HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Asian markets ended mostly lower Tuesday, with Japanese stocks snapping a six-session winning streak as exporters dropped on the yen's renewed strength.
Trading volumes were light in several regional markets as investors counted down to the coming holiday season.
"I think we are almost falling into an early Christmas mode," said Martin Lakos, Macquarie Private Wealth division director.
"Volumes are starting to be a bit softer," he added.
The Nikkei 225 Average shed 0.3% to 10,140.47 for its first loss in seven sessions, with a new government stimulus package failing to inspire that market.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 and Taiwan's Taiex slipped 0.1% each.
South Korea's Kospi ended down 0.3% and China's Shanghai Composite declined 1.1%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1.2%, as heavyweight stock HSBC Holdings dropped for a third session amid reports that Dubai World is in talks with its bank creditors, including HSBC, after recently seeking a standstill on billions of dollars of its debt. HSBC /quotes/comstock/22h!e:5 (HK:5 90.55, -1.80, -1.95%) /quotes/comstock/13*!hbc/quotes/nls/hbc (HBC 56.54, -2.12, -3.61%) shares dropped 2%.
In afternoon trading, India's Sensex rose 0.5%, while Singapore's Straits Times Index was flat.
U.S. stocks ended broadly lower in the previous session, following a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.
"The market just wanted to get some kind of indication on the outlook for rates. What we heard was no different to what we already knew -- that rates would stay exceptionally low for an extended period," said David Taylor at CMC Markets in Sydney.
Banks were generally weaker across the region, in line with their U.S. peers, as the recent better-than-expected U.S. economic data, in particular Friday's employment report, have raised the possibility of higher interest rates ahead, despite Mr. Bernanke's continued dovish stance.
In Sydney, National Australia Bank /quotes/comstock/22x!e:nab (AU:NAB 27.89, -0.11, -0.39%) /quotes/comstock/11i!nabzy (NABZ.Y 25.37, -0.48, -1.86%) slipped 0.4% and Commonwealth Bank of Australia /quotes/comstock/22x!e:cba (AU:CBA 53.00, -0.70, -1.30%) /quotes/comstock/11i!cbauf (CBAUF 49.50, +2.00, +4.21%) slid 1.3%.
Shinhan Financial /quotes/comstock/13*!shg/quotes/nls/shg (SHG 81.00, -0.83, -1.01%) eased 0.6% in Seoul, Mizuho Financial Group /quotes/comstock/13*!mfg/quotes/nls/mfg (MFG 3.71, -0.07, -1.85%) /quotes/comstock/!8411 (JP:8411 170.00, +1.00, +0.59%) fell 2.4% and Shinsei Bank /quotes/comstock/11i!sklky (SKLK.Y 2.46, +0.01, +0.41%) slumped 6.4% in Tokyo.
Bank of China /quotes/comstock/11i!bachy (BACH.Y 14.49, -0.06, -0.41%) /quotes/comstock/22h!e:3988 (HK:3988 4.35, -0.07, -1.58%) /quotes/comstock/28c!e:601988 (CN:601988 4.23, -0.06, -1.40%) lost 1.4% in Shanghai and 1.6% in Hong Kong, while DBS Group Holdings /quotes/comstock/11i!dbsdy (DBSD.Y 42.90, 0.00, 0.00%) gave up 0.5% in Singapore trading.
In Tokyo, exporters were trading lower as the yen gained against the dollar. But "selling is not due to negative sentiment; it's because the market is overheated," said Fujio Ando, strategist at Chibagin Asset Management. Nissan Motor /quotes/comstock/11i!nsan.y (NSAN.Y 16.45, +0.01, +0.06%) /quotes/comstock/!7201 (JP:7201 743.00, +15.00, +2.06%) declined 0.9%, with Nikon /quotes/comstock/11i!ninoy (NINO.Y 191.75, +6.75, +3.65%) /quotes/comstock/!7731 (JP:7731 1,734, +87.00, +5.28%) and Canon /quotes/comstock/13*!caj/quotes/nls/caj (CAJ 41.33, +0.29, +0.71%) /quotes/comstock/!7751 (JP:7751 3,750, +120.00, +3.31%) falling 1.1% each.
Reaction to the Japanese government's new stimulus package was muted. The government earlier Tuesday unveiled the package, which included 7.2 trillion yen ($80.6 billion) in spending. The stimulus plan is aimed at countering problems threatening the country's flagging economic recovery, such as the yen's strength and deflation. Read full story on the stimulus plan.
UBS senior economist Takuji Aida said the stimulus plan "doesn't necessarily mean that deflationary pressure will ease anytime soon. For that, the government must spend much more."
Several energy stocks declined as crude-oil futures fell to a fresh eight-week low in New York Monday amid concerns about continued weak U.S. oil demand.
Woodside Petroleum /quotes/comstock/22x!e:wpl (AU:WPL 48.20, -0.10, -0.21%) /quotes/comstock/11i!wopey (WOPE.Y 43.85, -0.82, -1.84%) slipped 0.2%, Inpex /quotes/comstock/!1605 (JP:1605 683,000, +15,000, +2.25%) lost 0.6% in Tokyo, with Cnooc /quotes/comstock/22h!e:883 (HK:883 11.88, -0.14, -1.17%) /quotes/comstock/13*!ceo/quotes/nls/ceo (CEO 154.17, -2.46, -1.57%) dropping 1.2% and PetroChina /quotes/comstock/13*!ptr/quotes/nls/ptr (PTR 126.40, -1.46, -1.14%) /quotes/comstock/22h!e:857 (HK:857 9.69, -0.14, -1.42%) sliding 1.6% in Hong Kong.
January Nymex crude-oil futures, which settled 2% lower at $73.93 a barrel Monday, were recently up 3 cents at $73.96 a barrel on Globex.
For crude oil, "there is no lack of bearish factors to choose from at the moment," said a Citi Futures Perspective analyst, Tim Evans. "The operative scenario may depend on whether fund managers walk toward the exits or run," he said.
The dollar was lower at 89.13 yen compared with 89.37 yen, which traders attributed to exporters selling in Japan. The euro was fetching 132.09 yen versus 132.83 yen. Read currencies column.
Lead December Japanese government-bond futures were up 0.18 at 140.09 points. Earlier in the day, Japan's Finance Ministry sold 550.5 billion yen of 2.2% bonds at lowest price of 99.50, which missed Tokyo traders' expectations of 99.80.
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