Pedestrians pass before a share prices board in Tokyo. Japanese stocks closed down 221.32 points to 15,079.23 yesterday.

AFP/Tokyo

 

Asian markets were mixed yesterday following another heavy sell-off on Wall Street, with Tokyo taking a thumping as traders returned from a long weekend to a much stronger yen.

With confidence in the state of the global economy knocked by a series of weak data, oil prices are struggling at multi-year lows with traders worried about a possible supply glut.

Tokyo tumbled 2.38%, or 364.04 points, to a two-month low of 14,936.51, with exporters hit by the yen’s advance. Shanghai lost 0.28%, or 6.53 points, to end at 2,359.48 and Hong Kong fell 0.41%, or 95.41 points to 23,047.97.

But Seoul ended 0.11% higher, adding 2.04 points to 1,929.25, and Sydney rallied 1.01%, or 51.9 points, to close at 5,207.4.

In other markets, Bangkok added 0.29%, or 4.43 points, to 1,546.78; supermarket operator Big C Supercenter lost 3.93% to 220baht, while Airports of Thailand rose 2.27% to 225baht.

Jakarta ended up 0.19%, or 9.53 points, at 4,922.58; telecoms firm Indosat gained 1.05% to 3,860 rupiah, while retailer Ramayana Lestari Sentosa fell 5.45% to 780 rupiah

Kuala Lumpur ended flat at 1,796.38, falling just 0.82 points or 0.05%; Petronas Gas shed 0.8% to 21.20 ringgit, while Nestle lost 0.8% to 66.50.

Singapore fell 0.24%, or 7.75 points, to close at 3,194.40; casino operator Genting Singapore eased 0.91% to Sg$1.085, while property developer CapitaLand dipped 0.33% to Sg$3.02.

Taipei rose 0.65%, or 57.0 points, to 8,768.39; Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co added 0.41% to Tw$121.0 while Hon Hai Precision Industry was 0.21% higher at Tw$96.0.

Wellington fell 0.47%, or 24.16 points, to 5,145.89; Chorus was down 1.32% at NZ$1.875 and Air New Zealand ended 2.99% off at NZ$1.785.

Manila eased 0.32%, or 22.03 points, to 6,946.06.

Global markets have been struggling of late as a string of weak data from Japan, China and the eurozone has fanned fears about the global economy, while the Federal Reserve also said it was concerned about the outlook. And on Wall Street Monday the three main indexes were hard hit as investors fled.

The Dow sank 1.35% and the S&P 500 shed 1.65%—just weeks after the two had touched record highs. The Nasdaq lost 1.46%.

But yesterday saw investors tentatively return to buying in Asia, picking up cheaper stocks.

The dollar also picked up slightly after tumbling below ¥107 in New York on Monday.

‘Dramatic reversal’ -The greenback bought ¥107.24 yen yesterday, up from ¥106.83 in New York Monday afternoon. However, that was not enough to support the Nikkei as it is still sharply down from ¥107.79 in Tokyo on Friday, before a three-day weekend there.

“Most of the Nikkei’s gains over the last several weeks have come on the back of the dollar’s rapid rise without much fundamental buying support behind it, so a dramatic reversal such as this is possible, if not likely, when the dollar falls back to earth,” Toshihiko Matsuno, senior strategist at SMBC Friend Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.

The euro bought $1.2702 and ¥136.24 against $1.2753 and ¥136.25.

Analysts said Hong Kong shares got some support from hopes of an end to a more than two-week stand-off between the government and pro-democracy protesters that has shut down parts of the city.

Police moved in for a second day yesterday to clear barricades, opening up one of the main thoroughfares for the first time this month. However, demonstrators have refused to lift their blockade until the city’s Chief Executive CY Leung steps down and they are granted full universal suffrage by China.

World oil prices extended their losses after the Opec cartel signalled that producers have no intention of cutting output, even with a supply glut.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for November delivery was down 34 cents at a two-year-low $85.40 in afternoon trade and Brent crude retreated 31 cents to $88.58, its lowest since mid-2010.

Both contracts are down by about a fifth from their 2014 highs touched in June.

Gold was at $1,233.25 an ounce against $1,227.19 late Monday.