Regional shares opened higher today, on tracking strong lead from offshore after equity markets in the United States and Europe moved higher overnight amidst a sigh of relief after Russian president Putin's comment that he's not going to further split Ukraine.
However, regional markets pared most of intraday gains on caution ahead of a closely-watched Federal Reserve policy review later in the global day. In the US before the local market opens on Thursday the Federal Open Market Committee will announce the results of its two-day meeting, the first to be chaired by the Federal Reserve's new boss, Janet Yellen. The central bank is widely expected to reduce its monthly asset purchases by $10 billion to $55 billion. Investors will be focused on Dr Yellen's ensuing press conference for any commentary on jobs and or guidance on future interest rate moves.
Fed will also release updated economic projections. In last forecasts, 12 of 17 officials didn't expect rate hike until 2015, at 0.75% by end of 2015 and below 1.75% by end of 2016.
Among Asian bourses, Japanese share market closed mixed on caution ahead of the outcome of the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting. The benchmark Nikkei gained 0.36% to 14,462.52 while the Topix index of all first-section issues slipped 0.14% to 1,164.33.
Shares of Japanese exporters were mixed, with Tokyo Electron gaining 1.6% to 6057 yen and Fanuc Corp up 3.2% to 16895 yen, while Toyota fell 0.8% to 5,508 yen and Honda Motor Co slid 0.2% to 3,555 yen.
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Japan Display closed at Y763, down 15% from its Y900 IPO price on its first TSE listing day.
Energy explorers were weak, with Inpex Corp erasing 2.8% to 1,232 yen. Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. slid 1.4% to 3,455 yen, and Japan Drilling Co. lost 3.5% to 4,115 yen. Naikai Zosen slumped 5.6% to 170 yen after the company widened its loss forecast by 68% to 2.18 billion yen.
The finance ministry said on Wednesday that Japan logged an 800.3 billion yen trade deficit in February, up 3.5% year on year. That came as exports rose 9.8% to 5.8 trillion yen, while imports grew 9% to 6.6 trillion yen.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism said on Wednesday that Commercial land prices in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya rose 1.6% on average for the first time in six years in 2013, reversing a 2012 fall of 0.5%, while residential land was up 0.5%, compared with the previous year's 0.6% decline. Nationwide land prices, excluding the top three cities, fell 1.7% last year, compared with a 2.8% decline in 2012.
In Australia, headline indices of the Australian stock market finished the session modest higher, boosted by gains in shares of retailer, consumer goods, industrial, tech and bullion counters. But gains on the upside were limited on caution ahead of FOMC announcement. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index and the broader All Ordinaries Index each were up 0.2% to 5355.60 and 5373, respectively.
Shares of consumer goods and retailers were the best-performing among ASX index blue chips, with Woolworths raising 0.4% to A$35.93, while Wesfarmers, owner of Coles, rose 0.9% to A$41.98. Wotif.com shares closed 23% higher at A$3 as the market reacted well to the sale of a large portion of Hyperion Asset Management's stake.
Upmarket department store chain David Jones lost 0.3% to A$3.32 after showing first-half net profit fell 4.6% to A$70.11 million. Rival Myer Holdings added 0.4% to A$2.66 ahead of reporting its interim results.
Shares of material and resources companies were the worst-performing in the ASX index amid worries over demand prospect from China. Resources giant BHP Billiton fell by 0.6% to A$35.86, while main rival Rio Tinto lost 0.8% to A$61.36. Fortescue Metals Group, which produces only iron ore, rose 2.3% to $4.99 as the spot price for iron ore, landed in China, closed 0.8% higher at $110.50 a tonne on Tuesday.
Property developer Stockland (SGP) paid A$435.3 million for 115 million shares or a 19.9% stake in Australand Property (ALZ). SGP shares fell 2.6% to A$3.75 while ALZ was up 2.3% to A$3.98.
Shares in Mark Bouris's Yellow Brick Road (YBR) gained 17.3% to A$0.61 after the company announced a restructure and flagged three potential acquisitions within the financial services industry.
Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that internet vacancy index rose 0.2% in trend terms in last month, while a Federal Department of Employment report showed labour demand fell 3.3%.
In China, Mainland China stock market closed weaker, amidst mounting concerns over the Chinese corporate credit defaults after news of the collapse of property company Zhejiang Xingrun Real Estate Co. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed 0.17% weaker at 2021.73.
Chinese shares slipped instantly into red despite firm opening, after the news about collapse of a private developer spurred concern the industry may face defaults as economic growth slows. Meanwhile risk sentiments broke further after the yuan weakening near an 11-month low refuelled concern that weaker yuan will trigger capital outflows.
