Headline indices of the Asia Pacific market mostly advanced on Thursday, 03 September 2015, as investors chased for heavily beaten down stocks on following a strong performance on Wall Street overnight. But gains were limited as investors remain on edge on more signs of weakness in China and uncertainty over when the Federal Reserve will begin raising interest rates.
Trading was relatively calm compared to the nerve-wracking roller-coaster rides in the previous sessions, with mainland China and Hong Kong share markets closed as the country commemorates the end of World War Two. Chinese stock markets will reopen Monday.
U.S. stocks rebounded on Wednesday, recovering a significant portion of their losses from the day earlier. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 rallied more than 1.8% in the close to end near session highs, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite outperformed with gains of 2.46% to pull out of correction territory.
Attention is turning to the European Central Bank's meeting on Thursday as weak commodity prices and slowing global growth work against its efforts to stimulate inflation and economic growth. Some analysts think the ECB might need to expand its 1.1 trillion euro ($1.2 trillion) of quantitative easing to stoke inflation but most aren't expecting any tweaks to that policy to be announced imminently.
Investors are also turning their attentions toward the U.S. A private survey showed that U.S. businesses added jobs at a steady pace last month, with construction and manufacturing showing solid gains.
The payroll processor ADP said businesses added 190,000 jobs last month, up from 177,000 in July, but below a six-month high set in June of 231,000.
The ADP report comes two days before Friday's August jobs report. It will be the last jobs report Federal Reserve policymakers have before their next policy meeting later this month. Some economists expect the Fed to raise interest rates for the first time in close to a decade after the meeting.
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Among Asian bourses
Nikkei rises for first time in four days
The Japanese share market advanced for first time this week, Thursday, 03 September 2015, as investors chased for heavily beaten down blue chip shares on easing fears of a global economic slowdown and after stability in U.S. markets overnight. Total 20 out of 33 TSE sectors ended higher, with shares of insurers, glass & ceramics makers, metal producers & mining companies, drug makers, and transportation equipment manufacturers were major winners of the day. The Nikkei Stock Average ended higher by 86.99 points, or 0.48%, to end at 18182.39 points. The broader Topix index advanced 0.61%, or 8.99 points, to 1474.98 at the close in Tokyo.
The Tokyo market gains were led by companies catering to domestic demand. Insurer MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings Inc. rose 4.9% to Y3,803.5 as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. advised buying the shares. Mobile carrier NTT DoCoMo Inc. advanced 4.4% to Y2,527.5 after Barclays raised the mobile carrier's rating to overweight from underweight. Ono Pharmaceutical Co. gained 4% to Y15,340.
Electronics motor maker Nidec Corp. rose 1.7% to Y9,381 after the company said it has acquired two U.S. and Italian electronics parts makers--KB Electronics, Inc. and E.M.G. Elettromeccanica S.r.l.
Healthcare firm Terumo Corp. gained 1.6% to Y3,190 after the company said its autologues skeletal myoblast sheets are conditionally approved by a government regenerative therapy council.
Toshiba Corp. gained 2.1% to Y357 after a report it will release earnings this week following delays caused by an accounting scandal.
Freight transporter Nippon Express Co. added 1.3% to Y563 after Barclays boosted its investment rating to overweight from equalweight
Australia market ends lower
The Australian share market closed softer after giving-up early gains on Thursday, 03 September 2015, as a surprise dip in July's retail sales and intensifying worries over a sharp slowdown in China, Australia's largest trading partner, rattled market sentiments. All 10 sectors were in the red. Consumer discretionary stocks were the hardest hit. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index declined 73.70 points, or 1.44%, to 5027.80 points. The broader All Ordinaries index closed 70.70 points, or 1.38%, up at 5048.70.
Shares of retailers were the hardest hit today in Sydney market, after official data indicates retail sales in July unexpectedly slipped 0.1% on-month, after June's 0.6% rise. Retailer Harvey Norman slipped 4.1% to A$4 and JB Hi-Fi lost 4.1% to A$18.04. Myer shares slumped 25.6% to A$0.60 after coming off a trading halt following the department store's A$221 equity raising announcement. Kathmandu retreated 3.67% to A$1.445 after its directors reiterated their advice to reject suitor Briscoe's offer after the NZ retailer said its bid wouldn't be raised.
Banks and financials were also down on lingering worries about regulatory requirements to hold more capital and a possible rise in bad debts due to rising unemployment and sluggish wage growth. National Australia Bank led losses among major banks, down 2.5% to A$29.93, meanwhile Australia & New Zealand Banking Group slipped 1.7% to A$36.96, Westpac Bank 0.8% to A$30.19, and Commonwealth Bank 2.3% to A$71.97.
Sensex zooms nearly 400 points
Indian markets have gained momentum in the late noon trades, led by HDFC and metal stocks. Meanwhile, weak GDP data, cooling inflation along with mixed PMI data has created room for RBI rate cut which has further lifted the trading sentiments. At 14:19 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 377.08 points or 1.48% at 25,830.64. The CNX Nifty was up 120.25 points or 1.56% at 7,837.25.
In sector trends, shares of power generation and power distribution firms edged higher. IT stocks also moved higher. Among individual stocks, shares of index heavyweight and housing finance major HDFC surged. Caplin Point Laboratories surged after the company received approval from Brazil's National Health Surveillance Agency for the company's sterlite injectable manufacturing site at Chennai.
The IMF said in research paper on global growth prospects published yesterday, 2 September 2015, that near-term growth prospects remain favorable for India and that the country's external vulnerabilities have decreased. The IMF said that policy reforms, a consequent pickup in investment and lower commodity prices will boost India's growth. But, IMF cautioned that India continues to face some macroeconomic imbalances.
Elsewhere in the Asia Pacific region: Taiwan's Taiex index rose 0.8% to 8095.95. South Korea's KOPSI rose 0.02% to 1915.53. New Zealand's NZX50 fell 0.4% to 5569.68. Singapore's Straits Times index added 1% at 2906.43. Indonesia's Jakarta Composite index climbed 0.7% to 4433.11. Malaysia's KLCI jumped 0.8% to 1602.75. China and Hong Kong market closed for holiday
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