Headline equities of the Asia Pacific market mostly declined on Friday,
17 April 2015, on profit taking following recent rally. Also, selloff
pressure intensified on worries that Greece could default on its debts.
But, losses on the regional indices were limited amid hopes that the
interest rate hike in the United States could be imposed later than
June. Atlanta Fed chief Dennis Lockhart, a voting member of the Federal
Open Market Committee, the central bank's policy arm, said "A murky
economic picture is not an ideal circumstance for making a major policy
decision" on beginning to raise rates.
Among Asian bourses
Australia market weighs by miners, banks
The Australian share market closed down, dragging down by profit booking across the board, with shares of consumer goods, retailers, energy, financial, industrial and mining companies being major losers. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 69.60 points, or 1.17%, to 5877.90, while the broader All Ordinaries Index declined 66.10 points, or 1.12%, to 5851.50. Market turnover was relatively healthy, with 1.75 billion shares changing hands worth of A$4.61 billion. Over the week, the ASX200 fell 1.5%, its biggest weekly loss since mid-January.
Shares of materials companies declined as falling iron ore prices encouraged investors to book yesterday's gain. Among miners, resource heavyweight BHP Billiton declined 0.9% to A$29.97 and Rio Tinto lost 1.4% to A$55.09. Fortescue Metals Group dropped by 4.4% to A$1.87, as investors opted to book profits following Thursday's jump. Gold producer Newcrest Mining fell by 2.1% at A$14.18.
Energy players were mixed. Among energy counter, Woodside Petroleum slipped 0.2% to A$35.42 and origin Energy 1.1% to A$12.54, while Santos added 0.4% to A$7.96 and Oil Search 0.5% to A$8.13. Whitehaven Coal was, however, up 0.7% to A$1.55 after reporting an 85% surge in output in the previous quarter.
Financial stocks were also down, with top four lenders being major loser, as an upbeat local employment report on Thursday led markets to cut the odds for an easing by RBA in the next couple of months. Commonwealth Bank declined 1% to A$92.08, ANZ Banking Group 1.2% to A$35.60, Westpac Banking Corp 0.9% to A$38.90 and National Australia Bank 1.5% to A$38.72.
Nikkei dives 1.2% on stronger yen
Japanese share market ended with heavy losses, as profit booking triggered on tracking negative finish of Wall Street overnight, yen strength against the greenback and heightened concerns over forthcoming earnings results. Most of the heavily-weight stocks declined, with exporters and retailers being major losers. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index dropped 232.89 points, or 1.17%, to finish at 19652.88, while the broader Topix index of all first-section shares declined 10.73 points, or 0.67%, to 1588.69.
Shares of Sony Corp lost 3.7% to 3555.50 yen after Wikileaks published company documents. WikiLeaks published a searchable database of the Sony Pictures Entertainment emails and other documents, which hackers stole and posted late last year.
Shares of McDonald's Holdings Co. Japan fell 0.5% to 2636 yen in the wake of the company's loss warning for the current year. McDonald's Holdings Co forecasted an operating loss of 25 billion yen in 2015, following a loss of 6.71 billion yen last year. The fast-food chain now expects revenue to slide 10% to 200 billion yen and a net loss of 38 billion yen, compared with a 21.84 billion yen net loss last year.
Sharp Corp declined 5.8% to 261 yen after reports that the company clinched a 200 billion yen bailout deal from its banks in return for a promise to cut 5,000 jobs and split off its ailing smartphone display unit.
Yamaha Corp. tumbled 5.6% to 2211 yen after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. advised selling shares of the musical instrument maker.
China market jumps to fresh seven year high
Mainland China equity market advanced to fresh seven-year high, as investors continued hunting for riskier assets amid lingering speculation the government will take more measures to bolster economic growth. Investors also drew some solace from a bullish research report by brokerage Shenwan Hongyaun, which predicted that China's stock market will rise further on the back of central government support. Shanghai Composite Index advanced 92.47 points, or 2.2% to 4287.30 at the close, topping 4,200 for the first time since March 2008. The CSI300 index, the largest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen, added 82.59 points, or 1.83%, to 4596.14. For the week, the Shanghai Composite index gained 6.3% and CSI300 rose 5.8%.
Shares of nuclear-energy companies shined after China's cabinet, the State Council, approved construction of the country's first domestically designed nuclear reactor on Wednesday. Nuclear-power-equipment manufacturer Shanghai Electric Group jumped 0.1% to 20.57 yuan.
Shares of train maker China CNR Corp locked 10% upper circuit at 38.46 yuan and CSR Corp rose 9% to 35.88 yuan as investors focused on their planned merger after receiving the green light from securities regulators earlier this month.
Hang Seng falls 0.3%
Hong Kong stock market ended lower in volatile trade, as investors opted for profit booking late afternoon following a recent rally and after tepid economic data in the U.S. created uncertainty about when the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates. The Hang Seng Index ended down 86.59 points or 0.31% to 27635.12, off an intra-day high of 27969.41 and day low of 27597.68. Turnover increased to HK$214.52 billion fro HK$198.59 billion on Thursday.
