Asian markets were lower Thursday, marking a downbeat end to what has otherwise been a very strong January for regional stocks.
More in Markets- Warning on Fund Flows In Singapore
- What Can Help Restore Investor Trust? Maybe the SEC
- U.S. Recovery Shows a Soft Spot
- Fed's Bond Purchases Continue
- Yen's Fall Boosts Japanese Firms
Two large markets that came back to life in the final quarter of 2012, Japan and mainland China, continued to post substantial gains in January. The Nikkei rose 6.9% month-to-Wednesday as sustained yen weakness continued to support local stocks, while the Shanghai Composite added 5.0% as Chinese economic data continued to point toward a recovery in Asia's largest economy.
Australia was the standout market, up 5.3% month-to-Wednesday, having its best January since 1994.
"The pledge to stabilize things in Japan and the U.S. continuing with quantitative easing, that is more than enough for our market here to do very well," said Stan Shamu, market strategist at IG Markets in Melbourne, adding that a pickup in iron ore prices also helped local miners.
The growth story for markets in Southeast Asia remained compelling, and combined with strong sentiment, led stocks on these smaller exchanges to post the biggest gains. Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh Index soared 17.9% month-to-Wednesday, while the Philippines' PSE Index gained 7.9% and Thailand's SET advanced 7.1%.
Earnings reports continued to influence Asian markets on Thursday.
In Tokyo, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group rose 3% after releasing solid results. The financial firm beat expectations, posting a 34% on-year increase in consolidated net profit for the April-December period.
In Hong Kong, Lenovo Group, the world's largest maker of personal computers, fell 1.5% despite releasing above-view third-quarter results due to continued sales growth. The company had already gained 18.2% for the year up-to-Wednesday.
Earnings weren't all positive however, as videogame company Nintendo dropped 5% in Osaka after posting weak third-quarter results and cutting its outlook.
More broadly, some of the biggest economic cues came from the U.S., where advance fourth-quarter gross domestic product figures released Wednesday provided the main surprise. Gross domestic product for the world's largest economy declined by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, falling short of expectations for a 1.0% increase.
Also in the U.S., the Federal Reserve concluded its most recent policy meeting, keeping rates unchanged and reaffirming its commitment to open-ended bond purchases.
In Asia, Japan's industrial output rose 2.5% on-month in December data showed early Thursday, below expectations for a 4.0% rise. However, the data was strong enough for the government to raise its assessment, saying that output is showing signs of coming out of last fall's declines.
The yen was little moved against the U.S. dollar Thursday, with the greenback recently at �90.90.
The Nikkei was down 0.9% after bouncing in and out of negative territory in early trading.
In China, stocks were mixed before the release of the country's official manufacturing data on Friday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was down 0.5%, while the Shanghai Composite was up 0.1%.
Chinese oil company Cnooc fell 2.7%, pulled down by a combination of a soft output target and a higher plan for capital expenditure.
South Korea's Kospi was down 0.3%, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.3%.
Write to Daniel Inman at daniel.inman@wsj.com
No comments:
Post a Comment