Asia Pacific share market advanced on the last trading session of the
week ended Friday, 22 May 2015, as risk sentiments boosted by on
tracking positive lead from record close of Wall Street overnight and
speculation of more stimulus from the Chinese government.
Regional markets gained momentum from Wall Street, where shares hit a new high on Thursday. The S&P 500 closed up 0.2% to a new all-time record after weak US data on home sales, manufacturing and business activity appeared to quash plans of an interest rate rise in June.
China's factory activity contracted for a third month in May and output shrank at the fastest rate in just more than a year, a private survey showed on Thursday, indicating persistent weakness in the world's second-largest economy that requires increased policy support. The poor reading, which followed a raft of downbeat April data, reinforced analysts' views that the Chinese government has to take bolder steps to combat a protracted slowdown, as growth threatens to drop below 7% for the first time since the global financial crisis. The central bank is widely expected to cut interest rates further in coming months, on top of three reductions since November, and is also likely to lower banks' reserve requirements again to reduce companies' borrowing costs and encourage more lending.
Among Asian bourses
Nikkei climbs to fresh 15-years peak
Japanese share market closed at fresh 15 years high, after the Bank of Japan on Friday kept its policy on hold, saying the country's economy is improving moderately. The Nikkei Stock Average ended up 0.3% at 20264.41. The Topix index of all Tokyo Stock Exchange First Section issues edged up 0.1% to 1647.85, with an all-time high market capitalization, previously set in 1989. As of Friday, the figure stood at Y591.3 trillion. For the week, the Nikkei index added 2.7%. Year to date, it was up 16.1%.
The Bank of Japan nine-member policy board voted 8-1 to leave its policy framework unchanged, keeping the bank's annual asset purchases at Yen80 trillion ($660 billion). The BOJ last expanded its easing measures in October. On a sector-by-sector basis, the BOJ raised its view of consumer spending and housing investment. It cut its assessment of public fixed investment.
Energy shares tracked gains for the oil futures, with Inpex up 2.4%, while Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. rose 2%. Trading house Itochu Corp gained 2.6% on speculation of strong dividends, as well as relief over its investment in China's Citic Group.
Shares of railway operator Seibu Holdings tumbled 11% on reports that U.S. private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management has begun selling part of its stake since shares were listed a year ago. Cerberus is Seibu's top shareholder, with a roughly 35% stake, plans to sell 33.75 million shares, about 10% of those outstanding.
Shares of Canon lost 1.7% after Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock to Sell from Hold, citing the discovery of a defective sensor in a new entry-level SLR camera that could affect filming under some conditions and prompt the company to lower its earnings guidance.
Toshiba shares closed up 0.4% despite the tech firm saying it would expand an accounting probe to other operations with a focus on its TV, computer and chip businesses. The company has already said that it is investigating bookkeeping irregularities for some infrastructure projects.
Australia market closes flat
The Australian share market finished marginally higher, as strong gains among energy and realty stocks were offset by weakness among the shares of healthcare, consumer goods, and big four banks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index advanced 2.40 points, or 0.04%, to 5664.70, while the broader All Ordinaries Index added 4.60 points, or 0.08%, to 5668.20.
Market turnover was relatively light, with 1.85 billion shares changing hands worth of A$3.89 billion. For the week, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index closed down by 1.2% and the broader All Ordinaries Index ended down 1.1%.
Shares of energy sector gained the most among ASX sectoral peers, due to a bounce in energy commodities overnight. Among energy shares, Santos climbed up 2.3% to A$8.09 and Oil Search rose 2.4% to A$7.57. Origin Energy gained 1.8% to A$12.80. Woodside Petroleum closed 2.4% higher at A$35.70.
Shares of healthcare sectors declined the most among ASX sectoral peers on profit booking following recent rally, with hearing implant maker Cochlear leading losses, which down by 0.6% to A$87.92, while blood products supplier CSL dropped 0.6% to A$91.12.
Luxury fashion retailer Oroton declined 13.3% to A$2.22 after cutting its earnings forecast. Oroton said today that third quarter figures, including the key month of April that resulted in an unexpected A$2 million decline in earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), had caused the weaker outlook.As a result of the soft trading, the group said it no longer expected to increase EBIT in the second half of the financial year, compared to the latter half of fiscal 2014. The retailer advised the market in March that it was expecting "modest" growth in the second half.
