Asia Pacific Market: Stocks fall on Greek jitters

Headline equities of the Asia Pacific market declined on Tuesday, 17 February 2015, as lack of lead from Wall Street, which was closed on Monday for the US Presidents' Day holiday, took toll on market sentiment. The poor progress in talks over Greece's debt crisis also weighed on sentiment.

The crunch meeting of eurozone finance ministers on Monday broke down after Athens refused demand that it must apply for an extension to its bailout, raising the prospect Greece will run out of cash and default, forcing it to leave the currency bloc.

Euro group head Jeroen Dijsselbloem said the country had the rest of the week to make the request, with the 240 billion euro lifeline expiring at the end of the month.

 

Among Asian bourses

Japan stocks closed mixed on strong yen

Japanese shares ended mixed, as a slightly firmer yen against the greenback and lack of lead from Wall Street, which was closed on Monday for the US Presidents' Day holiday, took toll on market sentiment. The poor progress in talks over Greece's debt crisis also weighed on sentiment. The Nikkei Stock Average declined 17.98 points, or 0.1%, to 17987.09. The broader Topix ended 2.64 points, or 0.18%, stronger at 1462.07, its highest close since December 2007.

Shares of forex-sensitive blue chips closed mixed due to slightly firmer yen (with the dollar buying 118.37 yen vs. 118.59 yen at the Monday Tokyo stock close). Toyota Motor Corp declined 0.1% to 7802 yen. Sony Corp decreased 0.6% to 3125 yen. Hitachi rose 0.8% to 780.20 yen and Fuji Heavy Industries added 0.8% to 3994.50 yen. Toshiba Corp rose 0.3% to 473.20 yen, Panasonic Corp rose 1.8% to1404.50 yen, and Nissan Motor Co jumped 2.5% to 1176 yen.

Skymark Airlines Inc. soared 164% to 29 yen on a Kyodo News report that financial company Orix is considering offering support to the airline as a sponsor and may invest.

F@N Communications Inc. tumbled 14% to 1190 yen as the Internet marketing company reported slowing monthly sales. The company reported an 18% gain in year-on-year sales in January, down from 25% the previous month and 38% in November.

Australia stocks fall on profit taking

The Australian share market closed lower in thin trade, due to profit booking amid lack of cues from Wall Street overnight, which was closed on Monday for the US Presidents' Day holiday and after minutes from the Reserve Bank's monthly meeting cooled speculation of a March rate cut. The S&P/ASX200 closed 30.50 points, or 0.52%, lower at 5858.20, while the All Ordinaries de-grew 27.20 points, or 0.46%, to 5822.30.

Financial sector ended 1.1% lower, due to heavy losses in two u=out of four major banks. ANZ Bank falling 2.45% to A$34.99 as its stock traded without rights to the latest dividend. Commonwealth Bank lost 3.7% to $90.00 after it was trading ex-dividend. Westpac Banking Corp rose 0.05% to A$37.67 and National Australia Bank edged up 0.2% to A$37.56. Regional lender Bendigo and Adelaide Bank declined another 1.8% to A$13.50 after erasing 4.5% yesterday on lower-than-expected cash profits.

Materials and resources stocks closed weaker, with resources giant BHP Billiton down 0.03% to A$32.55, while main rival Rio Tinto fell 0.1% to A$63.50. Fortescue Metals Group was down 4.9% to A$2.55, hurt by plunge in first-half profit and a cut in dividend. The Australian producer of iron ore has reported a net profit of US$331 million in the six months through December, down by 80% from a net profit of US$1.72 billion in the same period a year earlier. The company has declared an interim dividend of three Australian cents, compared with a payout of 10 Australian cents a share a year ago.

Coca-Cola Amatil rallied 6.3% to A$10.61 after posting full-year profit more than triple the 2013 total. Coca-Cola Amatil, which is 29%-owned by the U.S. beverage giant, said net profit for the year through December increased to A$272.1, compared with A$79.9 million in 2013, when it took an impairment charge against the SPC Ardmona fruit-processing business.

Amcor shares traded 2.6% higher at A$13.52 after the packager posted a more modest 7% rise in its net income. The Melbourne-based company, which makes packages and containers including sports-drinks bottles and cigarette packets, said net profit rose to US$321.3 million in the six months through December from US$301.1 million a year earlier. Amcor raised its interim dividend payout and said it plans to repurchase US$500 million of its shares on the market.

China stocks extend gain on policy easing hopes

Mainland China share market closed higher seven consecutive session, as appetite for risk assets grew by central bank liquidity injection steps and speculation of further monetary easing. The Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.76% to 3,246.91, taking gains over the seven days to 5.6%.

The People's Bank of China has injected a net 205 billion yuan into the banking system last week. That followed an across-the-board reduction in banks' reserve requirements on 6 February 2015 and the nation's interest-rate cut in November.

China is schedule to hold its National People's Congress in the first two weeks of March 2015, when the government sets its growth target for the year. Beijing is set to unveil China's 13th five-year-plan after the National People's Congress in March. The plan is an important document that outlines national priorities and sets targets for economic and social development.

Total of nine out of ten SSE industry groups advanced, industrial issue leading rally, up by 1.1%, followed by consumer discretionary (up 1%), materials (up 0.8%), financial (up 0.8%), telecommunication services (up 0.8%), healthcare (up 0.7%), utilities (up 0.5%), and energy (up 0.2%). The information technology sector ended 0.5% down.

Shares of banks, real estate and insurance companies advanced on optimism that industry could benefit from measures to support the economy. Citic Securities added 0.7% to 29.18 yuan and Haitong Securities climbed up 0.6% to 21.72 yuan, while China Life Insurance Co. added 1.1% to 38.36 yuan.

Shares of BYD Co., the battery maker backed by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., climbed by the 10% daily limit to 50.42 yuan after reports Apple Inc. is working on an electric vehicle.

The National Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday that average price of new homes in 70 Chinese cities fell at a slightly faster pace on month in January amid sluggish demand from home buyers despite officials' moves to loosen mortgage rules and ease lending. The average price of new homes declined 5.1% in January on year, compared with a 4.3% fall in December. Excluding public housing, private-sector home prices fell in 69 of the 70 cities in January from a year earlier, compared the 68 cities that posted declines in December. Home prices fell in 64 of the 70 cities last month on a monthly basis, down from December's 66.

Hang Seng jumps 0.24%

Hong Kong share market ended higher in quiet trade, boosted up by tracking gains on the Mainland A-share market. The benchmark index opened 72 points lower and reversed its trend, following the rally of mainland markets, which close for Chinese New Year holidays from tomorrow. The Hang Seng Index ended up 58.35 points or 0.24% to 24784.88, off an intra-day high of 24855.75 and day low of 24653.88. Turnover reduced significantly to HK$46.72 billion from HK$51.3 billion on Monday, ahead of Lunar New Year.

Mainland Chinese banks posted gains that supported the HK market, with China Citic Bank Corp up 2.3% to HK$5.79, China Minsheng Banking Corp climbing 2.1% to HK$9.14, Bank of Communications Co higher by 0.9% to HK$6.59, and Bank of China tacking on 0.2% to HK$4.40.

Telecom stocks ended mixed. China Mobile (00941) was up 0.5% to HK$107.20, while China Telecom (00728) edged up 0.2% to HK$4.90. China Unicom (00762) dipped 1.8% to HK$12.98 after it announced mobile users take-up plunged 90% in January.

Coal miners ended lower, with China Shenhua (01088) softening 1.7% to HK$20.55 after the company said its coal sales slid 44% in January. China Coal (01898) slipped 0.7% to HK$4.14.

Most Chinese property stocks declined in Hong Kong after Official data showed on Tuesday that 69 of the top 70 Chinese cities recorded falls in the price of new homes over January. On average, those prices were down 5.1% year-on-year, accelerating from a 4.3% drop in December. Poly Property Group Co tumbled 3% to HK$3.57, China Resources Land lost 1.2% to HK$20.35, and Country Garden Holdings Co pulled back 0.3% to HK$3.06.

BYD (01211) jumped 5.8% to HK$34.45 after the Ministry of Science and Technology proposed to build industry chain for electric vehicles.

Elsewhere in the Asia Pacific region: South Korea KOSPI rose 0.16% to 1961.45. New Zealand's NZX50 dropped 0.15% to 5750.21. Indonesia's Jakarta Composite index edged down 0.04% to 5323.36. Singapore's Straits Times index fell 0.37% at 3414.43. Malaysia's KLCI declined 0.15% to 1806.19. Indian and Taiwan market closed for public holiday.

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