Asian stock markets retreated Thursday, failing to hold on to monetary-easing inspired gains from the previous session, with energy firms declining along with U.S. crude futures and lackluster Chinese manufacturing data doing little to lift the gloom.
Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average /quotes/zigman/5986735 JP:100000018 -0.70% declined 0.7%, South Korea’s Kospi /quotes/zigman/1652118 KR:SEU -0.61% fell 0.4%, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index /quotes/zigman/1653884 AU:XJO -0.42% lost 0.5%.
In Chinese trading, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index /quotes/zigman/2622475 HK:HSI -0.42% slipped 0.4%, while the Shanghai Composite index /quotes/zigman/1859015 CN:000001 -1.10% fell 1%.
Investors hoping for strong signs of improvement in the Chinese economy were disappointed Thursday, after preliminary September manufacturing data from HSBC showed a reading of 47.8, up from 47.6 in August, but still well below the 50 mark that separates expansion from contraction.
“China’s manufacturing growth is still slowing, but the pace of slowdown is stabilizing. Manufacturing activities remain lackluster, thanks to weak new business flows and longer-than-expected destocking process,” HSBC chief China economist Hongbin Qu said in a statement accompanying the data.
Hong Kong-listed firms tied to the health of the Chinese economy weakened further after the data, with Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd. /quotes/zigman/14335 HK:16 -1.33% /quotes/zigman/157652/quotes/nls/shgky SHGKY +4.00% down 1.8% and Henderson Land Development Co. /quotes/zigman/14039 HK:12 -1.56% /quotes/zigman/14038/quotes/nls/hldvf HLDVF +2.05% losing 1.9% in the property sector.
China-exposed miners in Australia also added to losses after the data, with Rio Tinto Ltd. /quotes/zigman/176317 AU:RIO -1.51% /quotes/zigman/182541/quotes/nls/rio RIO -1.21% down 1.8% and BHP Billiton Ltd. /quotes/zigman/180893 AU:BHP -1.30% /quotes/zigman/270355/quotes/nls/bhp BHP +0.14% lower by 1.4% while iron-ore extractor Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. /quotes/zigman/329628 AU:FMG -2.71% /quotes/zigman/329626/quotes/nls/fsumf FSUMF +7.00% fell 3.3%.
Energy firms dropped across the region after benchmark crude-oil futures hit a six-week low in New York trading, with some pinning the 3.5% drop on Wednesday to comments from unnamed Saudi Arabian officials on prices and to U.S. data that raised concerns about market oversupply. Read more on Wednesday's crude-oil session ,
With oil futures just below $92 a barrel in Asian electronic trading hours, Japanese energy major JX Holdings Inc, /quotes/zigman/575591 JP:5020 -2.04% /quotes/zigman/5625645/quotes/nls/jxhgf JXHGF +0.46% fell 2% and rival Inpex Holdings Inc. /quotes/zigman/396971 JP:1605 -2.42% /quotes/zigman/527550/quotes/nls/ipxhy IPXHY -2.04% lost 2.4% in Tokyo.
Likewise, energy firms were the worst performers by sector in Australia, as Linc Energy Ltd. /quotes/zigman/411965 AU:LNC -5.13% /quotes/zigman/489390/quotes/nls/lncgy LNCGY +5.92% dropped 4.9% and Oil Search Ltd. /quotes/zigman/204156 AU:OSH -1.94% /quotes/zigman/129772/quotes/nls/oishy OISHY -1.88% surrendered 2.4%.
Korean energy firms were particularly weak, as SK Innovation Co. KR:096770 -1.41% traded down 4%, and S-Oil Corp. KR:010950 -2.26% retreated 2.8%.
Among Chinese energy companies, Cnooc Ltd. /quotes/zigman/29647 HK:883 -2.47% /quotes/zigman/274848/quotes/nls/ceo CEO -0.13% lost 2.6% in Hong Kong, while PetroChina Ltd. /quotes/zigman/21986 HK:857 -0.59% /quotes/zigman/257868/quotes/nls/ptr PTR +1.94% lost 1% in Hong Kong and 0.6% in Shanghai, and China Shenhua Energy Co. /quotes/zigman/34172 HK:1088 -2.28% /quotes/zigman/527543/quotes/nls/csuay CSUAY -2.10% declined 2.3% in Hong Kong and 2% in Shanghai.
Asian shares were broadly backing away from gains made Wednesday, when some markets hit multi-month highs after the Bank of Japan said that it would undertake more asset buying to support its economy, joining recent easing moves in the U.S. and Europe.
Analysts said the Japanese central bank’s plan wasn’t nearly enough to counter the U.S. Federal Reserve’s dollar-weakening policies and may increase the chance of foreign-exchange intervention by the Ministry of Finance to weaken the yen. Read story on Bank of Japan action
Amid the uncertainty over Japanese central-bank plans, the dollar /quotes/zigman/4868099/sampled USDJPY -0.1163% traded at 78.34 yen on Thursday, broadly steady from ¥78.36 reached in late U.S. trading Wednesday. The dollar rose as high as ¥79.23 immediately after the Bank of Japan statement.
With the yen rebounding, Japanese exporters gave up gains from the previous session, with Sony Corp. /quotes/zigman/197500 JP:6758 -2.84% /quotes/zigman/197524/quotes/nls/sne SNE +0.61% down 2.8% and Nissan Motor Co. /quotes/zigman/196473 JP:7201 -2.48% /quotes/zigman/202910/quotes/nls/nsany NSANY +1.22% losing 2.5%, while Olympus Corp. /quotes/zigman/196968 JP:7733 -1.39% /quotes/zigman/196973/quotes/nls/ocpnf OCPNF -2.48% retreating 1.4%.
Thursday’s move for the Japanese currency followed data showing that Japan’s August trade deficit widened from July, to ¥754.1 billion ($9.62 billion), but came in below analyst expectations for a ¥797.9 billion deficit. Read more on Japan’s August trade data.
Among gainers Thursday, reported plans by Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp. /quotes/zigman/199733 JP:9432 +6.39% /quotes/zigman/141141/quotes/nls/ntt NTT +2.96% to buy back up to $1.9 billion of its shares prompted a target-price hike from Nomura and sent the shares rallying by 6.4%. Read more on NTT’s share buyback.
Shares of Nidec Corp. /quotes/zigman/200131 JP:6594 0.00% /quotes/zigman/291828/quotes/nls/nj NJ +1.36% traded flat after a Nikkei news report that it plans to buy two U.S. industrial-motor makers for about $500 million, taking advantage of the strong yen to diversify away from its core hard-disk-drive motor business. Read more on Nidec’s reported M&A plan
Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average /quotes/zigman/5986735 JP:100000018 -0.70% declined 0.7%, South Korea’s Kospi /quotes/zigman/1652118 KR:SEU -0.61% fell 0.4%, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index /quotes/zigman/1653884 AU:XJO -0.42% lost 0.5%.
In Chinese trading, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index /quotes/zigman/2622475 HK:HSI -0.42% slipped 0.4%, while the Shanghai Composite index /quotes/zigman/1859015 CN:000001 -1.10% fell 1%.
Investors hoping for strong signs of improvement in the Chinese economy were disappointed Thursday, after preliminary September manufacturing data from HSBC showed a reading of 47.8, up from 47.6 in August, but still well below the 50 mark that separates expansion from contraction.
“China’s manufacturing growth is still slowing, but the pace of slowdown is stabilizing. Manufacturing activities remain lackluster, thanks to weak new business flows and longer-than-expected destocking process,” HSBC chief China economist Hongbin Qu said in a statement accompanying the data.
Chinese protest Japanese consulate
Protesters demonstrate in front of the Japanese Consulate in Shanghai, though access to the street in front of the consulate is strictly controlled by police and paramilitary units.China-exposed miners in Australia also added to losses after the data, with Rio Tinto Ltd. /quotes/zigman/176317 AU:RIO -1.51% /quotes/zigman/182541/quotes/nls/rio RIO -1.21% down 1.8% and BHP Billiton Ltd. /quotes/zigman/180893 AU:BHP -1.30% /quotes/zigman/270355/quotes/nls/bhp BHP +0.14% lower by 1.4% while iron-ore extractor Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. /quotes/zigman/329628 AU:FMG -2.71% /quotes/zigman/329626/quotes/nls/fsumf FSUMF +7.00% fell 3.3%.
Energy firms dropped across the region after benchmark crude-oil futures hit a six-week low in New York trading, with some pinning the 3.5% drop on Wednesday to comments from unnamed Saudi Arabian officials on prices and to U.S. data that raised concerns about market oversupply. Read more on Wednesday's crude-oil session ,
With oil futures just below $92 a barrel in Asian electronic trading hours, Japanese energy major JX Holdings Inc, /quotes/zigman/575591 JP:5020 -2.04% /quotes/zigman/5625645/quotes/nls/jxhgf JXHGF +0.46% fell 2% and rival Inpex Holdings Inc. /quotes/zigman/396971 JP:1605 -2.42% /quotes/zigman/527550/quotes/nls/ipxhy IPXHY -2.04% lost 2.4% in Tokyo.
Likewise, energy firms were the worst performers by sector in Australia, as Linc Energy Ltd. /quotes/zigman/411965 AU:LNC -5.13% /quotes/zigman/489390/quotes/nls/lncgy LNCGY +5.92% dropped 4.9% and Oil Search Ltd. /quotes/zigman/204156 AU:OSH -1.94% /quotes/zigman/129772/quotes/nls/oishy OISHY -1.88% surrendered 2.4%.
Korean energy firms were particularly weak, as SK Innovation Co. KR:096770 -1.41% traded down 4%, and S-Oil Corp. KR:010950 -2.26% retreated 2.8%.
Among Chinese energy companies, Cnooc Ltd. /quotes/zigman/29647 HK:883 -2.47% /quotes/zigman/274848/quotes/nls/ceo CEO -0.13% lost 2.6% in Hong Kong, while PetroChina Ltd. /quotes/zigman/21986 HK:857 -0.59% /quotes/zigman/257868/quotes/nls/ptr PTR +1.94% lost 1% in Hong Kong and 0.6% in Shanghai, and China Shenhua Energy Co. /quotes/zigman/34172 HK:1088 -2.28% /quotes/zigman/527543/quotes/nls/csuay CSUAY -2.10% declined 2.3% in Hong Kong and 2% in Shanghai.
Asian shares were broadly backing away from gains made Wednesday, when some markets hit multi-month highs after the Bank of Japan said that it would undertake more asset buying to support its economy, joining recent easing moves in the U.S. and Europe.
Analysts said the Japanese central bank’s plan wasn’t nearly enough to counter the U.S. Federal Reserve’s dollar-weakening policies and may increase the chance of foreign-exchange intervention by the Ministry of Finance to weaken the yen. Read story on Bank of Japan action
Amid the uncertainty over Japanese central-bank plans, the dollar /quotes/zigman/4868099/sampled USDJPY -0.1163% traded at 78.34 yen on Thursday, broadly steady from ¥78.36 reached in late U.S. trading Wednesday. The dollar rose as high as ¥79.23 immediately after the Bank of Japan statement.
With the yen rebounding, Japanese exporters gave up gains from the previous session, with Sony Corp. /quotes/zigman/197500 JP:6758 -2.84% /quotes/zigman/197524/quotes/nls/sne SNE +0.61% down 2.8% and Nissan Motor Co. /quotes/zigman/196473 JP:7201 -2.48% /quotes/zigman/202910/quotes/nls/nsany NSANY +1.22% losing 2.5%, while Olympus Corp. /quotes/zigman/196968 JP:7733 -1.39% /quotes/zigman/196973/quotes/nls/ocpnf OCPNF -2.48% retreating 1.4%.
Thursday’s move for the Japanese currency followed data showing that Japan’s August trade deficit widened from July, to ¥754.1 billion ($9.62 billion), but came in below analyst expectations for a ¥797.9 billion deficit. Read more on Japan’s August trade data.
Among gainers Thursday, reported plans by Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp. /quotes/zigman/199733 JP:9432 +6.39% /quotes/zigman/141141/quotes/nls/ntt NTT +2.96% to buy back up to $1.9 billion of its shares prompted a target-price hike from Nomura and sent the shares rallying by 6.4%. Read more on NTT’s share buyback.
Shares of Nidec Corp. /quotes/zigman/200131 JP:6594 0.00% /quotes/zigman/291828/quotes/nls/nj NJ +1.36% traded flat after a Nikkei news report that it plans to buy two U.S. industrial-motor makers for about $500 million, taking advantage of the strong yen to diversify away from its core hard-disk-drive motor business. Read more on Nidec’s reported M&A plan
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