Trading in regional market started with firm footing, thanks to fresh record high finish of Wall Street overnight, boosted by petroleum-linked equities and hopes Donald Trump's tax reform could see the light of day after House Republicans set a September 25 target to release an outline plan. All three major U.S. stock indexes the Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P 500 index and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index hit new closing highs in New York trading Wednesday.
But stocks met with selling to lock in profits after raft of weaker-than-expected Chinese economic data, as retail sales, manufacturing and investments figures for August all came in below forecasts. China posted its slowest growth in fixed-asset investment in nearly 18 years along with weaker-than-expected industrial output and retail sales on Thursday, suggesting the economy may be starting to lose steam as lending costs rise. National Statistics Bureau data showed that fixed-asset investment, a key growth driver for the world's second-largest economy, grew 7.8% in the first eight months of the year, the weakest pace since December 1999 and cooling from 8.3% in the January-July period. Factory output also disappointed, rising only 6% in August from a year earlier, the weakest pace in nine months, up from 6.4% in the previous month. Retail sales also confounded market expectations, rising 10.1% in August from a year earlier, the softest in six months and cooling from 10.4% in July.
Among Asian bourses
Nikkei falls for first time in four sessions
The Japan share market closed down for first time in four straight sessions, as investors cashed in on recent gains and early buying sentiment following fresh records on Wall Street overnight fizzled out. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 0.29%, or 58.38 points, to 19,807.44 while the broader Topix index lost 0.32%, or 5.20 points, to 1,632.13. Falling issues outnumbered rising ones 1,231 to 683 in the TSE's first section, while 114 issues were unchanged. Volume inched up to 1.66 billion shares from Wednesday's 1.60 billion.
Export-linked issues were major drag, hurt by halt in yen depreciation against greenback. A strong yen can hit the profitability of Japanese exporters and tends to drive their stock prices down. Sony dropped 3.44% to 4,230 yen while Nintendo lost 0.26% to 37,670 yen.
Energy stocks rose on tracking rises in their US peers on expectations for higher demand for crude. Oil explorer Inpex gained 0.84% to 1,078.5 yen while Japan Petroleum climbed 0.99% to 2,131 yen.
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Toshiba fell 4.53% to 316 yen after announcing it had picked a consortium led by US investor Bain Capital as the leading candidate to buy its prized chip business.
Furukawa Electric rose 2.80% after disclosing a plan Wednesday to double its fiber optics production capacity by the end of March 2020.
Textile maker Nisshinbo Holdings fell 9.83% after posting a maximum-allowable single-day gain Wednesday.
Australia Market dips for second day; Miners plunge
Australian equity market finished session down for second straight session, dragged down by materials and resources stocks after China, the country's biggest trade partner, reported weaker than expected factory data for August, and as metal prices extended losses. However, better-than-expected jobs growth helped to limit losses. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 finished the day down 5.6 points, or 0.1%, at 5,738.7 points.
Material stocks were the biggest drag on the index, as copper prices fell to three-week lows and nickel slumped 5.2% on Wednesday. BHP Billiton eased 1.8% to A$26.89, Rio Tinto backtracked 1.6% to A$68.38, and South32 slipped 0.9% to A$3.20 as it went ex-dividend.
Firmer oil prices sent energy heavyweight Woodside Petroleum 0.8% higher to A$28.54, meanwhile Santos climbed 1% to to A$3.94.
Banks and financials were also higher. Among the major banks ANZ rose 0.5% to A$30.19, Westpac put on 0.3% at A$31.82, Commonwealth Bank improved 0.3% to A$76.75, and National Australia Bank was up 0.7% to A$30.94.
Department store operator Myer ended the day 1.4% higher at 73 cents after its full-year financial results (FY17 )were not as bad as many analysts had feared. MYR saw total sales down 2.7% to $3.2 billion and net profit slump to $11.9 million, sliding 80% on the year before.
Vocus Goup edged up 1 cent to A$2.42 despite a proposed class action alleging the telecommunications provider had engaged in "misleading and deceptive conduct" and breached disclosure obligations.
Macquarie Atlas Roads remains in a trading halt after announcing it was acquiring a further stake in French toll-road operator APRR to a total holding of 25% in that company. The acquisition will be partly funded by A$450 million entitlement offer and additional A$223 million debt facility. Macquarie Atlas last traded at A$5.53.
China Stocks fall on profit booking
The Mainland China equity market closed lower, as investors cashed in recent profit after soft August activity and spending data rekindled worries the world's second largest economy. Most sectors lost ground in the morning, with material and energy shares leading the retreat. But developers rose after data showed real estate investment growth picked up pace again in August. The Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.4%, or 12.72 points, to 3,371.43, while the CSI 300 - which tracks the large caps listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen - eased 0.3%, or 12.65 points, to 3,829.96. The Shenzhen Composite Index edged down 0.1%, or 1.45 points, to 1,993.53, while the Nasdaq-style ChiNext dropped 0.5%, or 9.18 points, to 1,879.25.
Stocks in Chinese cement makers surged on expectations that strained supply and a pickup in construction activity will drive up product prices in the coming months. Huaxin Cement jumped by the 10% daily allowed limit to 14.87 yuan in Shanghai. Gansu Qilianshan Cement Group advanced 6% to 11.49 yuan and Jiangxi Wannianqing Cement added 5.3% to 8.80 yuan.
