Meanwhile, bargain buying also got a boost from expectations that the US government's partial shutdown could lead to the US Federal Reserve postponing tapering of monetary stimulus to the US economy. The US government's partial shutdown has sparked concern it will slow economic growth in the world's biggest economy. ADP's report on Wednesday, 2 October 2013, of weaker-than-expected growth in US private-sector jobs in September also fuelled expectations that the Fed will hold off on reducing the amount of monetary stimulus in the near future.
Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren, a consistent backer of record stimulus who votes on policy this year, said on Wednesday, 2 October 2013, that the central bank refrained from tapering its bond purchases last month because growth was lower than forecast and fiscal policy posed a risk to the outlook.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) holds a two-day policy meeting on 29-30 October 2013. On 18 September 2013, the Fed surprised economists and investors with its decision to delay scaling back its stimulus amid concerns about the strength of the economic recovery. Fed's bond-buying program has been a source of liquidity for most Asian and emerging markets this year.
Regional market commenced today's trading with weak note on lingering worries over US economic growth and fears of an American debt default after US government workers were ordered off the job because of a budget impasse in Washington. The shutdown continues to stop 800,000 federal workers from commuting. The workers were furloughed after U.S. lawmakers failed to agree on a budget measure to fund government operations after the fiscal year ended Monday.
Large parts of the US government have been closed for two days after Congress failed to pass budget legislation by the end of the American financial year. US President Barack Obama and congressional leaders have held their first meeting since the shutdown began, but there are no signs of progress. A meeting between US President Barack Obama and key Republicans failed to break the budget impasse, instead the leaders of the world's biggest economy only pointed the finger at each other at who was at fault for the deadlock.
Among Asian bourses, Japanese market finished slight weaker after trading in and out in the narrow range. The benchmark Nikkei Stock Average closed session at 14157.25, 13.24 points down from prior day closure. The benchmark index was traded in the range of 138 points today.
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Shares of Japan Airlines Co dropped 2.04% to 5760 yen after the Japanese government awarded the company five international slots at Tokyo's Haneda Airport compared with the 11 slots won by rival ANA Holdings Inc. ANA shares climbed 1.9% to 220 yen.
Meanwhile, Tokyo Electric Power Co slipped 4.8% to 552 yen after a Kyodo News report that the company has found a new leak of radioactive water from another storage tank at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
In Australia, Australian market rose for second straight session, sending the benchmark S&P/ASX200 higher by 0.37% to finish at 5234.90, with bullion, miners, and financials were leading the rally.
Shares of precious-metal miners were biggest winner in ASX after gold prices rebounded on Wednesday as bargain hunters stepped in. The Comex December futures price rose by $34.60 an ounce or 2.7% to $1,320.70 per ounce. Newcrest Mining rose by 3.2% to A$11.30 and Kingsgate 1.2% to A$1.655.
Shares of Leighton Holdings tanked 10.4% to A$17.54 following a Fairfax Media report that the construction company paid millions of dollars in kickbacks to win contracts in Asia and other areas. Leighton said in a statement it was cooperating with an investigation by Australian federal police and that it has strong anti-corruption rules.
In Hong Kong, headline shares of the Hong Kong market rose sharply, with the benchmark Hang Seng index higher by 1% to 23214.40, buoyed by upbeat Chinese services figures.
Among the 50 HK blue chips, 37 were up and 12 were down, while remaining one unchanged. China Unicom rose 8.4% to HK$13.12, while China Mobile fell 0.7% to HK$86.50, making themselves the top blue-chip gainer and loser.
The Macau gaming stocks continued to rise, with Galaxy Entertainment rising 5.1% and Sands China gaining 3.9% after data from Macau's Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau showed gambling revenue in Macau rose 21.4% in September year-on-year to MOP28.96 billion. For the first nine months of 2013, the accumulative gaming revenue rose 16.7% year-on-year to MOP260.63 billion.
Forgame gained 32.4% on its first trading day in Hong Kong, with turnover totalling HK$2.18 billion. China Huishan Dairy soared 10.3% as mainland China faced milk scarcity.
Hong Kong's value of total retail sales in August, provisionally estimated at HK$38.7 billion, rose 8.1% over a year earlier. After netting out the effect of price changes over the same period, the volume of total retail sales grew 7.2% in August from a year earlier, the Census and Statistics Department data showed. For the first eight months of 2013, total retail sales rose 13.4% in value and 12.8% in volume over the same period a year earlier. A Government spokesman said that looking ahead, the performance of the retail business in the near term should continue to receive support from the still-favourable labour market conditions and further growth of the inbound tourism. However, the Government needs to closely monitor whether the unsteady external environment will affect the local economy going forward.
In India, Indian benchmark indices extended gains and hit fresh intraday high in mid-afternoon trade, on expectations that the US government's partial shutdown could lead to the US Federal Reserve postponing tapering of monetary stimulus to the US economy. The Sensex was up 318.39 points or 1.63%, up close to 250 points from the day's low and off about 10 points from the day's high.
In the foreign exchange market, the Indian rupee surged against the dollar tracking global dollar weakness. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 61.78, sharply higher than its close of 62.46/47 on Tuesday, 1 October 2013.
Elsewhere in the region, New Zealand's NZX50 rose 0.03%. Taiwan's Taiex gained 1.73%. Indonesia's JKSE Composite jumped 0.71%. Singapore's Straits Times Index lost 0.25%. Malaysia's KLSE Composite added 0.06%. Markets in mainland China remained closed for the Golden Week holiday. Markets in South Korea were closed for the National Foundation Day holiday.
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