Asia Pacific share market closed down on Monday, 12 June 2017, hit by following a slide in U.S. market late last week. Investor sentiment was also damped on caution ahead of the central bank meetings in US, England and Japan.
On Wall Street the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average finished 0.4% higher on Friday but the S&P 500 fell 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite slid 1. 8% after tech giants such as Apple, Amazon and Google Parent Alphabet all lost at least 3%.
Central banks were also in focus, with the Federal Reserve expected to release its decision on interest rates later this week. The Bank of England and Bank of Japan policy meetings later in the week were also likely to be closely watched.
In energy news, oil prices rose slightly after finishing last week down by around 4%. Brent crude rose 0.25% to trade at $48.27 a barrel and U.S. West Texas International crude added 0.22% to trade at $45.93.
Among Asian bourses
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Nikkei ends in negative territory
The Japan share market finished session in negative territory, as investors were in a risk adverse mode ahead of a two-day Federal Reserve meeting that begins on Wednesday. Investor sentiment was also damped by weaker-than-expected Japanese machinery order data for April, released by the Cabinet Office just before the opening bell. Electrical appliance, information and communication, and precision instrument-linked issues comprised those that declined the most by the close of play. The Nikkei 225 average shed 104.68 points, or 0.52%, to close at 19,908.58. The Topix, including all first-section issues, ended down 0.11 point, or 0.01%, at 1,591.55. Trading volume on the main section on Monday came to 1,785.76 million shares, down from Friday's volume of 2,263.87 million shares. The turnover on the first trading day of the week totaled 2,313.2 billion yen.
Japan's core private-sector machinery orders fell a seasonally adjusted 3.1% in April from the previous month, dragged down by a sharp drop in finance and insurance, as well as construction, the government said on Monday.
Shares of exporters' chiefly technology companies took a hit following similar declines on Wall Street. Market heavyweight SoftBank fell 2.6% to 9,228 yen, while chip-making devices maker Tokyo Electron dropped 3% to 16,395 yen. Apple supplier Murata Manufacturing fell 2.56% to 15,595 yen and display maker Sharp sank 3.2% to 390 yen.
Bank shares fell, with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial down 0.19% at 733.3 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui falling 0.25% to 4,256 yen.
Toshiba jumped 9.4% to 329.1 yen after news reports said US-based Western Digital was raising its bid to purchase the struggling Japanese group's prized semiconductor business.
Chinese restaurant chain Totenko soared 38% at one point after Tokyo's Ueno zoo said its giant panda gave birth for the first time in five years. It closed at 224 yen, up 6.66%. Totenko's main outlet is near the zoo, with a rare baby panda expected to boost the number of visitors to the area.
China Stocks fall on economy concerns
The Mainland China equity market closed lower, hit by a sell-off in high-tech issues following a slide in U.S. peers late last week. Investor sentiment was also damped by worried that tighter credit will drag on corporate profitability and economic growth in coming months. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.6%, or 18.52 points, to 3,139.88 while the CSI 300 which tracks the large caps listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen inched down 0.1%, or 1.78 points, to 3,574.39. The Shenzhen Composite Index lost 1.1%, or 20.41 points, to 1,836.76 while the Nasdaq style ChiNext shed 1.2%, or 20.58 points, to 1,775.55.
Tech shares dropped sharply, following a sell-off on Wall Street on Friday triggered by concerns about Apple's new iPhones and a cautious Goldman Sachs report about the sector.
Shares of small-cap companies dropped on concern about a glut of stock supply after the China Securities Regulatory Commission backtracked from slowing approvals of new share sales. The regulator gave the nod to eight companies to sell initial public offering shares last Friday, compared with four a week earlier and seven the week before that. Nanjing Aolian AE&EA, a maker of car electronics equipment tumbled by the 10% daily limit to 21.02 yuan and Jiangsu Leili Motor slumped 9.9% to 87.28 yuan.
