The lack of a strong lead from Wall Street weighed on sentiment. U.S. stocks closed mixed on Tuesday after touching fresh record highs. The Dow rose to an intraday record of 16,735, while the S&P 500 crossed 1,900 for the first time, but both indices were unable to close at those levels.
Among Asian bourses, Japanese share market closed lower, on the back of profit taking after the benchmark indices surging 2% the previous day. Meanwhile, sharp selling in shares of companies reporting weak outlooks such as JGC, Nikon, and Dentsu also contributed to the market down. A slightly stronger yen also took some air out of the market, particularly denting exporters. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.14% to 14405.76, while the Topix index of all first-section shares was up 0.41% at 1183.15.
JGC Corp shares stumbled 13.3% to 2910 yen after reporting guidance for the current fiscal year that called for a 19% operating profit fall to just Y55 billion, severely missing the consensus forecast.
Nikon Corp lost 4% to 1567 yen after its Y62.94 billion fiscal group operating profit undershot expectations. For the current year, the firm said it expects net profit to fall 4% to Y45 billion.
Dentsu Inc lost 3.9% to 3925 yen after management of advertising agency forecasted operating profit growth to slow to 1.4% on-year, citing the cost of integrating newly consolidated subsidiaries.
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Yamaha Motor added 4.3% to 1664 yen after it posted first quarter results showing an operating profit of Y22 billion and an operating profit margin of 6.1%--its best margin in 10 quarters.
Santen Pharmaceutical surged 10.8% to 5140 yen after announcing the purchase of some ophthalmology assets from drug titan Merck for $600 million that will generate annual sales of $400 million in Japan, Europe, and Asia Pacific.
Publishing house Kadokawa Corp rose 10% to 3465 yen and online video distributor Dwango Co added 9% to 2798 yen on media reports that the pair will merge operations under a holding company to be set up as early as next spring.
Bank of Japan stated on Wednesday that the Japan's corporate goods price index (CGPI) surged 4.1% in April from a year earlier, due largely to the sales tax hike on April 1. On month, the CGPI rose 2.8% in April after being unchanged in March. Excluding the impact of the sales tax rise, the CGPI rose only 0.1%.
In Australia, Australian share market finished roughly unchanged after trading slightly in red for large parts of the session, as investors reacted to the government's new measures to slash the budget deficit. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 fell by 1.70 points to 5496.50, while the broader All Ordinaries edged up 0.5 point to 5475.90.
Australian investors were gauging the economic impact of the budget, which includes a deficit levy, higher fuel taxes and a fee for all doctor's visits from July 2015 to help return the budget to surplus within a decade.
Financials stocks finished mixed with Commonwealth Bank of Australia adding 1.2% to A$80.89 after delivering a 16% increase in 3Q cash profit to A$2.2 billion. ANZ Banking Group rose 0.8% to A$33.15.
Westpac and National Australia Bank closed weaker, as both companies traded without rights to their dividends. WBC which will pay out a 90c per share dividend closed lower by 2.7% to A$34.20. NAB is paying eligible shareholders 99c per share, it closed down 2.6% to A$33.60.
Materials & recourses stocks were mixed, after nickel prices came off after touching a fresh 27-month high, and copper dipped on data from top metals consumer China data pointing to weak economic activity. BHP Billiton lifted 0.9% to A$38.30, while main rival Rio Tinto lost 0.1% to A$62.78. Fortescue was down 1.5% to A$4.73.
Healthcare stocks came under pressure as investors digested what the Federal budget will mean for the industry. The A$7 per visit co-payment for doctor visits could have a short-term impact on some companies involved in the industry, with patients potentially delaying visits to the GP due to the added cost. This is likely to be offset somewhat with just A$5 cut in the Medicare rebates doctors receive. Primary Health Care (PRY) closed lower by 5% to A$4.53 while Sonic Health Care (SHL) was down 4.3% to A$17.49.
Building products maker CSR fell 4.8% to A$3.34 despite a return to full year profit. A rise in housing construction saw the company post a FY profit of A$88.1 million, up sharply from last year's A$150 million loss.
In China, Mainland China market fell down for second day in row, dragging the benchmark Shanghai Composite 0.14% lower at 2047.91 at the close, on profit taking after slower-than-estimated growth in industrial output, fixed-asset investment and retail sales rekindled concerns about domestic growth slowdown.
Most of the sectors dived in red territory, with shares in consumer-staple and coal counters led losses, while property developers shares climbed up, helping to limit losses.
