Asian stocks also gained led by commodity producers
Most Asian markets advanced on Tuesday, 09 April 2013 to cheer benign inflation data from China and a solid start to the U.S. earnings season. While Japanese stocks let early gains slip by to snap a four-day winning streak, investors took profits in banks. Asian stocks also gained, led by commodity producers, as slower-than-estimated growth in China's inflation damped concern that the nation's central bank will need to tighten monetary policy.
Several Japanese banks retreated on profit-taking after hefty recent advances, to erase broad market gains. The Hang Seng Index advanced 0.7% in afternoon trade, and the Shanghai Composite ended 0.6% higher. Japan's Nikkei closed marginally lower. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rallied 1.5% and South Korea's Kospi erased early losses to inch up 0.1%, while Taiwan's Taiex slipped 0.3% at the end of a choppy trading session. Singapore's Straits Times Index rose 0.6%. New Zealand's NZX 50 Index slipped 0.1%.
Latest data showed that China's consumer price index rose 2.1% in March from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said today in Beijing. That compares with the 2.5% estimate and a 3.2% gain in February when spending for the Lunar New Year holiday pushed up prices.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average began the day on a positive note as the U.S. dollar edged closer to the key 100-yen level. But after rising as high as 13,331.39 the benchmark's best level since August 2008 it came under profit-taking pressure in afternoon trade and ended marginally lower at 13,192.35. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.7%. China's Shanghai Composite Index added 0.6%, the first advance in five days, as inflation in the world's second-largest economy eased more than forecast from a 10-month high. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland Chinese firms listed in Hong Kong gained 1.7%, the most since March 20.
Amomg stocks under focus, shares of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group dropped 2.5% and Mizuho Financial Group skidded 1.9% during the session. The stocks are still up 11.8% and 6.5% so far this month.
A number of exporters added to their sharp recent gains in Tokyo trading as the U.S. dollar rose as high as 99.66 during the session, reflecting expectations for aggressive monetary easing by the Bank of Japan. But the dollar slipped to 98.98 in early European trade.
Camera maker Canon ended up 2.1%, industrial automation major Fanuc Corp. rallied 2.8%, and Nissan Motor climbed 0.8%. Fanuc also received some support from Crit Suisse's upgrade of its stock rating to outperform.
Meanwhile, the Hang Seng Index advanced 0.7% in afternoon trade, and the Shanghai Composite ended 0.6% higher, after official data showing March consumer prices in China rose at a less-than-expected rate of 2.1% from the year-ago month.
The increase was markedly lower than the 3.2% inflation recorded in February, and also milder than the 2.4% price increase anticipated by economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires. Wholesale prices dropped 1.9% in March, roughly matching expectations.
Several resource-sector stocks got a boost from Alcoa which reported a nearly 60% jump in quarterly profits. Among Alcoa's peers, Alumina jumped 5% in Sydney, while Aluminum Corp. of China climbed 2.5% in Hong Kong and ended 0.7% up in Shanghai.
BHP Billiton, the biggest mining company, posted the longest streak of gains in two months as metal prices rose. Rio Tinto Group, the world's second-largest miner, advanced 3.5% to A$56.73. Komatsu, the world's second-biggest construction equipment maker, added 2.4% to 2,351 yen in Tokyo. Jiangxi Copper, China's largest producer of the metal, advanced 2.1% to HK$16.64 in Hong Kong.
Regional airlines also advanced, looking past fears related to the spread of a new strain of avian flu in China which had slammed their shares in recent session. The gains came as analysts at Credit Suisse upgraded the region's airlines to overweight, following the recent sell-off.
Air China rose 0.8% and China Southern Airlines added 0.3% in Shanghai, while Hang Seng Index-constituent Cathay Pacific Airways advanced 1.7% in Hong Kong trade. Elsewhere, China Airlines rose 0.5% in Taipei, while Qantas Airways climbed 1.4% in Sydney.
Rising military tensions with North Korea have driven the cost of protecting against swings in a security tracking South Korean stocks to the highest level on record compared with emerging-market equities.
Sundance fell a record 48% to 11 Australian cents. Hanlong's botched bid for Sundance brings the value of China's recent failed mining deals to $45 billion, a record that's prompted stricter Chinese scrutiny of acquisitions.
South Korea's Kospi index added 0.1%. Gains were limited by companies that do business in North Korea after the communist nation said it will suspend operations at a jointly run industrial complex. Shinwon Corp. fell 2% to 1,260 won.
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