Asia Pacific share market closed slight higher in dull trade on Wednesday, 11 January 2017, as investors cautiously awaited US president-elect Donald Trump's news conference later in the day for clues on his economic policies.
Investors were awaiting Trump's first news conference since he won the U.S. presidential election for concrete plans on what he wants to accomplish in his first year in office. In his election manifesto, Trump has promised a large fiscal stimulus package, comprising tax cuts and higher government spending which might widen the fiscal deficit. This will lead to sharp recalibration on inflation expectations which are worrying traders.
Trump's also vowed to brand China a "currency manipulator" on his first day in office and has threatened to slap huge tariffs on imports from China, raising tension between the world's two biggest economies.
Ever since Trump won Presidential elections, US business confidence has risen tremendously on promises of increased stimulus and lower tax coupled with protectionism to revitalize the economy. Global equity market funds based in US are investing in the US to ride on the prospective growth story which is strengthening the US dollar. Additionally higher US fund yield also triggers outflows from emerging markets bonds, making emerging market currency weaker.
Among Asian bourses
Australia Market edges up as miners rally
Australian share market closed edge higher, as gains in commodities-linked firms on the back of rising iron ore and base metal prices offset weakness in the financial, health care and real estate sectors. At the closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index inclined 10.80 points, or 0.19%, to 5771.50, while the broader All Ordinaries index added 10.70 points, or 0.18%, to close at 5823.70.
Shares in materials and resources companies surged on the back of ramp up prices in key commodities such as iron ore, copper and aluminium in China for a third session on Wednesday. Base metals were also up with copper and zinc gaining. Rio Tinto added 3.9% to A$62.28 and Fortescue Metals 4.5% to A$6.23. BHP Billiton added 2.6% to A$26.02. Gold Miners Newcrest Mining rose 1.2% to A$21.09, as gold held near six-week highs.
Energy shares were up, with Oil and gas explorers Oil Search adding 0.7% to A$7.40, Origin Energy rising 2.7% to A$6.93, and Santos gaining 0.5% to A$4.18, while Woodside Petroleum lost 0.4% to A$31.70. Whitehaven Coal closed 2.6% up to A$2.82, after data released on Tuesday showed coal exports from Australian state Queensland, one of the world's biggest suppliers to China, hit record levels for the third year in a row in 2016.
Nikki gains on bargain hunting
The Japan share market rebounded, as investors chased for bottom fishing after heavy losses in past three sessions. Meanwhile, yen slight depreciation to mid-116 yen level against greenback also underpinned buying spirit. However, gains were limited as investors cautiously waited for the first formal press conference later in the global day by Donald Trump since his election victory. The 225-issue Nikkei average rose 63.23 points, or 0.33%, to end at 19,364.67. The Topix index of all first-section issues closed up 8.09 points, or 0.52%, at 1,550.40.
Stocks of Japanese companies that have already pledged to create more positions or retain jobs in the U.S. were higher, including Toyota Motor, which ended up 0.7%, and SoftBank, which climbed 0.9%.
Toshiba Corp closed up 4.1% after three main creditor banks pledged on Tuesday continued support for the struggling electronics and machinery maker amid the possibility of a large write-down in its U.S. nuclear operations.
Sony Corp was up 3.4%, following a news report that it is considering using organic electroluminescence displays for its smartphones to be put on sale in 2018-2019.
ABC-Mart shares dropped 4.5% after the footwear shop operator reported a lower-than-expected consolidated operating profit of 32,044 million yen in the March-November period, down 2.3% from a year before.
China Stocks down for second day
Mainland China stock market ended modest down, registering second day of falling streak, on increasing worries about liquidity crunch after faster approvals for initial public offerings (IPO) and increasing issuance of additional shares by listed companies. China's securities regulator had approved 14 IPO applications on Friday, which were expected to rise up to 4.8 billion yuan. The blue-chip CSI300 index, which tracks large companies in Shanghai or Shenzhen, fell 0.7% to close at 3,334.50. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.8% to close at 3,136.75. The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China's second exchange, dropped 1.05% to 1968.43. The ChiNext Index, which tracks China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, shed 0.72% to 1,937.55 points.
