HONG KONG, Sept 25: Asian stocks closed mostly lower on Tuesday as investors took profits after a strong rally at the start of the week but Australian shares bucked the trend to post a record close, dealers said.
The fate of the US economy following a severe credit crunch remained key for many investors, particularly the prospects for another cut in interest rates by the US Federal Reserve, they said.
China’s stock market posted the sharpest decline over concerns that investors will sell their existing holdings to buy forthcoming new listings.
But strong commodity prices helped Australian shares to close at a second consecutive record high, boosted by a rally in mining shares.
China was down nearly 1.1 percent, Indonesia fell 1.0 per centand Hong Kong was down 0.46 percent.
Among the risers Australia was up 0.5 percent, Tokyo rose 0.55 per centand New Zealand was up 0.21 percent.
The markets in Taipei and Seoul were closed.
TOKYO: Japanese share prices closed up 0.55 per cent as investors set aside jitters about the health of the global economy, hoping for upbeat domestic earning results, dealers said.
They said investors showed little reaction to the ruling party’s decision to choose moderate veteran Yasuo Fukuda as prime minister.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange’s benchmark Nikkei-225 index of leading shares gained 89.12 points to 16,401.73.
The broader Topix index of all first-section shares added 14.76 points or 0.95 per centto 1,566.83.
Gainers outnumbered decliners 907 to 699, with 106 issues unchanged.
Turnover fell to 1.89 billion shares from 1.94 billion Friday. Japan’s financial markets were shut on Monday for a public holiday.
The appointment of Fukuda as the LDP chief was in line with market expectations, said Hiroyuki Fukunaga, strategist at Rakuten Securities.
With major events out of the way, it has become easier for investors to buy actively in the hope that companies will report upbeat earnings in the coming months, he said.
But the market remained somewhat cautious ahead of a slew of domestic economic data due Friday on unemployment, consumer prices and industrial production for August, dealers said.
Real estate stocks were among the gainers. Mitsubishi Estate rose 125 yen or 4.2 per centto 3,090 as Mitsui Fudosan climbed 115 yen or 4.1 per centto 2,955.
In the shipping sector, Nippon Yusen rose 25 yen or 2.3 per centto 1,116 as Mitsui OSK Lines surged 81 yen or 4.6 per centto 1,842.
HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices closed lower in volatile trade as investors stepped up profit-taking towards the close, ending the market’s record run over the previous four sessions, dealers said.
They said airlines tumbled after Cathay Pacific dropped plans to buy a stake in China Eastern Airlines, while China telecom stocks outperformed amid expectations that Beijing would soon bring about a restructuring in the sector.
A public holiday Wednesday and the impending expiry of futures contracts on Thursday led to erratic trade, with the index swinging in and out of negative territory during the day before finishing firmly in the red.
The Hang Seng index closed down 121.65 points or 0.46 per cent at 26,430.29, after moving in the range between 26,236.73 and a new all-time-high of 26,667.24.
Turnover was 129.18 billion Hong Kong dollars (16.58 billion US dollars).
Cathay Pacific was down 1.05 dollars at 21.65, Air China lost 1.38 dollars at 10.46 and China Eastern Airlines fell 1.28 dollars to 7.42.
“Select blue chips and China banks saw stronger selling pressure after their strong recent gains, while China telecom stocks outperformed on market speculation that there will be an industry restructuring soon,” said Ben Kwong, research head at KGI Securities.
SYDNEY: Australian share prices rose 0.5 per cent to close at a record high for the second day in a row, boosted by a rally in mining shares, dealers said.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 briefly vaulted the 6,500 point mark for the first time before closing up 31.5 points at a record 6,483.0. The broader All Ordinaries added 29.8 points to end at 6,490.9, also an all-time high.
Turnover was 1.91 billion shares worth 7.20 billion dollars (6.24 billion US) and gainers beat losers 653 to 610 as investors flocked to blue-chip miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.
The market has worked out that the lowest-risk sector is resources. It’s that simple, said Charlie Aitken, head of institutional dealing at Southern Cross Equities.
