Asia shares mixed after Wall St. losses

A man walks by an electronic stock board of a securities firm in Tokyo on July 4, 2014. Asian markets were mixed on Tuesday, July 8, after Wall Street retreated from record highs and US analysts warned that a recent equities rally could see a sharp reverse. AP PHOTO/KOJI SASAHARA

HONG KONG–Asian markets were mixed on Tuesday, after Wall Street retreated from record highs and US analysts warned that a recent equities rally could see a sharp reverse.

Investors are hoping to get a better handle on the state of the global economy with the release this week of Chinese economic data as well as minutes from the Federal Reserve’s most recent policy meeting.

Tokyo eased 0.42 percent, or 65.03 points, to finish at 15,314.41, while Sydney fell 0.15 percent, or 8 points, to 5510.9 and Seoul was flat, nudging up 1.54 points to 2,006.66.

Shanghai added 0.20 percent, or 4.09 points, to 2,064.02 and Hong Kong closed flat, ticking up 0.46 points to 23,541.38.

After a long Independence Day weekend US shares returned on Monday for the first time since Thursday’s better-than-expected jobs report.

However, they ended in the red on profit-taking while there were warnings that global markets could be headed for further losses after enjoying a positive run-up in the past few weeks, which has seen the Dow and S&P 500 touch new records.

Nobel prizewinning economist Joseph Stiglitz said in a television interview he was “very uncomfortable” with current stock prices, while Raymond James managing director Jeffrey Saut said in a note that stocks are vulnerable to a 10-12 percent decline in the weeks ahead.

The Dow slipped 0.26 percent after breaking 17,000 for the first time on Thursday, while the S&P 500 eased 0.39 percent. The Nasdaq declined 0.77 percent.

The dollar also fell in New York, sitting at 101.87 yen late in trade, well down from the 102.11 yen in Tokyo earlier in the day.

On Tuesday morning the greenback bought 101.80 yen.

The euro fetched $1.3589 and 138.32 yen in Tokyo, against $1.3604 and 138.59 yen in US trade.

On Wednesday the Fed is due to release the minutes from its most recent policy meeting.

“Attention is now turning to US corporate earnings and the US Fed’s stance on monetary policy, especially the pace of stimulus tapering after last week’s strong jobs data,” Rakuten Securities senior market analyst Masayuki Doshida told Dow Jones Newswires.

Also Wednesday China will announce inflation data for June, following that up with trade figures on Thursday. There are hopes for another upbeat set of results following a recent string of good news, including on manufacturing activity.

In Seoul Samsung Electronics ended 0.23 percent higher despite warning of a 25 percent plunge in its operating profit in the second quarter of the year as its smartphone business grapples with a strong won and cheap rivals from China.

Analysts said the weak figures had already been priced in, resulting in a more than 10 percent fall since early June.

Oil prices were mixed. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for August delivery dipped 20 cents to $103.33 while Brent crude for August was down 52 cents to $109.72.

Gold fetched $1,322.43 an ounce at 1130 GMT compared with $1,314.03 late Monday.

In other markets:

– Mumbai fell 1.98 percent, or 517.97 points, to 25,582.11 points.

Unitech dived 12.54 percent to 28.25 rupees and Jaiprakash Associates fell 9.82 percent to 66.15 rupees.

– Bangkok gained 0.29 percent, or 4.37 points, to 1,507.58.

Coal producer Banpu lost 0.86 percent to 28.75, while Bangkok Bank added 0.76 percent to 198.50.

– Singapore eased 0.25 percent, or 8.23 points, to 3,283.34.

DBS Bank was down 0.52 percent to Sg$17.07 while Singapore Airlines fell 0.10 percent to Sg$10.39.

– Kuala Lumpur ended flat at 1,892.65, gaining just 0.15 points or 0.01 percent.

Financial firm CIMB Group Holdings added 0.3 percent to 7.28 ringgit, while SapuraKencana Petroleum rose 0.2 percent to 4.41. Telekom Malaysia lost 0.2 percent to 6.36 ringgit.

– Jakarta ended up 0.72 percent, or 35.68 points, at 5,024.71. Telecommunications company Indosat gained 2.19 percent at 3,735 rupiah, while Hero Supermarket fell 6.04 percent to 2,800 rupiah.

– Taipei rose 0.11 percent, or 10.78 points, to 9,530.98.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. shed 1.10 percent to Tw$134.5 while Hon Hai Precision was 0.97 percent higher at Tw$104.5.

– Wellington sank 0.39 percent, or 20.29 points, to 5,166.08.

Air New Zealand was off 2.06 percent at NZ$2.135 and Fletcher Building eased 0.66 percent to NZ$9.00.

– Manila closed 0.72 percent lower, dipping 50.58 points to 6,948.52.

Ayala Land retreated 1.43 percent to 30.95 pesos, Philippine Long Distance Telephone gave up 0.60 percent to 3,002.00 pesos and Megaworld Corp. eased 0.21 percent to 4.72 pesos.

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