Shares of oil majors climbed, as tensions in Yemen pushed oil prices to year high. PetroChina (00857) gained 1.1% to HK$10.62. Sinopec (00386) put on 0.4% to HK$7.01. But CNOOC (00883) declined 0.2% to HK$13.32.
BEA (00023) rose 1.1% to HK$33.25 after the bank inked strategic deal with WeBank. Tencent (00700) was down 0.8% to HK$158.80.
Telecom stocks were mixed after the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) promised to speed up the 4G infrastructure construction. China Mobile (00941) gained 2.1% to HK$107.70. China Unicom (00762) softened 0.6% to HK$13.68.
Indian market falls
Indian benchmark indices extended fall and hit fresh intraday low in mid-afternoon trade. At 14:15 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 152.64 points or 0.53% at 28,513.40. The CNX Nifty was down 72.65 points or 0.83% at 8,634.05. The fall in the Nifty in percentage terms was higher than the decline in the Sensex because a number of Nifty constituents which are not part of the Sensex declined. Lupin, IndusInd Bank, Idea Cellular, Yes Bank, Tech Mahindra, Cairn India and Zee Entertainment dropped. All these are Nifty constituents which are not part of the Sensex. Shares of all the three cement makers - ACC, Ambuja Cements and UltraTech Cement - which are Nifty constituents but are not part of the Sensex also dropped.
Capital goods stocks were mixed. Telecom stocks dropped. Hindalco Industries rose after Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) hiked its stake in the company.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley yesterday, 16 April 2015, signaled that the government is unlikely to intervene with regard to income tax notices directing payment of Minimum Alternate Taxation (MAT) by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) for past years. Separately, Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured investors of a predictable and stable tax regime while interacting with major pension fund managers of Canada yesterday, 16 April 2015.
Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan was quoted as saying in a newspaper interview that talks between RBI and the government have not yet focused on the composition of a planned monetary policy committee.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold Indian shares worth a net Rs 214.36 crore yesterday, 16 April 2015, as per provisional data as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 432.27 crore yesterday, 16 April 2015, as per provisional data.
Elsewhere in the Asia Pacific region: South Korea KOSPI added 0.2% to 2143.50. Taiwan's Taiex index slid 0.9% to 9570.93. New Zealand NZX50 declined 0.3% to 5861.48. Singapore's Straits Times index lost 0.2% at 3525.19. Malaysia's KLCI fell 0.1% to 1845.86. Indonesia's Jakarta Composite index slipped 0.2% to 5410.64.
Among Asian bourses
Australia market weighs by miners, banks
The Australian share market closed down, dragging down by profit booking across the board, with shares of consumer goods, retailers, energy, financial, industrial and mining companies being major losers. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 69.60 points, or 1.17%, to 5877.90, while the broader All Ordinaries Index declined 66.10 points, or 1.12%, to 5851.50. Market turnover was relatively healthy, with 1.75 billion shares changing hands worth of A$4.61 billion. Over the week, the ASX200 fell 1.5%, its biggest weekly loss since mid-January.
Shares of materials companies declined as falling iron ore prices encouraged investors to book yesterday's gain. Among miners, resource heavyweight BHP Billiton declined 0.9% to A$29.97 and Rio Tinto lost 1.4% to A$55.09. Fortescue Metals Group dropped by 4.4% to A$1.87, as investors opted to book profits following Thursday's jump. Gold producer Newcrest Mining fell by 2.1% at A$14.18.
Energy players were mixed. Among energy counter, Woodside Petroleum slipped 0.2% to A$35.42 and origin Energy 1.1% to A$12.54, while Santos added 0.4% to A$7.96 and Oil Search 0.5% to A$8.13. Whitehaven Coal was, however, up 0.7% to A$1.55 after reporting an 85% surge in output in the previous quarter.
Financial stocks were also down, with top four lenders being major loser, as an upbeat local employment report on Thursday led markets to cut the odds for an easing by RBA in the next couple of months. Commonwealth Bank declined 1% to A$92.08, ANZ Banking Group 1.2% to A$35.60, Westpac Banking Corp 0.9% to A$38.90 and National Australia Bank 1.5% to A$38.72.
Nikkei dives 1.2% on stronger yen
Japanese share market ended with heavy losses, as profit booking triggered on tracking negative finish of Wall Street overnight, yen strength against the greenback and heightened concerns over forthcoming earnings results. Most of the heavily-weight stocks declined, with exporters and retailers being major losers. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index dropped 232.89 points, or 1.17%, to finish at 19652.88, while the broader Topix index of all first-section shares declined 10.73 points, or 0.67%, to 1588.69.
