Headline shares of the Asia Pacific market closed mixed on Tuesday, 11 November 2014, as investors booked profit on intraday gain inspired by a record close on Wall Street overnight. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost less than 0.1% to 140.79.
A positive close of U.S. stock market on Monday has helped sentiment in Asia at opening trade. U.S. stocks continued to push higher Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average clocking its 23rd record close of the year, on improving corporate earnings and upbeat economic data from that showed employers added jobs in October. Though, signs of slowing economy in Europe and flagging growth in China trimmed most of early gains across the region to finish mixed.
Among Asian bourses
Resources drag Aussie market 0.1% down
Australian share market closed down after erasing early gain, as a broad drop in commodity prices weighed on energy and resources stocks, shrugging off a survey from the National Australia Bank showing business conditions posting the biggest increase on record in October. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index and the broader All Ordinaries Index each fell by 0.1% to 5517.10 and 5494, respectively.
Shares of materials and resources companies were major drag on the bourse today, as the outlook for commodity prices continues to worsen after Citi analysts downgraded their price forecasts on the steel-making commodity to $US50 per tonne. The spot price for iron ore, landed in China, edged down to $US75.80 a tonne on Tuesday, with futures trading tipping another fall overnight. Among the major miners, Resources giant BHP Billiton fell 1.5% to A$34.17, while main rival Rio Tinto slipped 1.2% to A$60.51. Australia's biggest gold producer, Newcrest Mining, fell 3.1% to A$8.98.
Financial stocks were mixed, with two of top four lenders ended down as Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed house price growth continues to surge in Sydney driven by investors rather than owner-occupiers. Westpac Banking Corp rose 0.5% to A$33.63 and Commonwealth Bank of Australia added 0.5% to A$83, while ANZ Banking Group shed 0.03% to A$32.51 and National Australia Bank lost 0.1% to A$32.92.
Fertiliser and explosives maker Incitec Pivot gained 5.5% to A$3.08 after increasing its final dividend to 7.3 cents from 5.8 cents a share despite revealing a 33% fall in annual profit.
Nikkei hits seven-year high
Japanese share market extended gains to hit a seven-year high, propelled by buying in futures and call options as speculators looked to the possibility Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may postpone a planned sales tax hike. Buying pressure propelled further by unexpectedly large current account surplus data for September. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average surged 2.1% to 17,124.11, its highest close since 2007. The Topix jumped 1.1% to close at 1,375.21, the highest level since 2008.
Gain on the Tokyo shares propelled on talks of a snap election and a possible postponement of a sales-tax increase planned for next year. The national daily Yomiuri Shimbun said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is considering making a decision as early as Nov. 18 on a snap election in December, after the returns to Tokyo from his foreign travels. Investors are awaiting a Nov. 17 report on Japan's third-quarter economic growth, which will help Prime Minister Shinzo Abe decide on a planned sales-tax increase to 10% next year.
The finance ministry said today that Japan posted a current account surplus of 963 billion yen for the third consecutive month in September, up 61.9% from a year earlier, as a weaker yen helped boost repatriated returns on foreign investment. The current account is the broadest measure of the country's trade with the rest of the world, measuring not only trade in goods but also services, tourism and returns on foreign investment.
Sumitomo Metal climbed 4.9% to 1,602 yen after raising its full-year profit forecast by 38% to 106 billion yen ($920 million), surpassing analysts' expectation.
Chiyoda surged 7.6% to 1,171 yen after saying its first-half operating profit was 9.8 billion yen, exceeding 6.8 billion yen estimated by analysts.
Citizen Holdings Co, a watch maker, jumped 11% to 846 yen after boosting its full-year profit forecast by 12% to 18.5 billion yen.
Shanghai Composite falls 0.16% from 3-year high
Mainland China share market closed slight down in volatile trade, as investors withdrew some gain off the table after the benchmark index hit three-years high yesterday. The Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks both A and B shares, fell 0.16% to 2469.67 at the close.
China stock market hit two-year high on Monday on official reports that bourses in the two cities will begin trading through the program, which allows a net 23.5 billion yuan a day in cross-border purchases, on November 17.
Shares of China Minsheng Banking Corp. climbed 2.6% to 6.80 yuan, adding to yesterday's 4.6% surge after it said it would raise as much as 8 billion yuan by selling new stock to key employees at a 10% discount. ICBC, the nation's biggest lender, gained 3.8% to 3.81 yuan.
Hang Seng extends gain on stock connect news
Hong Kong share market closed higher for second consecutive day in heavy trade, after announcement of a new launch date for an anticipated cross-border trading link. The Hang Seng Index rose 0.27%, or 63.58 points, to 23808.28. Turnover increased to HK$95.95 billion from HK$91.98 billion on Monday.
Lenovo (00992) soared 3.2% to HK$10.86, making itself the top blue-chip winner. Kunlun Energy (00135) fell 3.3% to HK$9.65, making itself the worst blue-chip performer. Market heavyweights were mixed. HSBC (00005) was a tick lower at HK$78.05. AIA (01299) and Tencent (00700) rose 0.7% and 1.8% to HK$43.85 and HK$127.9.
Shares of telecom stocks were mostly up. China Unicom (00762) slipped 2.8% to HK$11.16 after its shareholder Telefonica reduced its stake in the company by US$875m shares. China Telecom (00728) edged up 0.6% to HK$4.89. But, China Mobile (00941) fell 1.9% to HK$94.7.
BOC (03988) added 3% to HK$3.8 after it was selected as the sole settlement bank for the Shanghai-HK connect scheme. he CNX Nifty was up 18.40 points or 0.22% at 8,362.65, as per provisional closing.
Sensex, Nifty eke out small gains
Indian stock market eked out small gains, as banking stocks rose on hopes lower retail inflation data would lead to early interest rate cuts. As per provisional closing, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 55.92 points or 0.2% to 27,930.65.
ICICI Bank provisionally rose 1.4% while Axis Bank ended up 1.7%. Non-banking finance companies also rose after the RBI's rules on bad loans and capital requirements were on expected lines. Housing Development Finance Corporation provisionally rose 1.2%, while IDFC ended up 2.7%.
Elsewhere in the Asia Pacific region: Taiwan's Taiex index fell 0.18% to 9034.14. South Korea KOSPI rose 0.24% to 1963. New Zealand's NZX50 rose 0.37% to 5490.79. Singapore's Straits Times index fell 0.27% at 3292.15. Indonesia's Jakarta Composite index rose 1.35% to 5032.28. Malaysia's KLCI fell 0.15% to 1825.11.
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