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HONG KONG, Feb 5: Asian stocks followed Wall Street’s lacklustre performance and closed mixed on Monday with many investors reluctant to build fresh positions as the end to the Chinese lunar year nears.
The approaching holidays, which begin late next week, also provided an excuse for some profit-taking ahead of the extended break and in the aftermath of a recent rally that delivered benchmarks to record and multi year highs.
TOKYO: Share prices closed down 1.15 per cent as investors fretted over the outlook for the yen and a profit warning from Nissan Motor. Dealers said many players opted to wait on the sidelines ahead of another batch of local company results and this week’s meeting of world finance chiefs where the weakness of the yen is expected to be a talking point.
The Nikkei-225 index lost 202.31 points to 17,344.80. Volume was 2.26 billion shares, down from 2.37 billion on Friday.
“Investors were reluctant to buy exporters on concern that the yen’s weakness might be discussed at the G7 meeting later this week,” said Hideo Mizutani, chief strategist at Sieg Securities. A stronger yen would be negative for the earnings of exporters.
“The sell-off in the market was triggered by increasing warnings about the yen's recent weakness,” agreed Hiroyuki Nakai, chief strategist at Tokai Tokyo Research Centre.
HONG KONG: Share prices closed 0.53 per cent lower as investors locked in profits after the market's gains in the last two sessions, with Wall Street’s lacklustre performance on Friday and mixed US economic data weighing on sentiment.
Dealers said several traders also began cutting positions ahead of the upcoming Lunar New Year holidays as the market lacks clear direction.
The Hang Seng Index closed down 108.06 points at 20,455.62. Turnover was 47.85 billion Hong Kong dollars.
“Many investors decided to lock in profits today from recent gains that the market made,” said Y.K. Chan, strategist at Phillip Asset Management.
SHANGHAI: Share prices closed 2.27 per cent lower with banks and steelmakers continuing to struggle on follow-through selling while energy stocks rose due to higher crude oil prices.
Dealers said trade was once again volatile as investors remained wary that the authorities will tighten up on the stock market after stellar gains last year for fear that investors are at risk from a major correction.
Volume was still heavy but well down from the regular 10-billion-dollar and more levels seen in January, with the Lunar New Year approaching in the middle of the month.
Despite the negative tone, new listing Industrial Bank bucked the trend, jumping nearly 39 per cent on its initial public offering (IPO) price of 15.98 yuan.
The Shanghai Composite Index, which covers A and B-shares, closed down 60.68 points at 2,612.54 on turnover of 54.54 billion yuan.
SYDNEY: Share prices closed down 0.16 per cent following a significant fall in base metal prices in London ahead of the weekend.
Dealers said investors sold resource stocks following a metal sell-off in London trading on Friday and this weighed on market leading miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto while banks countered this slide.
The S and P/ASX 200 fell 9.4 points to 5,822.1. A total of 1.78 billion shares worth 4.88 billion dollars (3.78 billion US) changing hands.
KUALA LUMPUR: Share prices closed up 1.34 per cent, in their fifth straight positive session as a bullish mood took hold of the bourse.
The composite index rose 16.25 points to 1,225.73 on turnover of 1.69 billion shares worth 3.21 billion ringgit.
Analysts attributed the strong performance on the local bourse to sustained foreign interest.
Wong Chee Seng, group head of research at Alliance Bank, said the recent rallies on the local bourse were mainly driven by a strengthening ringgit.
Foreign funds, which have raised their exposure to Malaysian stocks, are expected to benefit not only from “potential capital gain but also the ringgit’s appreciation,” said Kaladher Govindan, head of research at TA Securities, in a strategy report released on Monday.
JAKARTA: Share prices closed 0.67 per cent lower amid caution on the eve of the central bank's interest rate policy meeting.
The composite index closed down 11.842 points at 1,768.539 on volume of 1.34 billion shares worth 1.44 trillion rupiah.
“Technically, the market is ripe for profit-taking,” Alif Sasetyo, an analyst with Samuel Securities said.He added the market widely expects Bank Indonesia to cut rates again on Tuesday, some analysts remain skeptical and some investors are likely to have been reserving judgment.
If the rate cut goes through, the market is likely to rebound, Sasetyo said.
“I think we could expect a rally tomorrow after BI does cut the rate,” he said.
Astra International fell 500 rupiah to 14,500.
MANILA: Share prices closed 0.39 per cent higher for the best finish in nearly a decade as investors were buoyed by expectations of strong corporate profits.
The composite index added 12.72 points to 3,281.90. Volume was 2.3 billion shares worth 3.7 billion pesos.
“The market continues to be bullish about corporate results even though several large cap issues are already at overbought levels,” said Ron Rodrigo at an analyst at Unicapital Securities Inc.
MUMBAI: Share prices closed up 0.78 per cent at a new record high on overseas fund buying spurred by forecasts of continued rapid economic growth.Dealers said buying was hectic in telecom and automobile companies.—AFP