Shanghai Composite hits fresh seven-year high
Mainland China share market advanced to fresh seven-year high, on mounting speculation of further policy support from Beijing after recent poor economic indicators such as a disappointing manufacturing index on Thursday. The rally was also supported by return of money into the market from investors who weren't allocated shares in recent initial public offerings. The Shanghai Composite Index advanced 128.17 points, or 2.83%, to finish at 4657.60 points. The CSI300 index added 110.35 points, or 2.28%, to 4951.33. For the week, the Shanghai market gained 8.9%.
All 10 SSE industry groups ended higher, with energy issue being top gainer, with rise of 4%, followed by utilities up 3.3%, financials up 3.3%, materials up 3.3%, consumer staples up 2.8%, telecommunication services up 2.4%, industrials up 2.3%, consumer discretionary up 1.6%, healthcare up 1.5%, information technology up 0.1%.
Shares of securities industry rose, with Sealand Securities and Dongxing Securities both surging by the daily limit of 10% to end at 21.1 yuan and 37.11 yuan, respectively.
The banking sector rose by nearly 2%. Industrial Bank Co. gained 4.83% to 19.54 yuan per share, while Huaxia Bank rose 4.72% to end at 16.18 yuan.
Hong Kong stocks jump 1.7%
The Hong Kong stock market posted a solid rebound, bolstered by tracking gains in the mainland Chinese shares. The benchmark index opened up nearly 200 points and soared more than 500 points at one stage. The Hang Seng Index ended up 469.11 points or 1.7% to 27992.83, off an intra-day high of 28041.32 and day low of 27696.97. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, benchmark measure of performance of mainland China enterprises, added 301.20 points, or 2.13%, to 14433.36 points. Turnover rose to HK$142.6 billion from HK$124.5 billion on Thursday.
Shares of Hong Kong listed Chinese financial players shined, with brokerage firm Guotai Junan International Holdings leading rally, up 8.6% to HK$14.70. Shares of New China Life Insurance Co jumped 3.3% to HK$51.65 and China Merchants Bank Co rose 2.4% to HK$23.60.
BOCHK (02388) soared 8.2% to HK$33.15 and BOC (03988) added 2% to HK$5.27 after both banks issued joint statement noting that the sale of Nanyang Commercial Bank stake by BOCHK could proceed on getting the regulatory approval. Meanwhile, BOC may transfer ASEAN assets to BOCHK.
Belle (01880) surged 12.6% to HK$11.16 after the company denied market talks that it has signed strategic agreement with Alibaba's Tmall.
Lenovo (00992) slid 4.4% to HK$12.9 after the company announced its quarterly earnings yesterday. Its chairman also noted that his earlier disposal of company's stake was due to personal financial arrangement.
Sensex, Nifty attain five-week closing high
Indian benchmark indices closed higher on the back of modest gains in heavyweights HDFC, L&T and Reliance Industries (RIL). The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, and the 50-unit CNX Nifty, both, attained five-week closing high. But, the Sensex failed to retain the psychological 28,000 mark after moving past that level in intraday trade. The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was negative. The Sensex garnered 148.15 points or 0.53% to settle at 27,957.50. The Nifty rose 37.95 points or 0.45% to settle at 8,458.95.
Shares of banking giant State Bank of India (SBI) edged lower in volatile trade after the state-run bank reported Q4 March 2015 result. Pharmaceutical stocks saw mixed trend. Power generation shares edged lower.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley reportedly said at a news conference today, 22 May 2015, to mark the first year of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government in power that India should bring down its effective tax rate to global levels. Meanwhile, the Indian government yesterday, 21 May 2015, announced an overhaul of the country's foreign direct investment (FDI) policy rules for overseas Indians.
Foreign portfolio investors sold Indian shares worth a net Rs 175.70 crore into the secondary equity market yesterday, 21 May 2015, as per data released by the depositories. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 404.01 crore yesterday, 21 May 2015, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.
Elsewhere in the Asia Pacific region: Taiwan's Taiex index grew 0.63% to 9638.80. South Korea's KOSPI added 1.1% to 2146.10. New Zealand's NZX50 added 0.12% to 5776.02. Singapore's Straits Times index was 0.3% higher at 3450.18. Malaysia's KLCI declined 0.42% to 1787.50. Indonesia's Jakarta Composite index added 0.04% to 5315.15.
Regional markets gained momentum from Wall Street, where shares hit a new high on Thursday. The S&P 500 closed up 0.2% to a new all-time record after weak US data on home sales, manufacturing and business activity appeared to quash plans of an interest rate rise in June.
China's factory activity contracted for a third month in May and output shrank at the fastest rate in just more than a year, a private survey showed on Thursday, indicating persistent weakness in the world's second-largest economy that requires increased policy support. The poor reading, which followed a raft of downbeat April data, reinforced analysts' views that the Chinese government has to take bolder steps to combat a protracted slowdown, as growth threatens to drop below 7% for the first time since the global financial crisis. The central bank is widely expected to cut interest rates further in coming months, on top of three reductions since November, and is also likely to lower banks' reserve requirements again to reduce companies' borrowing costs and encourage more lending.
Among Asian bourses
Nikkei climbs to fresh 15-years peak
Japanese share market closed at fresh 15 years high, after the Bank of Japan on Friday kept its policy on hold, saying the country's economy is improving moderately. The Nikkei Stock Average ended up 0.3% at 20264.41. The Topix index of all Tokyo Stock Exchange First Section issues edged up 0.1% to 1647.85, with an all-time high market capitalization, previously set in 1989. As of Friday, the figure stood at Y591.3 trillion. For the week, the Nikkei index added 2.7%. Year to date, it was up 16.1%.
The Bank of Japan nine-member policy board voted 8-1 to leave its policy framework unchanged, keeping the bank's annual asset purchases at Yen80 trillion ($660 billion). The BOJ last expanded its easing measures in October. On a sector-by-sector basis, the BOJ raised its view of consumer spending and housing investment. It cut its assessment of public fixed investment.
Energy shares tracked gains for the oil futures, with Inpex up 2.4%, while Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. rose 2%. Trading house Itochu Corp gained 2.6% on speculation of strong dividends, as well as relief over its investment in China's Citic Group.
Shares of railway operator Seibu Holdings tumbled 11% on reports that U.S. private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management has begun selling part of its stake since shares were listed a year ago. Cerberus is Seibu's top shareholder, with a roughly 35% stake, plans to sell 33.75 million shares, about 10% of those outstanding.
Shares of Canon lost 1.7% after Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock to Sell from Hold, citing the discovery of a defective sensor in a new entry-level SLR camera that could affect filming under some conditions and prompt the company to lower its earnings guidance.
Toshiba shares closed up 0.4% despite the tech firm saying it would expand an accounting probe to other operations with a focus on its TV, computer and chip businesses. The company has already said that it is investigating bookkeeping irregularities for some infrastructure projects.
Australia market closes flat
The Australian share market finished marginally higher, as strong gains among energy and realty stocks were offset by weakness among the shares of healthcare, consumer goods, and big four banks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index advanced 2.40 points, or 0.04%, to 5664.70, while the broader All Ordinaries Index added 4.60 points, or 0.08%, to 5668.20.
Market turnover was relatively light, with 1.85 billion shares changing hands worth of A$3.89 billion. For the week, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index closed down by 1.2% and the broader All Ordinaries Index ended down 1.1%.
Shares of energy sector gained the most among ASX sectoral peers, due to a bounce in energy commodities overnight. Among energy shares, Santos climbed up 2.3% to A$8.09 and Oil Search rose 2.4% to A$7.57. Origin Energy gained 1.8% to A$12.80. Woodside Petroleum closed 2.4% higher at A$35.70.
Shares of healthcare sectors declined the most among ASX sectoral peers on profit booking following recent rally, with hearing implant maker Cochlear leading losses, which down by 0.6% to A$87.92, while blood products supplier CSL dropped 0.6% to A$91.12.
Luxury fashion retailer Oroton declined 13.3% to A$2.22 after cutting its earnings forecast. Oroton said today that third quarter figures, including the key month of April that resulted in an unexpected A$2 million decline in earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), had caused the weaker outlook.As a result of the soft trading, the group said it no longer expected to increase EBIT in the second half of the financial year, compared to the latter half of fiscal 2014. The retailer advised the market in March that it was expecting "modest" growth in the second half.