China posted its slowest growth in fixed-asset investment in nearly 18 years along with weaker-than-expected industrial output and retail sales on Thursday, suggesting the economy may be starting to lose steam as lending costs rise. National Statistics Bureau data showed that fixed-asset investment, a key growth driver for the world's second-largest economy, grew 7.8% in the first eight months of the year, the weakest pace since December 1999 and cooling from 8.3% in the January-July period. Factory output also disappointed, rising only 6% in August from a year earlier, the weakest pace in nine months, up from 6.4% in the previous month. Retail sales also confounded market expectations, rising 10.1% in August from a year earlier, the softest in six months and cooling from 10.4% in July.
Steel output hits record in August- China produced a record amount of steel in August, National Statistics Bureau data showed on Thursday, as mills in the world's top producer boosted production to take advantage of rising prices despite rigorous environmental inspections across the country. Mills in the world's largest steelmaker churned out 74.59 million tons of the construction material in August, up 8.7% on a year earlier and just beating July's previous monthly record of 74.02 million tons. In the first eight months of the year, steel output totalled 566.41 million tons, up 5.6% from the same period in 2016.
The Chinese currency renminbi, or yuan, declined against the U.S. dollar, as the central bank lowered its official guidance to its weakest level in nearly two weeks. the People's Bank of China (PBOC) lowered its official yuan midpoint for the third session in a row to 6.5465 per dollar, the weakest level since Sept.4. The midpoint was 83 pips or 0.13% weaker than Wednesday's fix of 6.5382, reflecting a softer spot yuan a day earlier and broad dollar moves overnight. In the domestic spot market, the yuan opened at 6.5472 per dollar and was changing hands at 6.5450 at midday, only 3 pips weaker than the previous late session close and 0.02% softer than the midpoint.
Hong Kong Stocks down after soft China economic data
The Hong Kong stock market finished session lower for a second day in row, as investors' risk sentiment downbeat after the release of weaker-than-expected Chinese monthly retail-sales and industrial-output data. The Hang Seng Index fell 0.4%, or 116.88 points, to 27,777.2, while the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, known as the H-share index, was down 0.8%, or 85.93 points, at 11,101.14. Turnover increased to HK$96.5 billion from HK$89.5 billion on Wednesday. Only 12 blue chips rose, among the 50, and 36 fell, with two remaining steady.
Want Want (00151) rose 2.8% to HK$5.43 making itself the best blue-chip perfromer. China Mobile (00941) was the worst blue-chip loser today, falling 1.7% to HK$80.85.
Banks stocks declined, with China Construction Bank down 1%, ICBC shedding 0.9% and Bank of China giving up 0.7%.
Carmakers stocks also met with selling after rally early this week. BYD slid 4%, Geely Auto dropped 1.7% and Greatwall Motor fell 1.1%.
Mainland Chinese property developers bucked the downward trend on the back of solid half-year results. Country Garden rose 5.3% to a five-year high, after rallying 34% in the last month. Sunac China increased 2.8% to an all-time high, and China Overseas was up 1.3%.
Hengan (01044) also gained 2.3% to HK$69.3 after BOCOM Research raised its target price to HK$74 from HK$63. Mengniu Dairy (02319) jumped 2.3% to HK$20.15. Morgan Stanley has upgraded its rating for the stock from "equal-weight" to "overweight", with a higher target price of HK$24, up from HK$14.6 previously.
Apple's iPhone component suppliers were higher. Sunny Optical Technology (02382) put on 3.3% to HK$128.1. AAC Technologies (02018) edged up 0.5% to HK$142. FIH Mobile (02038) advanced 1.2% to HK$2.55.
Indian Market settles with small gains
Key benchmark indices ended a volatile trading session with small gains. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 55.52 points or 0.17% to settle at 32,241.93. The Nifty 50 index advanced 7.30 points or 0.07% to settle at 10,086.60. The Sensex has risen for the sixth straight session.
Pharma stocks surged with the S&P BSE Healthcare index topping the BSE's 19 sectoral indices. Bank stocks edged higher. Jubilant FoodWorks advanced after the company reassured that all its food ingredients are safe for consumption. Reliance Communications dropped after the Indian unit of Sweden's Ericsson has filed insolvency petitions against RCom and two of its subsidiaries before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in Mumbai.
State-run Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) rose 3.66% at Rs 137.40 after report suggested that the company and Kawasaki will make rolling stock for the country's first bullet train from Ahmedabad to Mumbai. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese PM Shinzo Abe laid the foundation stone for Rs 1.1 lakh crore bullet train project today, 14 September 2017. Railways Minister Piyush Goyal said that PM Modi wants the train to start a year ahead of schedule, on 15 August 2022, when India completes 75 years of Independence.
IT major Wipro fell 4.1% to Rs 283.90. The company said that it has become the official technology partner to McLaren Technology Group to help drive digitalization across its businesses. The announcement was made before market hours today, 14 September 2017.
Jubilant FoodWorks rose 3.88% to Rs 1,372.70 after the company reassured that all its food ingredients are safe for consumption. The company issued the clarification after market hours yesterday, 13 September 2017, with respect to news report suggesting that live bugs were found in Domino's Pizza seasoning sachet.
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