The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.3% to 138.06. The gauge dropped from a six-week high yesterday, losing 1.1% in the biggest slide since 20 February 2014.
However, gains across the regional bourses were limited after report yesterday showed aggregate financing in China dropped to 938.7 billion yuan ($153 billion) last month amid a crackdown on shadow lending, down from January's record 2.58 trillion yuan.
Risk sentiments were also muted after the Bank of Japan (BoJ) held off launching fresh monetary easing measures despite slowing growth in the last quarter of 2013 and fears that a looming tax hike will dent the recovery.
The BoJ maintained its massive monetary stimulus, as widely expected, and stuck to its view that economic growth and consumer price increases remain on track. It downgraded its view of exports but upgraded its view of capital expenditure and industrial production.
The BoJ's next meeting on April 30 comes after a sales tax increase scheduled to take effect on April 1. There is growing speculation that an April sales tax rise will force the BoJ to act later this year to counter an expected slowdown in consumer spending and the economy as a whole.
Among Asian bourses, Japanese stock market rebounded modestly today, as investors chased for bottom fishing following steep losses prior day. Meanwhile yen weakening against the major currencies cemented buying spirit. Also, sentiments for cyclical assets received support from Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda comment that the BOJ would take any necessary actions to achieve stable 2% inflation in about two years from April 2013. The benchmark Nikkei-225 index advanced 0.69% to 15224.11, while the Topix index of all first-section shares added 0.46% at 1222.21.
SoftBank added 2.6% as company CEO and Sprint chairman Masayoshi Son is in Washington to pitch for a desired Sprint/T-Mobile merger before regulators. SoftBank acquired Sprint Corp. last year.
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Japan Machine Tool Builders Association said that annual Japan's machine tool orders slumped to 26% in February, from 40.30% in the last month.
Bank of Japan said on Tuesday that its board, as widely expected, decided by a unanimous vote to leave the bank's policy target unchanged while noting weaker exports and slightly higher business investment and factory output. "The Bank of Japan will conduct money market operations so that the monetary base will increase at an annual pace of about Y60 to Y70 trillion," the BOJ said, adding that its financial asset purchases will also proceed as decided in April 2013. On the current climate, the BOJ repeated its overall assessment presented last month, saying, "Japan's economy has continued to recover moderately, and a front-loaded increase in demand prior to the consumption tax hike has recently been observed." The BOJ also maintained its outlook, repeating, "Japan's economy is expected to continue a moderate recovery as a trend, while it will be affected by the front-loaded increase and subsequent decline in demand prior to and after the consumption tax hike." However, the BOJ noted that Japanese exports "have recently leveled off more or less." It is a downward revision from its previous statement that "exports have generally been picking up." On the other hand, the BOJ upgraded its assessment of two major factors that could support growth after the April sales tax hike. The BOJ's near-term inflation outlook remains the same. It expects the year-on-year rate of increase in consumer prices (excluding the direct impact of the sales tax hike) "is likely to be around 1.25% for some time."
In Australia, Australian stock market finished lacklustre session tad above the neutral line, as strength in shares in financial and realty companies and Telstra Corp helped to offset losses elsewhere. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index rose 2.30 points, or 0.04%, to 5413.80. The broader All Ordinaries sank 1.50 points, or 0.03%, to 5429.30.
Shares of Australian financial companies climbed up. Commonwealth Bank of Australia rose 0.7% to A$76.25, Westpac Banking Corp 1.5% to A$34.29, National Australia Bank 0.4% to A$34.77 and ANZ Banking Group 0.1% to A$32.34.
Shares of material companies extended losses on tracking fall in base metal prices. The spot price for iron ore, landed in China, plummeted 8.3% to a 23-month low of $US104.70 a tonne. Resources giant BHP Billiton shed 0.6% to A$35.93, while Rio Tinto, Australia's biggest iron ore miner, added 0.03% to A$61.22. The third force in iron ore, Fortescue Metals Group, fell 1.8% to A$4.83.
Rare earth miner Lynas (LYC) tumbled 8.5% to 27c after the company widened its first half loss to $59.3 million. Higher costs associated with its Malaysian refinery contributed to the result. The miner announced plans to raise more cash through an equity issue or a debt restructure which was not well received by the market.
The NAB business confidence index fell from +8.6 points to +7.3 points in February. The business conditions index weakened from +5.1 points to 0 points.