Hong Kong Stocks end lower
The Hong Kong stock market finished session down, hit by a sell-off in technology giant Tencent following a slide in U.S. peers late last week. Sentiment was also hurt by worries that tighter credit in China could slow growth in the world's second-biggest economy. The Hang Seng Index dropped 1.2%, or 322.25 points, to 25,708.04, retreating for a second day after hitting a near two-year high on Thursday. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index fell 1%, or 106.32 points, to 10,485.85. Turnover decreased to HK$87.6 billion from HK$117 billion on Friday.
Hong Kong-listed tech shares dropped sharply, following a sell-off on Friday in technology stocks on Wall Street that was triggered by concerns about Apple's new iPhones and a cautious Goldman Sachs report about the sector. Technology giant Tencent lost 2.5% to HK$270.6.
Handset components maker AAC Technologies (02018) declined 3.8% to HK$95.75. Sunny Optical (02382) slipped 2% to HK$64.45 despite it reported a 87% growth of handset camera shipments in May.
Tongda Group fell 5.4% to HK$2.11, snapping a two-day gain after it bought back 10.46 million shares for HK$21.63 million last week.
Automakers were mixed. Great Wall Motor (02333) soared 21% to HK$11.02 after Credit Suisse's rating and target price upgrades. Geely Automobile (00175) sank 4% to HK$14.84. Brilliance China Automotive (01114) fell 3.2% to HK$14.52. GAC Group (02238) dipped 1.6% to HK$13.7.
Property counters were lower ahead of the FOMOC's rate decision meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday. New World Development (00017) dipped 2.2% to HK$10.46. Sun Hung Kai Properties (00016) fell 1.9% to HK$119.2. Sino Land (00083) fell 1.3% to HK$13.4. Henderson Land Development (00012) slipped 0.9% to HK$45.6. Cheung Kong Property (01113) inched down 0.4% to HK$60.8.
Sensex hits more than two-week closing low
Trading for the week began on a dull note as the key benchmark indices registered modest losses on negative global cues. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, shed 166.36 points or 0.53% to settle at 31,095.70. The Nifty 50 index dropped 51.85 points or 0.54% to settle at 9,616.40. The Sensex hit more than two-week closing low. The Nifty hit almost two-week low.
Investors exercised caution ahead of release of key domestic economic data on inflation and industrial production today, 12 June 2017 and political and economic events this week in the United States and Europe.
Domestic stocks had kick-started trading for the week on a dull note in opening trade on negative global cues. Key indices extended initial fall and hit fresh intraday low in morning trade. Stocks languished in the negative terrain later during the session.
Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) dropped 1.15%. RIL announced the successful and flawless commissioning of the last crystallization train (Train 3) of the Para-xylene (PX) complex at Jamnagar. This plant is built with state-of-the-art crystallization technology from BP which is highly energy efficient. With the commissioning of this plant, RIL's PX capacity has more than doubled making it world's second largest producer of PX with about 11% of global production. Pursuant to installation and mechanical completion of the entire PX complex in the previous quarter, Reliance Industries (RIL) commissioned the second phase of PX comprising of second crystallization train (train 2), trans-alkylation and aromatic extraction units at Jamnagar in Gujarat in April 2017. Train 3, which was at an advanced stage of commissioning, has now been successfully started. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 9 June 2017.
Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) shed 4.21%. The bank said it has revised the marginal cost of funds based lending rate (MCLR) for different tenors with effect from 12 June 2017. The bank's MCLR for overnight loans will be 8.1%, the rate for one month will be 8.2% and for three months it will be 8.25%. The MCLR on 6-month loans will be 8.35% and for one-year loans the rate will be 8.5%, the bank said. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 9 June 2017. The Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was quoted as saying that he discussed non-performing assets (NPA) resolution, finances of banks, review of financial inclusion with heads of public sector banks in a meeting today, 12 June 2017. Jaitley reportedly said that there is a challenge with regard to credit growth.
Markets in Australia, Malaysia and the Philippines were closed today for public holidays.
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