AFP
Tokyo
Asian markets were mostly lower yesterday following a fall on Wall Street, with shares of Apple’s suppliers mixed as investors were left unimpressed with the US giant’s latest iPhones and watch.
The dollar resumed its uptrend against the yen, hitting a fresh six-year high, while the pound edged up but was still struggling on fears Scotland will vote to leave the United Kingdom.
Tokyo ended 0.25% higher, adding 39.63 points to 15,788.78 and reversing morning losses thanks to the yen weakness.
However, Sydney lost 0.60%, or 33.6 points, to end at 5,574.3, while Shanghai shed 0.35%, or 8.22 points, to 2,318.31. Hong Kong sank 1.93%, or 485.09 points to 24,705.36 on concerns about China’s economy.
Seoul was closed for a public holiday.
In other markets, Singapore edged down 0.13%, or 4.33 points, to 3,338.63; United Overseas Bank fell 0.13% to Sg$22.87 while real estate developer Capitaland slipped 1.21% to Sg$3.28.
Bangkok was off 0.07%, or 1.05 points, to 1,582.13; oil company Bangchak Petroleum fell 2.90% to 33.50 baht, while telecoms company Total Access Communication added 2.44% to 105baht.
Kuala Lumpur shed 3.27 points, or 0.17%, to 1,870.85; British American Tobacco fell 1.4% to 71.54 ringgit, CIMB declined 1.0% to 7.25 while AMMB rose 0.3% to 7.02 ringgit.
Jakarta ended down 1.04%, or 54.13 points, at 5,142.99; Hero Supermarket lost 2.82% to 2,410 rupiah, while Sinar Mas Agro Resources gained 1.50% to 6,775 rupiah.
Wellington slipped 0.13%, or 7.04 points, to 5,236.66; Fletcher Building was down 1.19% at NZ$9.15 but Air New Zealand added 0.24% to NZ$2.06.
Taipei fell 0.82%, or 77.16 points, to 9,357.61.
Manila shed 0.56%, or 40.89 points, to 7,212.78; Philippine Long Distance Telephone dropped 0.76% to 3,378 pesos and Nickel Asia Corp fell 4.23% to 44.15 pesos, while Puregold Price Club sank 2.87% to 32.20 pesos. With few regional catalysts, investors took their lead from Wall Street, where an initial rally following Apple’s launch petered out after the Federal Reserve signalled stricter capital requirements for banks.
A top official at the central bank said the largest lenders with high dependence on short-term funding would face tougher rules to ensure they did not put the financial system at risk.
The Dow gave up 0.57% and the S&P 500 dropped 0.65% Tuesday, while the Nasdaq fell 0.87%.
On currency markets the greenback shrugged off an early sell-off to rally to 106.64 yen, its highest since September 2008 during the financial crisis and well up from the 106.20 yen late in New York.
The dollar was supported by Japanese importers purchasing the unit while the US Federal Reserve cuts back on its stimulus programme and expectations increase that it will raise interest rates sooner than later.
The pound edged up slightly against the dollar but was still under pressure with next week’s referendum on Scottish independence too close to call, raising fears the country could break away from the United Kingdom.
In the afternoon it bought $1.6130, up from $1.6105 in the US and sharply up from the 10-month-low of $1.6084 in Asia Tuesday. However, it is still a long way off Friday’s $1.6323.
Shares in firms that supply Apple saw a mixed response after the US giant launched two new iPhones with bigger screens, a long-awaited watch and a new payments system.
However, while Apple CEO Tim Cook said the new handsets represented “the biggest advancement in the history of iPhones”, investors were less effusive. The tech giant’s shares fell 0.4% in US trade.
In Tokyo Japan Display slipped 1.8% and Foster Electric edged up 0.5%, while in Taipei Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp dipped 1.6%, Hon Hai eased 1.0% and display maker Largan Precision added 0.2%.
Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank in the US, said investors appeared to be disappointed.
“Investors have come to expect game-changers from this company and anything short of that is a disappointment,” he said.
On oil markets, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for October lost five cents to $92.70 while Brent crude for October shed 26 cents to $98.90.
Gold was at $1,253.47 an ounce, against $1,253.52 late Tuesday.