Shares of Chinese property developers declined the most today, on news of the collapse of property company Zhejiang Xingrun Real Estate Co. Zhejiang Xingrun's collapse came less than two weeks after the first on-shore bond default of Shanghai Chaori Solar Energy Science & Technology Co, heightening concern about credit risks in the real-estate industry and pushing stock traders to double their bets against some of the biggest developers. Among devloper stocks, Poly Real Estate, the second-biggest developer, retreated 1.6% to 6.77 yuan. China Vanke, the largest, slumped 1.3% to 7.50 yuan in Shenzhen.
China's money markets rates rose today on capital outflow woes after yuan declined to 11-mnths low and as the People's Bank of China drained CNY100 billion via 28-day repos in its open market operations on Tuesday.
The seven-day repo rate, a gauge of interbank liquidity conditions, was quoted at 4.40% late afternoon, up 147 bps from previous session's closure. The overnight repo, a benchmark measure of interbank funding availability, traded at a weighted average of 2.82%, up 71.5 bps from previous session's closure.
The People's Bank of China has set the daily reference rate at 6.1351 against the greenback on Wednesday, as compared 6.1341 set prior day, according to the data released by the China Foreign Exchange Trading System. Effective from 17 March 2014, the yuan is allowed to trade at 2% on each side of the central parity rate.
In Hong Kong, HK share market finished marginal lower, following the weak trend of mainland market and on caution ahead of the outcome of the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting. The Hang Seng Index closed down 0.07% at 21,568.69.
Among the HK 50 blue chips, 27 rose and 18 fell, with five stocks remaining steady. China Mengniu Dairy Co dipped 3.7% to HK$36.65, becoming the top blue-chip loser. China Merchants Holdings jumped 3.8% to HK$25.70, becoming the top blue-chip gainer. Among other blue chips, Sands China (01928) inched up 0.7% to HK$61.8. Tencent (00700) softened 1.8% to HK$567.5 ahead of its earnings report today.
Software developer Kingsoft shares jumped 8.7% to HK$30.7 after the company reported its net jumped 55.1% year-on-year to Rmb671 million for the year ended 31 December 2013. The revenue was Rmb2.17 billion, an increase of 54% from a year earlier. The Group's gross profit margin increased by one percentage point quarter-over-quarter and decreased by one percentage point year-over-year to 87%. The company proposed final dividend is HK12 cents (2012: HK11 cents) per share, payable on 25 June.
Galaxy Ent dipped 2.8% to HK$72 after the company reported full-year net growth of 36%, but the 4Q profit fell short of expectation. Galaxy Entertainment Group said its net profit attributable to shareholders for the year ended 31 December 2013 rose 36.2% year-on-year to HK$10.05 billion. The revenue was HK$66.03 billion, an increase of 16.4% from a year earlier.
In India, Indian stock market settled marginally higher ahead of commentary about monetary policy from the US Federal Reserve later in the global day. The S&P BSE Sensex edged up just 0.25 points to settle at 21,832.86, its highest closing level since 12 March 2014.
Coal India fell 2.74% to Rs 263 after a bulk deal of 14.67 lakh shares was executed on the scrip at Rs 270.20 per share at 11:30 IST on BSE today, 19 March 2014. The bulk deal saw 0.02% of Coal India's equity stake changing hands. The stock saw high intraday volatility. It rose as much as 1.88% at the day's high of Rs 275.50. It fell as much as 3.05% at the day's low of Rs 262.15.
Shares of IT major TCS dropped after the company's management at a recent analyst meet warned about a seasonal slowdown and said that the overall dollar revenue growth in Q4 March 2014 could be lower than that in Q3 December 2013. The stock lost 3.94%.
Shares of other IT stocks also declined after TCS warned of slower revenue growth in Q4 March 2014. Tech Mahindra (down 1.03%), and HCL Technologies (down 0.78%) declined. Wipro rose 0.87%.
Infosys declined 2.39%. The company after market hours on Tuesday, 18 March 2014, said it has signed a five-year agreement with Lansforsakringar AB (LFAB) to provide application development and management support for its life and non-life insurance business. The new agreement with Infosys will see LFAB, owned by Lansforsakringar Alliance, a mutual organization of 23 regional insurance companies with a strong local brand, improve the quality of service and time to market for its alliance members at a reduced cost, Infosys said in a statement.
Polaris Financial Technology rose by maximum permissible level of 20% to Rs 183.35, also its 52-week high. Polaris Financial Technology on Tuesday, 18 March 2014, announced the demerger of its products business into a separately listed company. The scheme/structure is subject to the approval by the various regulatory authorities like stock exchanges, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), Madras High Court, Registrar of Companies, shareholders and creditors, Polaris Financial Technology said in a statement.
Elsewhere in the Asia Pacific region, Taiwan's Taiex index dipped 0.49%. South Korea's KOSPI index fell 0.13%. Malaysia's KLSE Composite fell 0.18%. Singapore's Straits Times index fell 0.42%. Indonesia's Jakarta Composite Index added 0.33%. New Zealand's NZX50 jumped 0.37%.
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