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HONG KONG, Feb 8: Asian stocks closed sharply lower on Wednesday in response to overnight falls on Wall Street and sharp falls in commodity prices, which took investors by surprise.
Dealers said profit warnings and a cooling housing market had weighed on New York and set the regional tone, as falls in metals, oil and other commodities then kicked in and prompted the sell-off.
This came against a backdrop of possible higher interest rates and a falling greenback which hurts major exporters with contracts written in US dollars.
Tokyo plummeted 2.68 per cent which provided the rest of Asia with a lead, and Seoul, Sydney, Manila, Jakarta and Taipei all experienced falls of around 1.5 per cent. Bangkok, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Wellington were not far behind.
TOKYO: Share prices tumbled 2.68 per cent on a frenzy of selling in the wake of a fall on Wall Street and a sharp downturn in the dollar which hurts exporters.
Dealers said market sentiment was dampened by a lack of interest by foreign investors, who were net sellers in pre-opening orders for the first time in three trading days on concern over possible further hikes in US interest rates.
The Nikkei-225 index plunged 448.31 points to 16,272.68. Volume was sharply up, with 2.22 billion shares changing hands compared with 1.34 billion on Tuesday.
“Market sentiment was dampened by an upturn in the yen against the dollar and a pullback in the New York markets,” said Kenichi Hirano, senior strategist at Tachibana Securities.
The dollar fell sharply overnight on growing speculation that the Bank of Japan, which opened a meeting on Wednesday, is set to end its five-year policy of flooding the system with cash and keeping super-low interest rates.
“A stronger yen against the dollar is another factor for the sharp fall here,” Yoshino said.
Toyota slid 70 yen or 1.1 per cent to 6,050 as the stronger yen raised concerns about the sustainability of its profit growth, casting a shadow over its strong third-quarter results.
Electronics giant Toshiba tumbled 23 yen or 3.1 per cent to 716 despite announcing dramatically higher profit for the three months to December.
SEOUL: Share prices closed 1.6 per cent lower in a broad sell-off, with investors anxious about a possible hike in interest rates on Thursday and this week’s options expiry.
HONG KONG: Share prices closed 0.93 per cent lower as investors locked in profits in China-related stocks after recent strong gains, with a drop in commodity prices weighing on sentiment.
The Hang Seng Index shed 143.57 points to 15,373.44. Turnover was 34.78 billion Hong Kong dollars (4.5 billion US). “Profit-taking in many China stocks drove the market as well as H-shares into negative territory,” said Castor Pang, strategist at Sun Hung Kai financial group.
He said falls on the US and Japanese markets affected sentiment.
“I expect the market to continue to consolidate and further correction to take place. The benchmark index may fall back to 15,200 points level,” he said.
Philip Chan, research director at CSC Securities, said “Prices of major commodities including oil and gold have dropped, prompting profit-taking in many H-shares.”
SHANGHAI: Share prices shrugged off early weakness and closed 0.64 per cent higher Wednesday, recouping losses sustained as investors sought out blue chips, especially petrochemical and power listings.
Dealers said there was some further profit-taking in early trade but the market soon turned around on fresh fund inflows, with sentiment continuing positive overall after some two months of sustained gains.
The Shanghai A-share index rose 8.66 points to 1,351.47 on turnover of 16.01 billion yuan (1.98 billion dollars) while the Shenzhen A-share Index was up 0.55 points or 0.17 per cent at 326.78 on turnover of 8.03 billion yuan.
The Shanghai composite index, which covers A and B-shares, added 7.96 points or 0.62 per cent at 1,290.06 on turnover of 16.34 billion yuan.
“The market was helped by renewed buying in blue chips such as Sinopec and Yangtze Power after the morning session was mainly dominated by profit-taking,” said Wang Sai, an analyst at Wanguo Consulting.
“Still high levels of turnover also indicated that some fresh capital was actively supporting the indices,” Wang added.
Petrochemical producers were in demand, supported by news that Sinopec is pressing ahead with plans to de-list its four mainland-listed units—Sinopec Shengli Oil Field Dynamic Group, Sinopec Yangzi Petrochemical, Sinopec Zhongyuan Petroleum and Sinopec Qilu.
