12:00 am | Wednesday, October 8th, 2014
A man monitors stock market prices at a bank in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Oct. 3, 2014. Asian markets were mixed Tuesday, Oct. 7, taking a lead from Wall Street ahead of the start of the corporate reporting season, while Hong Kong enjoyed a third straight rally as a protest that hit the city last week winds down. AP PHOTO/LAI SENG SIN
HONG KONG–Asian markets were mixed Tuesday, taking a lead from Wall Street ahead of the start of the corporate reporting season, while Hong Kong enjoyed a third straight rally as a protest that hit the city last week winds down.
The euro dipped, but was holding up after rebounding in New York from a two-year low against the dollar and the yen picked up on profit-taking after Bank of Japan’s latest policy meeting.
Tokyo fell 0.67 percent, or 107.12 points, to 15,783.83 and Sydney slipped 0.16 percent, or 8.7 points, to 5,284.2, while Seoul added 0.23 percent, or 4.52 points, to close at 1,972.91.
In the afternoon Hong Kong added 0.47 percent, a third straight advance as pro-democracy protests that shut parts of the city down last week began to wind down and people returned to work.
Shanghai was closed for a public holiday.
Wall Street stocks–which bolted up at the end of last week in response to a surge in US jobs creation–retreated Monday as firms prepare to report their earnings, with investors worried about the effects of the stronger dollar.
The Dow slipped 0.10 percent, the S&P 500 eased 0.16 percent and the Nasdaq lost 0.47 percent.
The greenback has seen strong buying interest as a series of upbeat US economic data increase the likelihood the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates sooner than initially expected.
But in Tokyo trade Tuesday it was at 108.53 yen against 108.75 yen in New York, and well down from 109.52 yen in Tokyo earlier Monday and last week’s six-year highs above 110 yen.
Euro holds on to gains
The dollar weakness came despite the Bank of Japan sounding a more downbeat view of the economy at the end of a two-day policy meeting, suggesting it could further loosen monetary policy at its next get-together at the end of October. Monetary easing tends to send a currency lower.
The euro, which hit a two-year low against the dollar in Asia Monday, held up after rallying in New York on bargain-buying.
It bought $1.2631 compared with $1.2655 in US trade, but was much stronger than the $1.2515 on Monday in Asia. The single currency was also at 137.16 yen from 137.64 yen.
In Hong Kong, pro-democracy demonstrations–which saw tens of thousands hit the streets last week–were thinning out Tuesday as workers returned to work.
“Asia (Tuesday) looks to be back to normal trading conditions, with mainland China back online (on Wednesday) after the week-long National Day celebrations,” said brokerage IG, according to Dow Jones Newswires.
“The protests in Hong Kong have been peaceful in the most part and have petered out, allowing working conditions to return.”
On oil markets, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for November delivery dropped one cent to $90.33 while Brent crude for November eased four cents to $92.75 in afternoon trade.
Gold was at $1,206.14 an ounce at 1125 GMT against $1,196.53 late Monday.
In other markets:
— Mumbai’s Sensex index fell by 1.11 percent, or 296.02 points, to end at 26,271.97.
— Tata motors was up 0.43 percent to 504.90 rupees and Hindustan Unilever was down 0.11 percent at 734.30 rupees.
— Kuala Lumpur slipped 0.4 percent, 7.28 points, to end at 1,833.54 points.
Land & General fell 4.17 percent to 0.58 ringgit per share, Petronas Gas lost 2.27 percent to close at 22.34 ringgit, and Sime Darby edge up 0.22 percent to stand at 9.10 ringgit.
— Singapore fell 0.28 percent, or 9.25 points, to 3,243.99.
DBS Bank eased 0.27 percent to close at Sg$18.40 and Singapore Telecom dipped 0.80 percent to Sg$3.74.
— Jakarta ended up 0.65 percent, or 32.70, at 5,032.84.
State miner Aneka Tambang jumped 0.49 percent to 1,025 rupiah, while telecommunications service provider Indosat slipped 0.51 percent to 3,905 rupiah.
— Manila shed 7.65 points, or 0.11 percent, to end at 7,239.38.
— Bangkok shed 0.24 percent, or 3.74 points, to close at 1,539.39.
Coal producer Banpu was unchanged at 29.25 baht, but PTT Plc dropped 0.81 percent, or 3 baht, at 367 baht.
— Taipei slipped 0.60 percent, or 54.33 points, to 9,040.81.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. closed 0.79 percent lower at Tw$125.0 while Hon Hai Precision Industry lost 0.91 percent to Tw$97.6.
— Wellington fell 0.11 percent, or 5.61 points, to 5,235.71.
Fletcher Building added 0.12 percent to NZ$8.61 and Chorus was off 1.08 percent at NZ$1.83.
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