Headline equities of the Asia Pacific market closed mixed after clawing back most of early losses on Wednesday, 01 October 2014, thanks to the release of a key gauge of China's manufacturing that showed the official purchasing managers' index held steady in September. Though risk sentiment remain subdued as Wall Street fell overnight and as continued civil unrest in Hong Kong.
A Chinese manufacturing survey offered regional investors some relief, and helped put a floor under prices. Growth in China's manufacturing sector held up in September as large state factories benefitted from steady domestic demand, welcome news for investors a day after China cut mortgage rates for the first time since 2008 to lift its flagging economy.
China's official manufacturing purchasing managers' index, or PMI, came in at 51.1 in September, the same as in August, figures from the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing, or CFLP, showed on Wednesday. A reading above 50 signals expansion in manufacturing activity. The sub-index measuring production edged up by 0.4 percentage points to 53.6. The new export orders index gained 0.2 percentage points to 50.2 in September. Meanwhile, the index measuring new orders fell 0.3 percentage points from the previous month to 52.2.
But gain on the regional equities were marginal as sentiment was remain subdued with China and Hong Kong closed for National Day and investors warily monitoring Hong Kong's pro-democracy unrest, as thousands of protesters stepped up pressure on the city's pro-Beijing government.
Looking ahead, manufacturing data will be a main focus today. Swiss will release SVME PMI, Eurozone will release finalized manufacturing PMI. From US, ADP and ISM manufacturing is expected to be main focus.
Among Asian bourses
Aussie shares bounces on bargain hunting
Australian share market closed higher on Wednesday, 01 October 2014, extending yesterday gain, lifted by bargain hunting after the market lost 6.4% in value in September, with realty and financial stocks being major gainers. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.78% to 5334.10 and the broader All Ordinaries Index added 0.71% to 5335.50. Turnover was relatively thin with 2.20 billion shares worth of A$2.77 billion traded today.
Sydney stock market bounced back to green terrain after a weaker opening on tracking weak overnight leads from the US and Europe and as regional Asian markets falling during the day. The gain came as bullish investors decided that market had fallen far enough in recent weeks.
Shares of banks and financial companies extended gain, led by top four lenders amid continued bargain hunting. Commonwealth Bank of Australia rose 1.2% to A$76.20, National Australia Bank 0.9% to A$32.83, Westpac Banking Corp 1% to A$32.46 and ANZ Banking Group 1.7% to A$31.43.
Materials and resources stocks were generally weaker amid softer gold, crude oil, and iron ore prices. The spot price for iron ore, landed in China, slipped 0.3% to a new low of $77.50 per tonne. In China the official manufacturing purchasing managers index for September remained flat at 51.1 points, indicating continued soft demand. Resources giant BHP Billiton rose 0.4% to A$33.99 while main rival Rio Tinto erased 0.5% to A$59.26. Iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group shed 0.6% to A$3.46. Oil Search lost 0.5% to A$8.88 after crude oil prices slumped to two-year lows.
Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Wednesday that Retail Sales Trade turnover rose 0.1% in August 2014 following a rise of 0.4% in July 2014, seasonally adjusted. The report revealed that department-store sales fell by 2.9% in August, which was the biggest drop since February. Sales of household goods fell by 0.8%, which marked the second monthly decline. The measure which took in the sales of books, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics rose by 1.6%, the biggest increase since February.
Nikkei ends 0.56% down
Japanese share market finished the session lower on Wednesday, 01 October 2014, as profit taking triggered on tracking drop in global equities overnight and caution over civil unrest in Hong Kong. However, the drop in the benchmark indices were limited, thanks to yen weakening to 110-level against the dollar. The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange ended down 0.56%, or 91.27 points, at 16082.25, while the Topix index of all first-section shares fell 0.61%, or 8.08 points, to 1318.21.
The US dollar broke the 110 yen barrier for the first time in more than six years on Wednesday, following a string of generally upbeat U.S. data and as Tankan survey renewed expectations of more Bank of Japan monetary easing. The greenback soared to 110.09 yen in late morning Tokyo trade, its highest level since August 2008 and up from 109.64 yen in New York on Tuesday.
The Tankan survey overall showed mixed sentiments in Q3. The large manufacturing index improved from 12 to 13. However, medium and small manufacturing indices both deteriorated to 5 and -1 respectively. Large non-manufacturing index dropped from 19 to 13. Medium and small non-manufacturing indices also deteriorated to 7 and 0 respectively. Large, medium and small all industries indices dropped to 13, 6 and 0 respectively.
Electronic component maker Ibiden Co plunged 15.3% to 1810 yen after the company cut its consolidated fiscal year net profit forecast by 37% to Y11 billion due to escalating costs for setting up its new plant in Malaysia.
Device maker Nikon Corp lost 1.2% to 1566 yen on media reports that the firm's operating profit for the April-September period appears to have dropped roughly 77% from the previous year, albeit slightly better than the firm's previous forecast for an 82% decline.
Japan's manufacturing sector slowed in September but continued to expand with a PMI score of 51.7, the latest survey from Markit Economics revealed on Wednesday. That was unrevised from the flash estimate earlier this month, although it was down from 52.2 in August. It also remained above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. Among the individual components, output climbed at faster rate than previous month, while new orders rose for fourth straight month. Payroll numbers declined for first time in 14 months, albeit at a weak pace.
Sensex continues to languish in red
A range bound movement was witnessed as key India benchmark indices languished in negative zone in mid-afternoon trade. The losses were small. At 14:15 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 51.35 points or 0.19% at 26,579.15. The CNX Nifty was down 12.35 points or 0.16% at 7,952.45.
The results of a survey showed that growth in the Indian manufacturing sector slowed in September 2014 to slowest since December 2013. Adjusted for seasonal factors, the headline HSBC India Purchasing Managers' Index dropped from 52.4 in August to 51 in September. Manufacturing output and new orders grow at weaker rates, the survey showed. On the flip side, Indian manufacturers saw robust expansion in new export business during the month. Inflationary pressures from both inputs and outputs eased further in September.
Data released by the government after trading hours on Tuesday, 30 September 2014, showed that eight core industries, comprising nearly 38% of the weight of items included in the index of industrial production (IIP), grew 5.8% in August 2014 up from 2.7% growth posted in July 2014. Meanwhile, the growth figure for August 2013 has been revised upwards to 4.7% from 3.8% reported earlier.
The fiscal deficit in April-August for the fiscal year ending 31 March 2015 (FY 2015) stood at Rs 397929 crore, which was 74.9% as a proportion of Budget Estimate (BE) same as 74.6% in the same period last year. The Budget has set the fiscal deficit target at 4.1% of GDP for fiscal 2015, down from 4.6% the previous fiscal.
Elsewhere in the Asia Pacific region-- Taiwan's Taiex index rose 0.26% to 8990.26. South Korea's KOSPI index eased 1.41% to 1991.54. Indonesia's Jakarta Composite index added 0.06% to 5140.91. Malaysia's KLCI fell 0.05% to 1845.32. New Zealand's NZX50 climbed 0.37% to 5274.58. Singapore's Straits Times index fell 0.36% at 3264.83. Hong Kong is closed today and tomorrow for holidays, while mainland China's markets are shut through 7 October 2014.
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