Asia Pacific share market declined on Thursday, 30 April 2015, on profit
booking amid a mixed bag of corporate earnings and renewed concerns
over the state of the U.S. economy after disappointing Q1 GDP. The MSCI
Asia Pacific Index fell 1.6 percent to 153.93.
The regional equity market started the day's session on the back foot, after both Wall Street and European bourses suffered heavy losses overnight on weaker than forecast US gross domestic product data, which showed the US economy grew just 0.2% in the first quarter, pushing back expectations of the first US Federal Reserve rate hike to at least September.
Fed kept policies unchanged as widely expected. Notably, in the statement, the reference that 'an increase in the target federal funds rate remains unlikely' disappeared without being replaced by other languages. This change signalled that a rate hike in June cannot be ruled out. The Fed acknowledged the softness of recent economic data and attributed it to 'transitory factors'. Yet, the central bank appeared confident that consumer spending would rebound in the coming months as 'households' real incomes raised strongly, partly reflecting earlier declines in energy prices, and consumer sentiment remains high'.
The US Q1 GDP grew a mere 0.2%, much worse than expectation of 1% and prior quarter's 2.2%. Personal consumption slowed sharply to 1.9%, down from prior 4.4%. Price index dropped -0.1% versus prior 0.1%. A run of disappointing data confirmed that Fed won't hike interest rate from the current zero level in June. More importantly, it's raising some doubts whether the first hike would happen in September as some analysts now anticipate.
The disappointing news on the world's biggest economy comes on top of a worrying slowdown in China and persistent fears about Europe as Greece scrambles to avoid bankruptcy.
Among Asian bourses
Nikkei tanks 2.7% on weak global cues
Japanese share market ended steep lower, as investors elected to book profit after the benchmark indices hit 15 years high yesterday. Meanwhile, sentiment was bruised by negative lead from offshore markets, the Bank of Japan decision to left policy unchanged and as lacklustre U.S. growth reading clouded the likely timing of a Federal Reserve rate increase. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index retreated 538.94 points, or 2.69%, to finish at 19520.01. The broader Topix index of all first-section shares ended down 34.64 points, or 2.13%, up at 1592.79. The Japanese share market was closed on Wednesday for the Showa Day holiday.
Honda Motor Co declined 6.7% to 4041.50 yen after posting 43% drop in net profit to 97.80 billion yen for the fiscal fourth quarter ended March 2015. Quarterly sales rose 8% to 3.35 trillion yen. It reported profit of 523 billion yen for the fiscal year just ended, down 8.9 percent from the previous fiscal year. The automaker expects a profit of 525 billion yen for the fiscal year through March 2016.
Panasonic Corp advanced 0.5% to 1724 yen after Japanese electronics giant reported a 49% jump in net profit to 179.49 billion yen, although revenue edged down 0.3% to 7.7 trillion yen. For the current fiscal year, which started this month, Panasonic expects a 180 billion yen net profit on revenue of 8 trillion yen.
Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp declined 1.5% to 313 yen after steelmaker said its net profit fell almost 12% to 214.3 billion yen in its fiscal year to March, despite sales rose 1.7% to 5.6 trillion yen. The steelmaker also forecasted weak market conditions for the year ahead.
Oriental Land declined 5.2% to 8108 yen on reports that the operator of the Tokyo DisneySea and Tokyo Disneyland resorts planned to invest some $4.2 billion in the parks over the coming decade.
Japan's industrial output fell slightly 0.3% in March, registering second straight month of decline, according to the data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) released on Thursday. The data from METI also showed that output in the January-March quarter rose 1.7% from the previous three-month period, accelerating from the 0.8% quarterly gain in the previous three-month period.
The Bank of Japan left its policy unchanged on Thursday, sticking to the view that Japan is still on track to achieve 2% inflation despite stagnating price growth and lingering speculation that further action is needed. The central bank decided to keep its annual asset purchases at 80 trillion yen ($672.2 billion), ignoring a call from an influential lawmaker urging the bank to increase its purchases to 90 trillion yen.
Bank, miner drags Australia market down for third day
The Australian share market ended down for third consecutive session, on risk aversion selloff across the sectors, with the banks and miners being major losers amid a souring global mood and further fall in iron ore futures prices. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index declined 48.60 points, or 0.83%, to 5790, while the broader All Ordinaries Index slipped 44.50 points, or 0.76%, to 5773.70. Market turnover was relatively strong, with 1.88 billion shares changing hands worth of A$3.4 billion.
