Also, sentiment was cautious ahead of fresh wave of IPOs this week. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index tanked 103.36 points, or 2%, to 5062.99.
China Securities Regulatory Commission said investors need to have a minimum daily balance of 500000 yuan ($80000) securities assets in the last 20 trading days to take margin loans. The securities regulator also said the size of margin finance balance at each broker may not exceed four times of their net capital.
The tightening adds stress to a market already facing liquidity pressure from a prospective wave of 25 initial public offerings this week, which estimated to lock up 5.7 trillion yuan ($918 billion) of liquidity.
Reflecting investor unease, $5.1 billion was pulled out of a single China A-share ETF in the week to June 10, accounting for more than half the outflows from emerging market equity funds during the period, according to EPFR data.
Shares of phone and technology companies suffered heavy losses in Beijing, with Leshi Internet Information & Technology (Beijing) Co., the biggest mainland-listed Internet video provider, down 7.5%. Beijing Shiji Information Technology Co. fell by the 10% daily limit, while ZTE Corp., China's second-biggest phone-equipment maker, decreased 5.7%.
Hong Kong market ends 1.53% softer
The Hong Kong stocks got off to a slow start to the week, Monday, 15 June 2015, with most sectors losing value as fears of a Greek debt default weighed on investors sentiments. The Hang Seng Index declined 418.73 points or 1.53% to finish at 26861.81, off an intra-day high of 27131.36 and day low of 26841.52. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, benchmark measure of performance of mainland China enterprises, sank 361.24 points, or 2.58%, to 13622.76 points. Turnover reduced to HK$116.5 billion from HK$131.5ion on Friday.
Hong Kong listed Chinese brokerage shares fell sharply after the China's securities regulator banned firms from "facilitating" over-the-counter financing activities. CRRC Corp declined 5.1%, Southwest Securities International 6%, Haitong International Securities Group Co 4.8%, Shenwan Hongyuan H.K. 5.2%, Citic Securities Co 1.6%, and Huatai Securities Co 2%. However, Guotai Junan International Holdings bucked the trend to surge 4.3% after it announced a bonus issue of two shares for every share investors hold.
CRCC (01766) dipped 5% after Morgan Stanley lowered its rating to "underweight". Other railways stocks were also pressured. China Railway (00390) fell 5.4% and China Comm Cons (01800) retreated 4%.
Belle (01880) slid 7% after the company reported its May-quarter footwear business SSS sales down 7.8%.
Hong Kong Exchange & Clearing dropped 3% after Shenzhen-HK Connect talks failed to materialise. China Securities Regulatory Commission's international committee member Anthony Neoh said the Shenzhen-HK Connect program may kick off by 1 October.
Crocodile (00122) plunged 31% after its chairman halted negotiation with the potential purchaser regarding the possible sale of stake.
Nifty settles above 8000 level
Indian benchmark indices register modest gains on the first trading session of the week today after data showing acceleration in industrial production growth and easing of food price inflation and expectations that above-average monsoon rain will improve the odds for further monetary policy easing from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) helped key benchmark indices register modest gains on the first trading session of the week today. But, benchmark indices pared gains during the latter part of the trading session after extending intraday gains in mid-afternoon trade as fears about possible Greek default pulled European stocks lower. The S&P BSE Sensex rose 161.25 points or 0.61% to settle at 26,586.55. The Nifty rose 31 points or 0.39% at 8,013.90.
Auto stocks were in demand. Tata Motors rose after reporting data on global wholesale volumes for May 2015. Shares of Vedanta fell while those of Cairn India edged higher after Vedanta and Cairn India yesterday, 14 June 2015, announced that Cairn India will be merged with Vedanta. FMCG stocks were mixed. Auto stocks were in demand. Bank stocks declined. Shares of state-run banks Punjab National Bank and Bank of India hit 52-week low.
Telecom stocks gained after reports Vodafone has increased pre-paid data tariff for 2G and 3G services in Delhi-NCR by up to 47% and MTS hiked rates of post-paid data pack by 8%. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) extended previous session's gains triggered by the company's chairman Mukesh Ambani announcing at the company's annual general meeting (AGM) that Reliance Jio Infocomm will start commercial 4G telecommunication services around December 2015.
The data released by the government on consumer price inflation and wholesale price inflation for May 2015 showed easing of food price inflation. The tempered food-price pressures suggest that concerns of a spike in prices following damage to crops due to untimely rains in February and March as well as forecasts of below-normal rainfall are proving to be exaggerated. Meanwhile, data released by the government after trading hours on Friday, 12 June 2015, showed that industrial production (IIP) rose at an accelerated pace of 4.1% in April 2015 over a year ago compared with the revised growth of 2.5% in March 2015.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold Indian shares worth a net Rs 672.83 crore into the secondary equity market during the previous trading session on Friday, 12 June 2015, as per data from the depositories. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 705.58 crore on Friday, 12 June 2015, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.
Elsewhere in the Asia Pacific region: Taiwan's Taiex index fell 0.5% to close at 9259.48. South Korea's KOSPI dropped 0.5% to 2042.32. New Zealand's NZX50 lost 0.5% to 5819.97. Singapore's Straits Times index declined 0.9% at 3323.13. Malaysia's KLCI decreased 0.7% to 1722.16. Indonesia's Jakarta Composite index slipped 2% to 4837.79.
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