Asia Pacific Market: Stocks fall on concern over the pace of global growth
Asia Pacific share market closed down on Monday, 17 November 2014, hit by concern over the pace of global growth after data showed Japan, the world's third-largest economy, unexpectedly slipped into recession. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slipped 1.3% to 139.87.
Japan's gross domestic product contracted for second straight quarter -- matching the textbook definition of a recession. Japan's economy shrank an annualised 1.6% in July-September, following a 7.3% drop in the second quarter in the wake of a sales tax hike that clobbered consumer spending.
The Shanghai-Hong Kong exchange link started today, with global investors meeting the daily limit for buying mainland stocks allowed through the China exchange link. The southbound allowed daily quota of HK$10.5 billion was only 17% utilized, while the northbound daily quota of RMB13 billion was fully used up one hour before the A-share market closed.
Among Asian bourses
Nikkei tanks after GDP slips into recession
Japanese share market ended steep lower, as profit taking across the board, after official data showed Japan's economy unexpectedly dropped into a recession. The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange, which closed at its highest level in more than seven years on Friday, was ended 3% down at 16973.80.
Shares of consumer lenders and insurers were down the most among the broader Tokyo industry groups. Orix Corp. dropped 5.1% to 1,555 yen. Zenkoku Hosho Co., a credit-guarantee company, declined 4.1% to 3,480 yen. Toyota lost 2.1% to 6,825 yen. Central Japan Railway slumped 4.6% to 17,120 yen after SMBC Nikko cut its rating on the stock to neutral from outperform.
Electric Power Development Co. slumped 4.6% to 3,960 yen, leading utilities lower. Tokyo Electric Power Co. dropped 1.6% to 435 yen.
Mitsubishi UFJ jumped 2.2% to 659 yen to be the biggest boost to the Topix, after posting as net income up 9.1% to 578.7 billion yen for the six months ended Sept. 30.
Aussie market fall 0.77%
Australian share market closed down, as a rising US dollar, sputtering Japanese economy and pending changes for the financial system weighed on investor sentiments. Almost all sectoral indices dived into sea of red, exception being bullion, with shares in healthcare, technology, realty, and financials companies being major decliners. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index was down 41.80 points, or 0.77%, to 5412.50 and the broader All Ordinaries Index fell by 37.20 points, or 0.2%, to 5396.60.
Shares of financial players were down, with top four lenders being major losers, as investors grow increasingly worried about the impact of tougher regulations and higher capital reserve requirements. Commonwealth Bank of Australia shares fell 1% to A$80.99. Westpac Banking Corp dropped 0.9% to A$32.72, while National Australia Bank eased 0.9% to A$32.39 and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group finished 1.3% lower at A$31.90.
Equities of the energy producers closed mixed, after the global benchmark Brent oil price jumped 1.9% to $US79.41 a barrel on Friday, briefly interrupting a more than 30% slump in the price of the commodity since June. Santos added gained 0.1% to A$11.99, while Beach Energy added 0.5% to A$1.07. But heavyweight Woodside Petroleum drooped 0.9% to A$39.10 and Oil Search fell 1.1% to A$8.10.
Shanghai Composite falls 0.19% in volatile trade
Mainland China share market closed down, as profit booking among mainland investors outweighed fresh fund inflows from international investors after the commencement of stock-trading link between Shanghai and Hong Kong today. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.19%, or 4.82 points, to 2474.01 at the close.
The Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect program started on Monday, opening up mainland Chinese markets to global capital. Foreign capital showed much stronger appetite for the yuan-denominated A-shares in Shanghai, with the 13 billion yuan worth of daily quota being used up one hour before the A-share market closed. In contrast, mainland investors took a more restrained approach to the opportunity to trade in Hong Kong, with only 16% of the 10.5 billion yuan ($1.7 billion) daily quota allocated to them used.
Shares of brokerages were down on profit taking following strong gain in recent weeks amid hopes of higher revenue from the start of the trading link. Citic Securities lost 2.7% to CNY14.96, Haitong Securities eased 2.7% to CNY11.82 and Hong Yuan Securities slid 2.3% to CNY15.13.
Banks were also subdued. China Minsheng Banking Corp. fell 2.8% to CNY6.58, China Citic Bank dropped 2.4% to CNY4.95 and Bank of China declined 2.3% to CNY3.02.
Hang Seng falls 1.2% on profit booking
Hong Kong share market closed lower, as profit taking across the board following strong gain last week after the announcement of official launch date of the Shanghai-HK Stock Connect scheme. The Hang Seng Index ended down 290 points to 23,797, off an intra-day high of 24,313 and low of 23,787. Turnover rose to HK$83 billion from HK$72.6 billion on Friday.
Hong Kong indexes opened more than 1% higher but soon sagged to close lower on the day. The run-up to the launch saw a strong market rally, partly on expectations of an increase in fund flows from the scheme, leaving investors cautious of chasing stocks any higher.
The Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect program started on Monday, opening up mainland Chinese markets to global capital. The southbound allowed daily quota of HK$10.5 billion was only 17% utilized, while the northbound daily quota of RMB13 billion was fully used up one hour before the A-share market closed.
Bourse operator HKEx (00388) slipped 4% to HK$178.1 after hitting a high of HK$189 earlier. It was the worst blue chip performer in the morning. Tencent (00700) dipped 2% to HK$129.1 after hitting a high of HK$134.9. Both stock recorded HK$4.4bn worth of turnover separately.
Brokerages were generally weaker on profit taking following strong gain in recent weeks amid hopes of higher revenue from the start of the trading link. Haitong Sec (06837) plunged 6% to HK$13.52. CGS (06881) slid 5% to HK$6.49. CC Securities (01375) dived 12.3% to HK$4.06. First Shanghai (00227) pounded 10% to HK$1.59.
Sensex, Nifty hit new peak
Indian stock market closed at record highs, on heavy buying by foreign funds and retail investors, as state-run lenders rallied after State Bank of India reported better-than-expected asset quality in July-September, raising hopes for a revival in a sector laden by bad loans. Sentiment also got a boost after trade deficit in Asia's third largest economy narrowed to $13.35 billion in October from $14.25 billion in September, according to government data. Continued foreign buying also helped sentiment. Overseas investors bought shares worth 6.96 billion rupees ($112.8 million) on Friday, bringing their total purchase in stocks to $15.24 billion so far in 2014. As per provisional closing, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 96.11 points or 0.34% at 28,142.77. The CNX Nifty was up 40.85 points or 0.49% to 8,430.75.
Indian index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) edged higher in volatile trade after the company's Canadian partner Niko Resources on Friday, 14 November 2014, said it is evaluating plans for its oil and gas assets in India. Tata Motors scaled record high after announcing Q2 September 2014 result. PSU bank stocks gained across the board. State Bank of India (SBI) hit 52-week high, with the stock extending Friday's gains triggered by the bank's strong Q2 September 2014 results.
Elsewhere in the Asia Pacific region: Taiwan's Taiex index fell 1.1% to 8884.39. South Korea KOSPI fell 0.08% to 1943.64. Singapore's Straits Times index fell 0.81% at 3288.67. Malaysia's KLCI fell 0.4% to 1806.48. Indonesia's Jakarta Composite index rose 0.09% to 5053.94.
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