Financial stocks were down, with top four lenders being major losers, on tracking weak global peers and uncertainty over interest rate cuts from the Reserve Bank of Australia. Commonwealth Bank dropped 1.9% to A$88.87, National Australia Bank 1.8% to A$36.77, Westpac Banking Corp 2.5% to A$36.46, and ANZ Banking Group 2.2% to A$33.99.
Shares of mining companies declined after further fall in iron ore futures, with resources giant BHP Billiton down 0.2% to A$31.97, while Rio Tinto fell 1% to A$57.15. Iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group tanked 4.4% to A$2.17 and BC Iron slipped 4.4% to A$0.43.
Consumer staples players were the best performing corner of the market, led by a 1.7% gain in Wesfarmers to A$43.71. Woolworths added 0.9% to A$29.48. Qantas Airways added 4.6% to A$3.39 after the airline reported another month of higher fares.
Santos rallied 0.2% to A$8.30 after the Australian Financial Review reported that private-equity players are understood to have approached the board with a view to picking off some individual assets.
Shares of Insurance Australia Group closed up 2.8% to A$5.81, rebounding from losses after it warned of heavy costs from recent storms in Australia.
China market dives 0.8%
Mainland China equity market ended lower, on profit booking after steep runs this month and on caution ahead of manufacturing and other major data, with shares of energy, material and financial companies being major losers. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 34.96 point, or 0.78%, to 4441.66 points. The CSI300 index, the largest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen, dropped 24.44 points, or 0.51%, to 4749.89.
Total of six out of ten SSE industry groups declined, with energy issue leading the decline, with loss of 2.8%, followed by materials down 1.9%, telecommunication services down 1.9%, financials down 1.3%, consumer sta0ples down 0.5%, and consumer discretionary down 0.5%. Bucking the trend, utilities issue rose 2.8%, meanwhile information technology added 1.8% and industrials jumped 0.7%.
The best performers of the session on the Shanghai Composite were Jonjee Tech, which rose 10% to trade at CNY21.73 at the close. Meanwhile, Tyan Home added 10% to CNY21.62, Minfeng Paper was up 10% to CNY12.30, Huayin Elec rose 10% to CNY8.24, and Yunnan Yunwei jumped 10% to CNY10.77.
The worst performers on the Shanghai Composite were Sh Duolun, which fell 7.8% to CNY11.65 at the close. Jinling declined 7.3% to CNY17.20, Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Co was down 6.2% to CNY9.80, Yuguang fell 6.1% to CNY18.72, and Lianyungang dropped 5.8% to CNY13.76.
Shares of energy and material companies suffered heavy losses today, Aluminum Corp. of China dropped 5%, while China Oilfield Services retreated 2.9% after reporting a 31% drop in first-quarter net income.
Shares of property developers raised the most in Shanghai after the National Development and Reform Commission said China's real estate sector is showing positive signs after the government took measures to stabilize the market. Poly Real Estate Group Co. surged 6.9%, while Gemdale Corp. added 3.8%.
Hang Seng falls 0.94%
The Hong Kong stock market ended down, on tracking downbeat cues from offshore market overnight and decline in other regional bourses today, with banks, energy and mining stocks leading losses. The Hang Seng Index ended down 267.34 points or 0.94% to 28133, off an intra-day high of 28317.87 and day low of 27997.90. Turnover increased to HK$170.86 billion from HK$163 billion on Wednesday.
Banks and financials declined after several lenders released their financial results late Wednesday, showing bad-loan ratios rose in the first quarter while net profit increased only slightly. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China dropped 1.9% to 6.74 and China Construction Bank Corp fell 1.8% to HK$7.55, after posting increases in non-performing loans and net profit growth of less than 2% each. Bank of China slipped 3.6% to HK$5.33 after its net income rose just 1.1% in the first quarter from a year earlier, while its earnings per share dropped by 3.3%. Among other banks, Agricultural Bank of China declined 0.9% to HK$4.38, China Merchants Bank Co fell 1.9% to HK$23.45, and China Minsheng Banking Corp fell 1.7% to HK$11.38. Hong Kong-based banks also recorded losses across the board, with Hang Seng Bank fell 0.5%, Bank of East Asia down 0.7%, Standard Chartered down 0.7%, and HSBC Holdings down 0.7%.
