AFP
Beijing
Asian shares were mixed yesterday with China buoyed by recent data indicating recovery, but other markets were unsettled by drops on Wall Street and the bailout of a crisis-hit Portuguese bank.
Traders said the intervention by Portugal’s central bank to inject €4.4bn ($5.9bn) into the crisis-hit Banco Espirito Santo late Sunday had an impact on markets, as did the Dow’s substantial sell-off last week.
Tokyo’s Nikkei fell 0.31% or 48.61 points, closing at 15,474.50, Sydney dipped 15.5 points, or 0.28%, to finish at 5,540.9, and Seoul rose 0.35%, or 7.32 points, to end at 2,080.42.
Hong Kong rose 0.28% or 67.65 points to close at 24,600.08, while Shanghai jumped 1.74%, or 38.03 points, finishing at 2,223.33. Shenzhen gained 1.40%, or 16.03 points, to 1,164.32.
“European risk is having an impact on the broader market,” Yoshihiro Okumura, general manager of research at Chibagin Asset Management, told Dow Jones Newswires.
In China, heavyweight blue-chip stocks led the gains, after an official survey on Friday showed manufacturing rose at its fastest rate for more than two years in July.
AJ Securities analyst Hou Yingmin told Dow Jones Newswires this was due to a “combination of an economic recovery, ample liquidity and market friendly policies, including Shanghai-Hong Kong stock connect programme.”
Joshua Mahony, research analyst at Alpari (UK), told Dow Jones Newswires, traders were seeking to “determine whether this is just an anomaly... or a sign of something more significant”.
In currency trade, the dollar bought 102.66 yen, down from 102.93 yen in Tokyo on Friday.
The euro bought $1.3421 in Asia yesterday, down from $1.3430 in US trade late Friday, while fetching 137.80 yen against 137.75 yen.
On oil markets, the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for September delivery was up 10 cents to $97.98 while Brent crude for September gained 23 cents to $105.07 in afternoon trade.
Gold fetched $1,292.80 an ounce by 1045 GMT compared with $1,284.40 on Friday.
In other markets, Bangkok added 1.28% or 19.18 points to 1,519.38; Kuala Lumpur rose 0.67%, or 12.46 points, to 1,875.80; Manila climbed 1.51%, or 104.14 points, to 6,998.37; Singapore fell 0.78%, or 26.02 points, to close at 3,318.40; Taipei rose 0.69%, or 63.68 points, to 9,330.19 and Wellington closed down 0.38%, or 19.25 points, at 5,090.69.