The National Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday that China's industrial output rose 8.7% year on year in April, down slightly from 8.8% in March. Retail sales increased 11.9% in April from a year earlier, slowing from a 12.2% growth in March. Fixed-asset investment rose 17.3% year on year in the January-April period, also slowing from a 17.6% increase in the first quarter, data showed.
Property developer shares extended gain for second day in row after the central bank asked major lenders to accelerate the granting of mortgages. The People's Bank of China on Tuesday, 13 May 2014, has asked commercial banks to speed up the granting of home loans and to set mortgage rates at reasonable levels, underlining its efforts to support the flagging property market as the economy cools. The central bank also urged lenders to give priority to families buying their first homes and to strengthen their monitoring of credit risk. Among developer stocks, China Vanke gained 1.3%, while Poly Real Estate surged 1.6%.
Shares of distilleries went down, with Kweichow Moutai, the bigger producer of baijiu liquor, falling 3.4%, the biggest loss since April 25, on profit booking.
Shares of coal companies also finished weaker on profit taking following sharp jump on Monday trade. Yanzhou Coal slid 2.1%, while Pingdingshan Tianan Coal Mining Co. extended declined to a second day after rallying 10% on May 12.
In Hong Kong, shares of the city's bourse extended winning streak for fifth session in row, in tandem with record high closing of the Wall Street overnight, with property developers shares led rally. The benchmark Hang Seng Index jumped 230.39 points to 22582.77 on turnover of HK$59.47 billion.
Property developer shares extended gain with Mainland players led rally after the China Banking Regulatory Commission asked banks to not stop granting mortgage loans. China Resources Land and China Overseas Land & Investment shot up 6% and 4.1% to HK$16.02 and HK$19.84, respectively. Cheung Kong rose 0.2% to HK$133.30. Henderson Land added 0.3% to HK$48.35, New World Development Co 3.6% to HK$8.60, and Sino Land Co 2.1% to HK$11.94.
Bank of China, the nation's fourth-biggest lender by market value, rose 0.6% to HK$3.45. The bank said it's seeking to raise as much as 100 billion yuan ($16 billion) selling preferred stock in China and offshore, becoming the latest Chinese company to issue the securities domestically since the government began allowing them to two months ago.
Hong Kong Monetary Authority said on Wednesday that foreign assets, representing the external assets of the Exchange Fund, increased during April by HK$7.2 billion to HK$2,638 billion. The Monetary Base, comprising Certificates of Indebtedness, Government issued currency notes and coins in circulation, the Aggregate Balance and Exchange Fund Bills and Notes issued, amounted to HK$1,258.7 billion. Claims on the private sector in Hong Kong amounted to HK$190.7 billion. Foreign liabilities, representing fees payable to the Exchange Fund's external managers, amounted to HK$300 million.
In India, a bout of volatility was witnessed as key benchmark indices weakened once again soon after trimming intraday losses in mid-afternoon trade. At 14:20 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 79.85 points or 0.33% to 23,791.38. The index lost 117.87 points at the day's low of 23,753.36 in afternoon trade.
Among the 30-share Sensex pack, 17 stocks gained and rest of them fell. Dr Reddy's Laboratories (down 3.05%), HDFC (down 1.77%), and Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) (down 1.71%) edged lower from the Sensex pack.
Tata Steel surged 5.06% to Rs 448.50 ahead of its Q4 results today, 14 May 2014. The stock hit 52-week high of Rs 449.80 in intraday trade.
Auto stocks were mixed. Ashok Leyland (up 0.39%), Bajaj Auto (up 3.01%), Hero MotoCorp (up 0.47%) and Tata Motors (up 0.5%) gained. Mahindra & Mahindra (down 3.51%), Maruti Suzuki India (down 0.8%) and TVS Motor Company (down 2%) declined.
IT stocks were also mixed. Tech Mahindra gained 0.19% ahead of its Q4 results today, 14 May 2014. TCS rose 0.61%. Infosys (down 0.5%), HCL Technologies (down 2.17%) and Wipro (down 0.43%) declined.
Elsewhere in the Asia Pacific region, New Zealand's NZX50 added 0.27%. Taiwan's Taiex index added 0.65%. Malaysia's KLSE Composite added 0.7%.
South Korea's KOSPI index was up 1.41% to finish at a fresh 2014 high, thanks to strong foreign buying amid blue-chips.
Singapore's Straits Times index rose 1.14%, as the index caught up with the region's gains on Tuesday when the market was shut due to a public holiday.
Indonesia's Jakarta Composite Index rose 1.43% after Jakarta Governor Joko Jokowi Widodo boosted his chances in the July presidential election by securing the support of the country's second-largest political party..
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