Shares of Chinese developers rose across the board as the NDRC sees recovery in property market. CR Land (01109) shot up 7.4% to HK$28.25. COLI (00688) jumped 4.7% to HK$32.45. Evergrande (03333) soared 19% to HK$7.35. Country Garden (02007) also rebounded 7% to HK$4.2. New World Dev (00017) put on 2.2% to HK$10.3 after the company said it has agreed to establish a new joint venture company with Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
Sensex closes lower in volatile trade
Indian benchmark indices edged lower after the US Federal Reserve left open the chance of an interest-rate hike as early as June in a statement following a two-day monetary policy meeting. Benchmark indices languished in negative zone almost throughout the trading session. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, provisionally settled above the psychological 27,000 level. The index alternately moved above and below that level in intraday trade. The Sensex was provisionally off 147.28 points or 0.54% to 27,078.65. India's stock market remains closed tomorrow, 1 May 2015, on account of Maharashtra Day.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley reportedly said in Lok Sabha during discussion on Finance Bill 2015 today, 30 April 2015, that some changes will be made to tax proposal announced in the Union Budget 2015-16. Meanwhile, the government today, 30 April 2015, reportedly withdrew proposals to set up an independent public debt management agency and strip the central bank of authority to regulate government bonds.
Shares of public sector oil marketing companies (PSU OMCs) edged higher. Bosch advanced after the National Stock Exchange (NSE) after trading hours yesterday, 29 April 2015, announced inclusion of the company in place of IDFC in the 50-unit CNX Nifty with effect from 29 May 2015. Shares of IDFC edged higher in volatile trade.
Foreign portfolio investors sold shares worth a net Rs 718.31 crore yesterday, 29 April 2015, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 912.46 crore yesterday, 29 April 2015, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.
Elsewhere in the Asia Pacific region: South Korea KOSPI fell 0.72% to 2127.17. Taiwan's Taiex index lost 0.34% to 9820.05. New Zealand's NZX50 rose 0.9% to 5791.34. Singapore's Straits Times index fell 0.41% at 3472.84. Indonesia's Jakarta Composite index fell 0.2% to 5095.56. Malaysia's KLCI was down 1.2% to 1820.45.
The regional equity market started the day's session on the back foot, after both Wall Street and European bourses suffered heavy losses overnight on weaker than forecast US gross domestic product data, which showed the US economy grew just 0.2% in the first quarter, pushing back expectations of the first US Federal Reserve rate hike to at least September.
Fed kept policies unchanged as widely expected. Notably, in the statement, the reference that 'an increase in the target federal funds rate remains unlikely' disappeared without being replaced by other languages. This change signalled that a rate hike in June cannot be ruled out. The Fed acknowledged the softness of recent economic data and attributed it to 'transitory factors'. Yet, the central bank appeared confident that consumer spending would rebound in the coming months as 'households' real incomes raised strongly, partly reflecting earlier declines in energy prices, and consumer sentiment remains high'.
The US Q1 GDP grew a mere 0.2%, much worse than expectation of 1% and prior quarter's 2.2%. Personal consumption slowed sharply to 1.9%, down from prior 4.4%. Price index dropped -0.1% versus prior 0.1%. A run of disappointing data confirmed that Fed won't hike interest rate from the current zero level in June. More importantly, it's raising some doubts whether the first hike would happen in September as some analysts now anticipate.
The disappointing news on the world's biggest economy comes on top of a worrying slowdown in China and persistent fears about Europe as Greece scrambles to avoid bankruptcy.
Among Asian bourses
Nikkei tanks 2.7% on weak global cues
Japanese share market ended steep lower, as investors elected to book profit after the benchmark indices hit 15 years high yesterday. Meanwhile, sentiment was bruised by negative lead from offshore markets, the Bank of Japan decision to left policy unchanged and as lacklustre U.S. growth reading clouded the likely timing of a Federal Reserve rate increase. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index retreated 538.94 points, or 2.69%, to finish at 19520.01. The broader Topix index of all first-section shares ended down 34.64 points, or 2.13%, up at 1592.79. The Japanese share market was closed on Wednesday for the Showa Day holiday.