Shares of Sony Corp lost 3.7% to 3555.50 yen after Wikileaks published company documents. WikiLeaks published a searchable database of the Sony Pictures Entertainment emails and other documents, which hackers stole and posted late last year.
Shares of McDonald's Holdings Co. Japan fell 0.5% to 2636 yen in the wake of the company's loss warning for the current year. McDonald's Holdings Co forecasted an operating loss of 25 billion yen in 2015, following a loss of 6.71 billion yen last year. The fast-food chain now expects revenue to slide 10% to 200 billion yen and a net loss of 38 billion yen, compared with a 21.84 billion yen net loss last year.
Sharp Corp declined 5.8% to 261 yen after reports that the company clinched a 200 billion yen bailout deal from its banks in return for a promise to cut 5,000 jobs and split off its ailing smartphone display unit.
Yamaha Corp. tumbled 5.6% to 2211 yen after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. advised selling shares of the musical instrument maker.
China market jumps to fresh seven year high
Mainland China equity market advanced to fresh seven-year high, as investors continued hunting for riskier assets amid lingering speculation the government will take more measures to bolster economic growth. Investors also drew some solace from a bullish research report by brokerage Shenwan Hongyaun, which predicted that China's stock market will rise further on the back of central government support. Shanghai Composite Index advanced 92.47 points, or 2.2% to 4287.30 at the close, topping 4,200 for the first time since March 2008. The CSI300 index, the largest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen, added 82.59 points, or 1.83%, to 4596.14. For the week, the Shanghai Composite index gained 6.3% and CSI300 rose 5.8%.
Shares of nuclear-energy companies shined after China's cabinet, the State Council, approved construction of the country's first domestically designed nuclear reactor on Wednesday. Nuclear-power-equipment manufacturer Shanghai Electric Group jumped 0.1% to 20.57 yuan.
Shares of train maker China CNR Corp locked 10% upper circuit at 38.46 yuan and CSR Corp rose 9% to 35.88 yuan as investors focused on their planned merger after receiving the green light from securities regulators earlier this month.
Hang Seng falls 0.3%
Hong Kong stock market ended lower in volatile trade, as investors opted for profit booking late afternoon following a recent rally and after tepid economic data in the U.S. created uncertainty about when the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates. The Hang Seng Index ended down 86.59 points or 0.31% to 27635.12, off an intra-day high of 27969.41 and day low of 27597.68. Turnover increased to HK$214.52 billion fro HK$198.59 billion on Thursday.
Shares of oil majors climbed, as tensions in Yemen pushed oil prices to year high. PetroChina (00857) gained 1.1% to HK$10.62. Sinopec (00386) put on 0.4% to HK$7.01. But CNOOC (00883) declined 0.2% to HK$13.32.
BEA (00023) rose 1.1% to HK$33.25 after the bank inked strategic deal with WeBank. Tencent (00700) was down 0.8% to HK$158.80.
Telecom stocks were mixed after the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) promised to speed up the 4G infrastructure construction. China Mobile (00941) gained 2.1% to HK$107.70. China Unicom (00762) softened 0.6% to HK$13.68.
Indian market falls
Indian benchmark indices extended fall and hit fresh intraday low in mid-afternoon trade. At 14:15 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 152.64 points or 0.53% at 28,513.40. The CNX Nifty was down 72.65 points or 0.83% at 8,634.05. The fall in the Nifty in percentage terms was higher than the decline in the Sensex because a number of Nifty constituents which are not part of the Sensex declined. Lupin, IndusInd Bank, Idea Cellular, Yes Bank, Tech Mahindra, Cairn India and Zee Entertainment dropped. All these are Nifty constituents which are not part of the Sensex. Shares of all the three cement makers - ACC, Ambuja Cements and UltraTech Cement - which are Nifty constituents but are not part of the Sensex also dropped.
Capital goods stocks were mixed. Telecom stocks dropped. Hindalco Industries rose after Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) hiked its stake in the company.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley yesterday, 16 April 2015, signaled that the government is unlikely to intervene with regard to income tax notices directing payment of Minimum Alternate Taxation (MAT) by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) for past years. Separately, Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured investors of a predictable and stable tax regime while interacting with major pension fund managers of Canada yesterday, 16 April 2015.
Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan was quoted as saying in a newspaper interview that talks between RBI and the government have not yet focused on the composition of a planned monetary policy committee.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold Indian shares worth a net Rs 214.36 crore yesterday, 16 April 2015, as per provisional data as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 432.27 crore yesterday, 16 April 2015, as per provisional data.
Elsewhere in the Asia Pacific region: South Korea KOSPI added 0.2% to 2143.50. Taiwan's Taiex index slid 0.9% to 9570.93. New Zealand NZX50 declined 0.3% to 5861.48. Singapore's Straits Times index lost 0.2% at 3525.19. Malaysia's KLCI fell 0.1% to 1845.86. Indonesia's Jakarta Composite index slipped 0.2% to 5410.64.