The official Shanghai Securities News cited an official with Sinopec Yangzi Petrochemical as saying that all four units will go private.
SYDNEY: Share prices tumbled 1.51 per cent as investors dumped index-dominating resource, energy and materials stocks after an overnight plunge in commodity prices.
Dealers said a decision by the Reserve Bank of Australia to hold its official cash rate at 5.50 per cent for the 11th consecutive month and a 1.8 per cent boost in a key consumer sentiment index failed to stop the selling momentum.
The SP-ASX 200 index fell 74.0 points to 4,831.4 on volume of 1.42 billion shares worth 4.70 billion dollars (3.48 billion US)
SINGAPORE: Share prices closed 0.84 per cent lower on profit-taking following recent strong gains.
Dealers said falls on Wall Street and major Asian markets, in response to a sharp drop in commodity prices overnight, also dampened sentiment.
The Straits Times index fell 20.48 points to 2,428.25 on volume of 1.9 billion shares worth 1.36 billion Singapore dollars (840 million US).
Singapore Telecommunications was on the winners’ list, closing up one cent at 2.58 dollars after announcing net profits in the December quarter rose 16 Per cent to 885 million dollars from the year earlier.
For the other blue chips, Singapore Airlines added 10 cents to 13.40, Singapore Press Holdings dropped six cents to 4.30 and ST Engineering fell four cents to 2.98.
KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed 0.53 per cent lower as investors continued to lock in profits, following Wall Street’s overnight fall.
Dealers said concerns over possibly higher interest rates also dented sentiment, alongside a slump on regional markets which was widely blamed on a sharp slide in commodity prices.
The composite index shed 4.92 points to 918.92 and volume was 1.07 billion shares worth 1.18 billion ringgit (319 million dollars).
BANGKOK: Share prices closed 1.18 per cent lower, with sentiment hit by increasing political uncertainty ahead of another anti-government rally this weekend.
Dealers said heavy losses in the regional markets following an overnight downturn on Wall Street and in commodity prices added to the negative tone.
The composite index fell 8.74 points to 734.63 on turnover of 4.4 billion shares worth 17.2 billion baht (441 million dollars).
JAKARTA: Share prices closed 1.68 per cent lower on profit-taking after rising for the past seven trading days, with blue chips Astra International and Antam leading the fall.
Dealers said foreign investors also took advantage of the weakening rupiah to sell their stocks before switching to the dollar.
The composite index fell 21.192 points to 1,238.170 on 1.72 billion shares worth 1.94 trillion rupiah (209.28 million dollars).
MANILA: Share prices closed 1.74 per cent lower as continued heavy selling in Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co (PLDT) sparked profit-taking elsewhere.
Dealers said a 15-minute trading suspension due to a technical glitch also dampened investor sentiment while falls elsewhere in the region had added to the negative tone.
The composite index fell 36.46 points to 2,060.92. Volume reached 1.01 billion shares worth 1.7 billion pesos (33.18 million dollars).
WELLINGTON: Share prices closed 0.72 per cent lower as local investors took their lead from a slide in the Australian market.
Dealers said Australian shares fell sharply on Wednesday following a profit warning by steelmaker Bluescope and a downturn in commodity prices.
The NZSX-50 gross index fell 24 points to 3,348.46 on turnover worth 130.5 million New Zealand dollars (88.6 million US).
MUMBAI: Share prices closed 0.37 per cent lower as investors and funds locked in gains after hitting a record high in the previous trading session.
Dealers said weak global market trends also dampened sentiment, led by concerns over possible firm US interest rates. The 30-share Sensex fell 37.46 points to 10,044.82.
“We saw a bit of a cooling-off after the markets had run up sharply in previous days. Buying support continues to be seen at lower levels,” said Manoj Kakaiya of brokerage ULJK Securities.
Metals, particularly aluminium stocks, fell on weakening global trends and profit-taking by mutual funds.
Aluminium maker Hindalco closed three rupees or 1.79 per cent down at 165 rupees.
Leading private-sector steel maker Tata Steel fell 16.2 rupees or 3.9pc to 392.1 rupees after Australia’s BlueScope Steel cut its annual earnings guidance by a quarter due to higher Chinese output.—AFP