Most sectors lost ground, led by consumer and transport shares. China Southern Airlines fell 4.4% after adding 7.4% in the previous session on reform expectations, while another reform bellwether China UnitedNetwork Communications dived 8.4% in its worst day in more than 10 months.
China Unicom closed down 8.4% at 6.91 yuan after State media reported a financial information service platform has filed a lawsuit in a Beijing court against the country's second-largest mobile carrier, alleging that the mobile carrier had placed an intrusive pop-up ad on the service provider's mobile app, which led to forced heavy data usage for app users. Other telecom service shares also struggled. Shenzhen-traded 263 Network Communications dropped 2.2% to 10.35 yuan and Guomai Technologies fell 2.1% to 10.77 yuan.
Hong Kong Stocks hit 10-week high
The Hong Kong stock market closed higher for fifth consecutive session on easing local rates and cooling concerns over the yuan's declines. Most of sectors advanced, with property developers and steel makers being major gainers. However, gains were limited as investors cautiously waited for the first formal press conference later in the global day by Donald Trump since his election victory. The Hang Seng Index gained 0.84% or 190.50 points to close at 22,935.35, the highest close since 01 November 2016.. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index, or the H-share index, added 0.72% or 69.71 points to 9,733.90. Turnover increased to HK$69.8 billion from HK$62.3 billion on Tuesday.
Property counters showed muscles. Sino Land (00083) put on 3.2%. CK Property (01113) ended up 2.4% to HK$51.85. New World (00017) put on 2.9% to HK$8.94. Chinese developers were also higher. China Overseas (00688) gained 1.8% to HK$22.4 after Goldman Sachs's target price hike. Its subsidiary China Overseas Property (02669) soared 9.3% to HK$1.41. CR Land (01109) also rose 1.8% to HK$18.84.
Steel counters saw active buying activities. Maanshan Iron (00323) and Angang Steel (00347) surged 6.3% and 6.8% to HK$2.54 and HK$5.34.
Energy stocks lagged after U.S. benchmark crude prices fell nearly 6% over the previous two days, with China Petroleum & Chemical (Sinopec) declining 0.5% to HK$5.87.
Guangzhou Automobile Group rose 2% to HK$10.42 after reports that China's securities regulator had accepted its application for non-public issuance of A-shares.
Intime Retail Group rose 0.9% to HK$9.63, adding to its 36% surge on Tuesday, following news that Alibaba Group Holding was joining hands with Intime's founder to take the company private. S&P Global Ratings placed the company's credit ratings on positive watch, citing potential benefits from Alibaba's support.
Sensex settles above 27,000 mark
Indian benchmark indices registered impressive gains onpositive start of the earnings season and positive global cues. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 240.85 points or 0.90% to settle at 27,140.41. The Nifty rose 92.05 points or 1.11% to settle at 8,380.65.
Investors cheered better-than expected Q3 numbers in IndusInd Bank along with bullish Asian stocks ahead of US President-elect Donald Trump's news conference later in the day that will give his policy insight. Besides, investors widened their bets on optimism that upcoming general budget - to be unveiled next month - would contain incentives for corporates, which will help boost the economy.
IndusInd Bank reported a healthy growth in its net profit by 29% and the Net Interest Income increased by 34% despite cash crunch created by demonetisation, as investors negated apprehension in banking sector, lapping it up by 2.40%.
Lupin rose 2.20% after the company announced that it has received final approval for its Desoximetasone Cream USP, 0.05% and Desoximetasone Cream USP, 0.25% from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market a generic equivalent of Taro Pharmaceuticals North America, inc's Topicort LP Emollient Cream, 0.05% and Taro Pharmaceuticals, inc's (collectively Taro) Topicort Cream, 0.25%.
Elsewhere in the Asia Pacific region: New Zealand's NZX50 was up 0.45% to 7069.59. South Korea's KOSPI index added 1.5% to 2075.17. Taiwan's Taiex index eased 0.04% to 9345.74. Malaysia's KLCI added 0.2% to 1675.21. Indonesia's Jakarta Composite index fell 0.2% to 5301.24. Singapore's Straits Times index shed 0.2% to 3000.94.
Powered by Capital Market - Live News
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