Shanghai Composite hits fresh seven-year high
Mainland China share market advanced to fresh seven-year high, on mounting speculation of further policy support from Beijing after recent poor economic indicators such as a disappointing manufacturing index on Thursday. The rally was also supported by return of money into the market from investors who weren't allocated shares in recent initial public offerings. The Shanghai Composite Index advanced 128.17 points, or 2.83%, to finish at 4657.60 points. The CSI300 index added 110.35 points, or 2.28%, to 4951.33. For the week, the Shanghai market gained 8.9%.
All 10 SSE industry groups ended higher, with energy issue being top gainer, with rise of 4%, followed by utilities up 3.3%, financials up 3.3%, materials up 3.3%, consumer staples up 2.8%, telecommunication services up 2.4%, industrials up 2.3%, consumer discretionary up 1.6%, healthcare up 1.5%, information technology up 0.1%.
Shares of securities industry rose, with Sealand Securities and Dongxing Securities both surging by the daily limit of 10% to end at 21.1 yuan and 37.11 yuan, respectively.
The banking sector rose by nearly 2%. Industrial Bank Co. gained 4.83% to 19.54 yuan per share, while Huaxia Bank rose 4.72% to end at 16.18 yuan.
Hong Kong stocks jump 1.7%
The Hong Kong stock market posted a solid rebound, bolstered by tracking gains in the mainland Chinese shares. The benchmark index opened up nearly 200 points and soared more than 500 points at one stage. The Hang Seng Index ended up 469.11 points or 1.7% to 27992.83, off an intra-day high of 28041.32 and day low of 27696.97. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, benchmark measure of performance of mainland China enterprises, added 301.20 points, or 2.13%, to 14433.36 points. Turnover rose to HK$142.6 billion from HK$124.5 billion on Thursday.
Shares of Hong Kong listed Chinese financial players shined, with brokerage firm Guotai Junan International Holdings leading rally, up 8.6% to HK$14.70. Shares of New China Life Insurance Co jumped 3.3% to HK$51.65 and China Merchants Bank Co rose 2.4% to HK$23.60.
BOCHK (02388) soared 8.2% to HK$33.15 and BOC (03988) added 2% to HK$5.27 after both banks issued joint statement noting that the sale of Nanyang Commercial Bank stake by BOCHK could proceed on getting the regulatory approval. Meanwhile, BOC may transfer ASEAN assets to BOCHK.
Belle (01880) surged 12.6% to HK$11.16 after the company denied market talks that it has signed strategic agreement with Alibaba's Tmall.
Lenovo (00992) slid 4.4% to HK$12.9 after the company announced its quarterly earnings yesterday. Its chairman also noted that his earlier disposal of company's stake was due to personal financial arrangement.
Sensex, Nifty attain five-week closing high
Indian benchmark indices closed higher on the back of modest gains in heavyweights HDFC, L&T and Reliance Industries (RIL). The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, and the 50-unit CNX Nifty, both, attained five-week closing high. But, the Sensex failed to retain the psychological 28,000 mark after moving past that level in intraday trade. The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market was negative. The Sensex garnered 148.15 points or 0.53% to settle at 27,957.50. The Nifty rose 37.95 points or 0.45% to settle at 8,458.95.
Shares of banking giant State Bank of India (SBI) edged lower in volatile trade after the state-run bank reported Q4 March 2015 result. Pharmaceutical stocks saw mixed trend. Power generation shares edged lower.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley reportedly said at a news conference today, 22 May 2015, to mark the first year of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government in power that India should bring down its effective tax rate to global levels. Meanwhile, the Indian government yesterday, 21 May 2015, announced an overhaul of the country's foreign direct investment (FDI) policy rules for overseas Indians.
Foreign portfolio investors sold Indian shares worth a net Rs 175.70 crore into the secondary equity market yesterday, 21 May 2015, as per data released by the depositories. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 404.01 crore yesterday, 21 May 2015, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.
Elsewhere in the Asia Pacific region: Taiwan's Taiex index grew 0.63% to 9638.80. South Korea's KOSPI added 1.1% to 2146.10. New Zealand's NZX50 added 0.12% to 5776.02. Singapore's Straits Times index was 0.3% higher at 3450.18. Malaysia's KLCI declined 0.42% to 1787.50. Indonesia's Jakarta Composite index added 0.04% to 5315.15.