Honda Motor Co declined 6.7% to 4041.50 yen after posting 43% drop in net profit to 97.80 billion yen for the fiscal fourth quarter ended March 2015. Quarterly sales rose 8% to 3.35 trillion yen. It reported profit of 523 billion yen for the fiscal year just ended, down 8.9 percent from the previous fiscal year. The automaker expects a profit of 525 billion yen for the fiscal year through March 2016.
Panasonic Corp advanced 0.5% to 1724 yen after Japanese electronics giant reported a 49% jump in net profit to 179.49 billion yen, although revenue edged down 0.3% to 7.7 trillion yen. For the current fiscal year, which started this month, Panasonic expects a 180 billion yen net profit on revenue of 8 trillion yen.
Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp declined 1.5% to 313 yen after steelmaker said its net profit fell almost 12% to 214.3 billion yen in its fiscal year to March, despite sales rose 1.7% to 5.6 trillion yen. The steelmaker also forecasted weak market conditions for the year ahead.
Oriental Land declined 5.2% to 8108 yen on reports that the operator of the Tokyo DisneySea and Tokyo Disneyland resorts planned to invest some $4.2 billion in the parks over the coming decade.
Japan's industrial output fell slightly 0.3% in March, registering second straight month of decline, according to the data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) released on Thursday. The data from METI also showed that output in the January-March quarter rose 1.7% from the previous three-month period, accelerating from the 0.8% quarterly gain in the previous three-month period.
The Bank of Japan left its policy unchanged on Thursday, sticking to the view that Japan is still on track to achieve 2% inflation despite stagnating price growth and lingering speculation that further action is needed. The central bank decided to keep its annual asset purchases at 80 trillion yen ($672.2 billion), ignoring a call from an influential lawmaker urging the bank to increase its purchases to 90 trillion yen.
Bank, miner drags Australia market down for third day
The Australian share market ended down for third consecutive session, on risk aversion selloff across the sectors, with the banks and miners being major losers amid a souring global mood and further fall in iron ore futures prices. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index declined 48.60 points, or 0.83%, to 5790, while the broader All Ordinaries Index slipped 44.50 points, or 0.76%, to 5773.70. Market turnover was relatively strong, with 1.88 billion shares changing hands worth of A$3.4 billion.
Financial stocks were down, with top four lenders being major losers, on tracking weak global peers and uncertainty over interest rate cuts from the Reserve Bank of Australia. Commonwealth Bank dropped 1.9% to A$88.87, National Australia Bank 1.8% to A$36.77, Westpac Banking Corp 2.5% to A$36.46, and ANZ Banking Group 2.2% to A$33.99.
Shares of mining companies declined after further fall in iron ore futures, with resources giant BHP Billiton down 0.2% to A$31.97, while Rio Tinto fell 1% to A$57.15. Iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group tanked 4.4% to A$2.17 and BC Iron slipped 4.4% to A$0.43.
Consumer staples players were the best performing corner of the market, led by a 1.7% gain in Wesfarmers to A$43.71. Woolworths added 0.9% to A$29.48. Qantas Airways added 4.6% to A$3.39 after the airline reported another month of higher fares.
Santos rallied 0.2% to A$8.30 after the Australian Financial Review reported that private-equity players are understood to have approached the board with a view to picking off some individual assets.
Shares of Insurance Australia Group closed up 2.8% to A$5.81, rebounding from losses after it warned of heavy costs from recent storms in Australia.
China market dives 0.8%
Mainland China equity market ended lower, on profit booking after steep runs this month and on caution ahead of manufacturing and other major data, with shares of energy, material and financial companies being major losers. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 34.96 point, or 0.78%, to 4441.66 points. The CSI300 index, the largest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen, dropped 24.44 points, or 0.51%, to 4749.89.
Total of six out of ten SSE industry groups declined, with energy issue leading the decline, with loss of 2.8%, followed by materials down 1.9%, telecommunication services down 1.9%, financials down 1.3%, consumer sta0ples down 0.5%, and consumer discretionary down 0.5%. Bucking the trend, utilities issue rose 2.8%, meanwhile information technology added 1.8% and industrials jumped 0.7%.
The best performers of the session on the Shanghai Composite were Jonjee Tech, which rose 10% to trade at CNY21.73 at the close. Meanwhile, Tyan Home added 10% to CNY21.62, Minfeng Paper was up 10% to CNY12.30, Huayin Elec rose 10% to CNY8.24, and Yunnan Yunwei jumped 10% to CNY10.77.