There’s hardly any debt, there’s huge earnings growth, PEs are low, the Fed’s just cut interest rates and these stocks are an inflation hedge. As well, there’s a lot of money going down a small street.”PE” refers to ratios intended to help determine whether a company’s shares are good value.
BHP Billiton closed up 1.46 Australian dollars, or 3.4 percent, at a record 44.60 dollars after hitting an all-time high of 45.09 dollars. Rio Tinto surged 1.36 dollars, or 3.4 percent, to close at 108.04 dollars, also a record.
Andrew Pease, an investment strategist at Russell Investment Group, said investors were looking beyond the problems in the US economy and focusing on the strength of other markets, such as that of China.
An interesting aspect of over the last month is the degree of confidence that most analysts and investors are showing in the resilience of the Chinese outlook to any downturn in the US economy.
SINGAPORE: Singapore share prices closed 0.39 per centlower on profit taking, but buying in small-caps provided some support for the benchmark index, dealers said.
After sharp gains a day earlier, the Straits Times Index closed 14.20 points lower at 3,624.82 on volume of 2.32 billion shares worth 2.15 billion dollars (1.43 billion US).
Rising issues edged decliners 370 to 362 with 921 unchanged.
DMG Partners dealing director Gabriel Yap said investors were looking ahead to the third-quarter earnings season for clues on the market’s future direction.
Within Asia, China, Singapore, and Hong Kong markets are the most resilient, Yap said.
Singapore Airlines (SIA) rose 10 cents to 18.90 after Cathay Pacific and Air China’s parent company abandoned an attempt to block SIA from buying a stake in China Eastern Airlines.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian share prices closed down 0.1 per cent due to profit-taking from short-term traders amid a lack of fresh leads, dealers said.
They said long-term buyers were also in the market looking for good picks.
Bargain-hunting is still limited to the blue chips, Fortress Capital Asset Management fund manager Michael Lai said.
The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index was down 0.81 points at 1,316.43, off a high of 1,327.82.
Trading volume was one billion shares valued at 1.919 billion ringgit (559 million dollars). Decliners led gainers 535 to 311.
The ringgit was quoted at 3.4350/3.4380 against the dollar.
Malaysia’s largest bank Maybank closed down 10 sen at 11.10 ringgit.
Telekom Malaysia lost five sen to 9.50 and national power company Tenaga
Nasional lost five sen at 9.80.
JAKARTA: Indonesian share prices closed 1.0 per cent lower led by index heavyweight Telkom as investors locked in gains from recent rallies, dealers said.
The Jakarta Stock Exchange composite index closed down 23.27 points at 2,330.36 on volume of 5.9 billion shares worth 4.46 trillion rupiah (486.36 million dollars).
Among the key losers, Telkom lost 150 rupiah to 10,800, Astra International dropped 500 to 19,000, Bank Mandri fell 75 to 3,450 and coal giant Bumi Resources dropped 50 to 3,375.
Bucking the trend, PGN rose 350 to 11,100.
WELLINGTON: New Zealand share prices closed 0.21 per cent higher amid a continuing mood of caution among investors.
The benchmark NZX-50 index rose 9.00 points to 4,241.67 on turnover worth 213.7 million dollars (157.8 million US).
Suzanne Kinnaird of Forsyth Barr said investors remained cautious, although sentiment had improved slightly this week.
Market leader Telecom rose three cents to 4.30 dollars, ahead of a government announcement Wednesday on regulatory changes affecting the company.
The government has said previously it wants Telecom to open its network to competitors and split into three operating units.
The stock itself is, to some degree, already factoring in a lot of bad news anyway, Kinnaird said.
Sky City fell seven cents to 5.07, continuing profit-taking after gaining 95 cents Friday on news of a possible takeover offer.
Fletcher Building fell 29 cents to 12.51, Contact Energy rose seven cents to 9.42, Sky TV was up five cents at 5.50, and Auckland Airport gained three cents to 3.19.—AFP