In China, Mainland China stock market closed slight higher, despite spending most of the session in negative terrain, thanks to late hour bargain buying on heavily battered stocks. The Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks both A and B shares, grew 2.90 points, or 0.1%, to 2001.16. The CSI 300 Index, measuring exchanges in Shanghai and Shenzhen, added 10.87 points, or 0.52%, to 2108.66.
The rebound in Chinese market was due to institutional investors propping up prices, as well as further reforms to China's banking and insurance sectors, which were announced on Tuesday morning at a press conference on the sidelines of the annual parliamentary session. Shang Fulin, head of the banking regulator, unveiled a pilot to establish five privately-owned banks, seen as China's latest step in opening up the financial sector.
Among SSE sectors, 6/10 sectors of the SSE index advanced, with healthcare sector gained the most amongst the SSE sectoral peers, adding 1.42%, while telecommunication services sector was worst performer, falling 0.8%. Meanwhile, consumer staples sector dropped 1%, materials down 0.8%, energy down 0.4%, and financials down 0.3%.
China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said on Monday that China's motor-vehicle sales totaled 3.75 million vehicles in the January-February period, up 10.7% from 3.39 million vehicles in the year-earlier period. Sales of passenger cars totaled 3.16 million vehicles, up 11.3% from a year ago, the association said. Car exports from China were down 12% year-over-year to 123,800 vehicles in the combined January-February period, the industry group said.
In Hong Kong, HK stock market finished session marginally higher as an early rally fuelled by bargain hunting fizzled out in the afternoon. The benchmark Hang Seng Index edged up 4.68 points to 22,269.61.
Risk sentiments in HK were muted after People's Bank of China data released on Monday indicated that credit activity cooled in February after January's record CNY2.58 trillion. Banks lent out CNY644.5 billion last month, down on the expected CNY726.1 billion and January's CNY1.32 billion.
Among the HK 50 blue chips, 24 rose and 20 fell, with five stocks remaining steady. Lenovo was the blue-chip top performer, jumping 5% to HK$8.59 after Deutsche Bank reiterated its "buy" call on the stock. CR Cement became the top blue-chip loser, declining 2.4% to HK$16.52.
Chinese drug makers saw intense buying orders. Sihuan Pharmaceutical gained 4.4% to HK$9.5 on strong earnings results and bonus share payout. Nep Interlong (08329) surged 47%to HK$1.22 after securing approval to produce drug treating gastric cancer.
Evergrande Real Estate shares rose 1.3% to HK$3.24 after the realty developer predicted net profit for the year ended 31 December 2013 may increase significantly as compared with the corresponding period in 2012. Such increase was primarily attributable to the increase in the total gross floor area delivered to buyers by the Group during the year 2013.
In India, key benchmark indices edged lower in choppy trade after provisional data showed that India's merchandise exports fell 3.67% year-on-year in February 2014. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was provisionally down 89.65 points or 0.41%, off close to 170 points from the day's high and up about 75 points from the day's low.
Metal stocks edged lower after Monday's data showed China's exports slumped in February. China is the world's largest consumer of copper and aluminum. Sesa Sterlite (down 3.39%), JSW Steel (down 3.67%), Hindalco Industries (down 4.14%), Hindustan Zinc (down 3.35%), Bhushan Steel (down 0.21%), National Aluminum Company (down 0.86%), Sail (down 4.02%), and Jindal Steel & Power (down 2.77%) declined.
NMDC fell 2.57% after the company said its total iron ore production rose 2.90% to 26.42 million tonnes (provisional) for the 11-month period ended February 2014 over corresponding previous year period. The company's iron ore despatches rose 4% to 27.43 million tonnes (provisional) for the 11-month period ended February 2014 over corresponding previous year period.
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries fell 2.63% to Rs 580.35, with the stock extending its recent decline. Reports on Monday, 10 March 2014 indicated that the company has recalled thousands of bottles of generic diabetes medication after some bottles contained epilepsy medicine. The stock fell 2.64% to Rs 596 on Monday, 10 March 2014.
Elsewhere in the Asia Pacific region, Taiwan's Taiex index added 0.43%. South Korea's KOSPI index rose 0.48%. New Zealand's NZX50 dropped 0.31%. Indonesia's Jakarta Composite Index rose 0.58%. Malaysia's KLSE Composite jumped 0.36%. Singapore's Straits Times index rose 0.09%.
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