The worst performers on the Shanghai Composite were Sh Duolun, which fell 7.8% to CNY11.65 at the close. Jinling declined 7.3% to CNY17.20, Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Co was down 6.2% to CNY9.80, Yuguang fell 6.1% to CNY18.72, and Lianyungang dropped 5.8% to CNY13.76.
Shares of energy and material companies suffered heavy losses today, Aluminum Corp. of China dropped 5%, while China Oilfield Services retreated 2.9% after reporting a 31% drop in first-quarter net income.
Shares of property developers raised the most in Shanghai after the National Development and Reform Commission said China's real estate sector is showing positive signs after the government took measures to stabilize the market. Poly Real Estate Group Co. surged 6.9%, while Gemdale Corp. added 3.8%.
Hang Seng falls 0.94%
The Hong Kong stock market ended down, on tracking downbeat cues from offshore market overnight and decline in other regional bourses today, with banks, energy and mining stocks leading losses. The Hang Seng Index ended down 267.34 points or 0.94% to 28133, off an intra-day high of 28317.87 and day low of 27997.90. Turnover increased to HK$170.86 billion from HK$163 billion on Wednesday.
Banks and financials declined after several lenders released their financial results late Wednesday, showing bad-loan ratios rose in the first quarter while net profit increased only slightly. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China dropped 1.9% to 6.74 and China Construction Bank Corp fell 1.8% to HK$7.55, after posting increases in non-performing loans and net profit growth of less than 2% each. Bank of China slipped 3.6% to HK$5.33 after its net income rose just 1.1% in the first quarter from a year earlier, while its earnings per share dropped by 3.3%. Among other banks, Agricultural Bank of China declined 0.9% to HK$4.38, China Merchants Bank Co fell 1.9% to HK$23.45, and China Minsheng Banking Corp fell 1.7% to HK$11.38. Hong Kong-based banks also recorded losses across the board, with Hang Seng Bank fell 0.5%, Bank of East Asia down 0.7%, Standard Chartered down 0.7%, and HSBC Holdings down 0.7%.
Shares of Chinese developers rose across the board as the NDRC sees recovery in property market. CR Land (01109) shot up 7.4% to HK$28.25. COLI (00688) jumped 4.7% to HK$32.45. Evergrande (03333) soared 19% to HK$7.35. Country Garden (02007) also rebounded 7% to HK$4.2. New World Dev (00017) put on 2.2% to HK$10.3 after the company said it has agreed to establish a new joint venture company with Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
Sensex closes lower in volatile trade
Indian benchmark indices edged lower after the US Federal Reserve left open the chance of an interest-rate hike as early as June in a statement following a two-day monetary policy meeting. Benchmark indices languished in negative zone almost throughout the trading session. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, provisionally settled above the psychological 27,000 level. The index alternately moved above and below that level in intraday trade. The Sensex was provisionally off 147.28 points or 0.54% to 27,078.65. India's stock market remains closed tomorrow, 1 May 2015, on account of Maharashtra Day.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley reportedly said in Lok Sabha during discussion on Finance Bill 2015 today, 30 April 2015, that some changes will be made to tax proposal announced in the Union Budget 2015-16. Meanwhile, the government today, 30 April 2015, reportedly withdrew proposals to set up an independent public debt management agency and strip the central bank of authority to regulate government bonds.
Shares of public sector oil marketing companies (PSU OMCs) edged higher. Bosch advanced after the National Stock Exchange (NSE) after trading hours yesterday, 29 April 2015, announced inclusion of the company in place of IDFC in the 50-unit CNX Nifty with effect from 29 May 2015. Shares of IDFC edged higher in volatile trade.
Foreign portfolio investors sold shares worth a net Rs 718.31 crore yesterday, 29 April 2015, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 912.46 crore yesterday, 29 April 2015, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.
Elsewhere in the Asia Pacific region: South Korea KOSPI fell 0.72% to 2127.17. Taiwan's Taiex index lost 0.34% to 9820.05. New Zealand's NZX50 rose 0.9% to 5791.34. Singapore's Straits Times index fell 0.41% at 3472.84. Indonesia's Jakarta Composite index fell 0.2% to 5095.56. Malaysia's KLCI was down 1.2% to 1820.45.
