Employees work at the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Japanese stocks closed up 0.38% at 20,058.95 points yesterday.
AFP/Tokyo
Asian markets mostly fell yesterday following losses on Wall Street, with Shanghai losing more than 1% a day after hitting a seven-year high.
Hopes of a deal between Greece and its creditors over its bailout terms provided a measure of support for the euro after Athens reshuffled its negotiating team following months of fruitless talks.
Shanghai retreated 1.13%, or 51.18 points, to 4,476.21 while Hong Kong was flat, edging up 9.16 points to 28,442.75. The two indexes have surged on hopes China will unveil more monetary easing measures to boost the slowing economy.
“The (Shanghai) market will become more volatile as the index gets higher,” Jimmy Zuo, a Shenzhen-based trader at Guosen Securities, told Bloomberg News.
“There’s a strong belief that disappointing data and earnings will persuade the government to do more to safeguard the economy.”
Sydney fell 0.57%, or 34.2 points, to close at 5,948.5 and Seoul slipped 0.46%, or 9.87 points, to 2,147.67.
However, Tokyo added 0.38%, or 75.63 points, to 20,058.95 as investors struck an optimistic note ahead of a raft of earnings results by major Japanese firms.
In other markets, Taipei fell 0.16%, or 16.29 points, to 9,956.83; Acer fell 1.7% to Tw$20.25 while smartphone maker HTC was 1.13% lower at Tw$131.5.
Wellington was marginally higher, adding 4.30 points to 5,769.65; market heavyweight Fletcher Building was up 0.98% at NZ$824 and Spark added 0.18% to NZ$2.86. Manila closed down 0.90%, or 71.50 points, at 7,886.57; Jollibee Foods fell 2.60% to 202.60 pesos while BDO Unibank dropped 3.03% to 112 pesos.
Singapore lost 0.59%, or 20.76 points, to 3,495.09; property developer Capitaland climbed 0.80% to Sg$3.79 and oil rig maker Keppel Corp declined 2.56% to Sg$8.77.
Bangkok fell 1.12%, or 17.30 points, to 1,531.53; Kasikorn Bank dropped 2.78% to 210baht and supermarket operator Big C Supercenter dipped 2.16% to 226baht.
Jakarta closed flat, edging down 3.29 points to 5,242.16; car maker Astra International fell 1.01% to 7,375 rupiah, while lender Bank CIMB Niaga rose 0.73% to 690 rupiah.
Kuala Lumpur slipped 0.24%, or 4.52 points, to 1,855.06; AMMB Holdings gained 0.62% to 6.46 ringgit while British American Tobacco ended 0.90% lower at 65.94 ringgit. Telekom Malaysia fell 0.13% to 7.49 ringgit.
India’s largest private bank ICICI Bank rose 8.02% to Rs326.65, while fast moving consumer goods major ITC fell 1.92% to Rs337.50. The three main indexes on Wall Street ended lower on profit-taking Monday after Friday’s record closes for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq. The S&P 500 slipped 0.41% and the Nasdaq fell 0.63%, while the Dow eased 0.23%. On currency markets the dollar bought ¥119.10 in Asian trade, up from ¥119.05 in New York. The latest round of weak US data has almost ended talk of a mid-summer interest rate rise.
Traders are now awaiting the end Wednesday of a two-day policy meeting by the US Federal Reserve, hoping it will give a clue about its timetable for raising rates.
That will be followed by a meeting of the Bank of Japan, with expectations high that it will hold off any further easing of monetary policy.
There was little reaction to a decision by Fitch to cut its credit rating on heavily indebted Japan by one notch, citing concerns about its budget after it delayed a sales tax rise originally slated for this year.
The euro fetched $1.0880 and ¥129.54 against $1.0889 and ¥129.64 in US trade.
The single currency has managed to hold its own recently despite the long-running standoff between Greece and its creditors as the anti-austerity government tries to reform its bailout terms.
Athens has been trying to negotiate a deal that would unlock €7.2bn in remaining EU-IMF bailout money, which it needs to avoid a default and a possible exit from the euro. Hopes for a deal got a boost when Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said he was confident of a breakthrough by early May. While he has resisted pressure to continue with a policy of cuts in return for the cash, he did say he was prepared to consider a number of privatisations.
