Asia Stocks Mostly Lower after Wall Street Plunge

Hong Kong (News Today) - Wall Street jitters set a bearish tone in Asian trade Monday, with most markets edging lower as traders reacted to Friday’s falls, but Shanghai showed signs of a comeback. In subdued trade, with Tokyo closed for a holiday, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index closed down 1.46 percent, or 64.4 points, at 4,358.3, while the All Ordinaries Index was down 64.3 points at 4,372.7.

Major banks were lower, led by Macquarie, which lost 2.60 percent. Perth-based miner Sundance Resources closed down 7.69 percent as trade in its stocks resumed after being suspended on June 20 following the death of most of its board in a plane crash in west Africa.

Hong Kong was down 0.92 percent in the afternoon, with the falls broad-based but led by consumer goods trader Li & Fung (down 2.74 percent), following a report Friday by the University of Michigan showing a steep decline in US consumer confidence.

“Investors are reluctant to make significant bets amid mounting economic uncertainties,” commented investment holding company 3V Research, quoted by Dow Jones Newswires. Singapore’s Straits Times Index was down 0.37 percent at 2,946.84.

However, Shanghai closed up 2.11 percent, or 51.15 points, at 2,475.42, led by blue chips including banks and coal miners primarily due to bargain hunting and reduced worries about further economic tightening measures. On Mumbai’s stock exchange, Reliance Communications rose nearly four percent on a media report that Abu Dhabi’s Etisalat is close to buying a 26-percent stake in the firm for 3.0 billion dollars.

India’s second biggest mobile phone firm is looking for an investor to help reduce its debt and upgrade its network. But investors generally remained nervous as the US corporate earnings season gets into full swing, with reports this week from companies such as Apple, Goldman Sachs and Yahoo, and as US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testifies in Congress on monetary policy on Wednesday and Thursday.

Stocks dived Friday after the sagging consumer confidence index from the University of Michigan and mixed earnings data, with European stock markets also sharply lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 2.52 percent.

For Japan, a concern is likely to be any further strengthening in the yen after a surge last week hit exporters such as Toyota, Nissan and Sony.

The Financial Times said any continued rise made it likely Japanese authorities would intervene to shield the country’s stock markets and exporters. On Monday however the dollar gained against the euro and the yen in Asian trade as risk-averse investors fled to the greenback following last week’s Wall Street fall.

The euro was trading at 1.2905 dollars against the greenback in afternoon trade, compared to 1.2926 dollars on Friday. One US dollar bought 86.66 yen, compared with 86.62 yen on Friday.

Oil prices dipped in Asia as sentiment was dampened by weak US economic data that spurred concerns about slow demand in the world’s largest energy consumer, analysts said. New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in August, had shed six cents to 75.95 dollars a barrel by the afternoon, while Brent North Sea crude for September was three cents off at 75.34.

“Oil prices have come off somewhat and the US economic data released (last week) was a little bit on the soft side,” said David Moore, a Sydney-based commodity strategist with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

Gold opened at 1,192.50-1,193.50 US dollars an ounce in Hong Kong, down from Friday’s close of 1,208.00-1,209.00 dollars. In other markets: — Taipei closed down 0.19 percent, or 14.74 points, at 7,649.83.

MediaTek, Taiwan’s leading IC design house, closed down 1.07 percent, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co rose 2.0 percent to 61.1. — Manila closed down 0.53 percent, or 18.39 points, at 3,424.29 points.

Top-traded Philippine National Bank bucked the trend to rise 1.5 percent, while DMC Holdings was unchanged. SM Prime Holdings was down 0.25 percent. — Wellington closed 0.71 percent lower, or 21.16 points, at 2,964.60.

Source : kompas

Posted in: