AFP FILE PHOTO
HONG KONG—Asian stock markets were mostly lower on Wednesday despite gains on Wall Street and positive US data but Tokyo remained buoyant thanks to bullishness on Tokyo Electric Power.
Optimism from figures suggesting the Chinese economy is not heading for a hard landing was tempered by Beijing’s decision to almost immediately hike the amount of cash banks must keep in reserve, surprising traders.
Hong Kong finished 0.68 percent off, dipping 152.23 points to 22,343.77 and Shanghai fell 0.90 percent, or 24.61 points, to 2,705.43. Sydney closed 0.40 percent, or 18.2 points, lower at 4,566.8.
But Tokyo ended 0.28 percent higher, adding 26.53 points to 9,574.32 and Seoul added 0.47 percent, or 9.70 points, to 2,086.53.
“Asian markets outperformed on Tuesday and Wall Street rose as expected,” said MF Global senior trader Anthony Anderson in Australia.
“China’s industrial production data were pretty good, but US retail sales weren’t crash hot, so there’s no new positive news.”
Anderson said China’s inflation could still be a restraining factor in the future.
The US on Tuesday released better-than-expected data on retail sales and wholesale inflation, which showed that the US economic recovery was weak, but still on track, analysts said.
US retail sales fell 0.2 percent from April to May, a less steep drop than the consensus estimate of 0.7 percent.
Meanwhile, wholesale inflation came in at 0.2 percent, outpacing analysts’ estimates of 0.1 percent.
The data sent Wall Street higher. The Dow, which has suffered heavy losses over the past six weeks, jumped 1.03 percent, while the S&P 500 rose 1.26 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq surged 1.48 percent.
China earlier Tuesday said its inflation rate was 5.5 percent in May, the highest in three years but in line with expectations, bringing relief to dealers who feared it would be higher. It also indicated that the world’s No. 2 economy was in rude health and not slowing too harshly.
However, the Chinese central bank’s decision later Tuesday to raise the amount of money lenders must keep in reserve – which came earlier than expected – weighed on sentiment.
The Nikkei got a boost as Tepco, which operates the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant battered by the March 11 quake-tsunami, ended 32.12 percent higher.
Dealers are rushing back to Tepco after the government put forward a bill to support the utility in making compensation payments to the thousands of people affected by the worst atomic accident since Chernobyl in 1986.
Tepco shares recently hit all-time lows amid a lack of clarity over the level of government support for it and worries it would be delisted from the stock exchange.
However, “shares are reacting bullishly as fears of delisting are dissipating,” Kenichi Hirano, operating officer at Tachibana Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.
The euro eased against the dollar in early European trade amid a eurozone row over a second bailout for debt-laden Greece, analysts said.
The single European unit dipped to $1.4355 from $1.4440 late Tuesday in New York where the single European currency staged a modest rise. The euro fell to 115.83 yen in Tokyo from 116.24.
The dollar fetched 80.67 yen, up from 80.45 in New York.
On oil markets, New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for July delivery, lost 33 cents to $99.04 a barrel, while Brent North Sea crude for delivery in July rose 30 cents to $120.46 on its last trading day.
Gold closed at $1,522-$1,523 an ounce in Hong Kong, up from Tuesday’s close of $1,519-$1,520.
In other markets:
— Singapore ended flat, edging down 2.57 points at 3,054.82.
Overseas-Chinese Banking Corp lost 0.33 percent to Sg$9.17 and Capitaland fell 1.38 percent to Sg$2.87.
— Taipei was flat, edging up 2.24 points to 8,831.45.
Leading smartphone maker HTC slipped 7.0 percent to Tw$1,070 while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co was 1.05 percent higher at Tw$77.0.
— Manila jumped 1.48 percent, or 61.11 points, to 4,201.38.
The index was given a strong lift by news that Moody’s had upgraded its credit rating on Manila’s debt to Ba2 from Ba3 because of the country’s economic growth and progress in fiscal consolidation.
Metropolitan Bank & Trust rose 2.3 percent to 69.50 pesos, Lepanto Mining gained 5.9 percent to 0.90 pesos and San Miguel added 1.2 percent to 113.50 pesos while Philippine Long Distance Telephone was up 1.9 percent at 2,348 pesos.
— Wellington added 0.50 percent, or 17.52 points, to 3,506.37.
Clothing firm Pumpkin Patch fell 0.9 percent to NZ$1.09 while NZ Oil & Gas ended up 1.1 percent at NZ$0.89.
— Jakarta rose 0.56 percent, or 20.98 points, to 3,794.25.
— Kuala Lumpur ended up 0.50 percent, or 7.68 points, to 1,556.19.
Utility company Tenaga Nasional gained 2.6 percent to 6.77 ringgit and petrochemical producer Petronas Chemicals inched up 1.7 percent to 7.18.
Telekom Malaysia slipped 0.3 percent to 3.84 ringgit.
— Bangkok lost 0.45 percent, or 4.61 points, to end at 1,030.31.
Coal producer Banpu dropped 6 baht to 720 and PTT Plc declined 5 baht to 334.
— Mumbai fell 0.96 percent, or 176.42 points, to 18,132.24 ahead of a central bank policy meeting on Thursday, where it is expected to raise interest rates again in an attempt to contain inflation.
India’s top property firm DLF fell 3.17 percent to 224.6 rupees while the largest commercial bank State Bank of India ended down 2.5 percent at 2,178.2 rupees.