Asia shares mixed after US data; dollar stumbles

An investor watches the stock price monitor at a private securities company in Shanghai, China, Tuesday, May 14, 2013. Asian stock markets were mixed Tuesday in a lukewarm reaction to data showing that US consumers revved up their retail spending last month. AP PHOTO/EUGENE HOSHIKO

HONG KONG—Asian shares were mixed Tuesday, with the dollar’s rally against the yen stumbling despite better than expected US retail figures that highlighted a steady recovery in the world’s largest economy.

Tokyo slipped 0.16 percent, or 23.79 points, to 14,758.42, but Seoul rose 1.03 percent, or 20.13 points, to 1,968.83.

Sydney rose 0.21 percent, or 10.7 points, to 5,221 but the Australian dollar traded just below parity with the greenback before an austere annual budget was unveiled in the evening, projecting an $18 billion deficit for 2013/14.

Hong Kong closed down 0.26 percent, or 59.53 points, to 22,930.28 and Shanghai fell 1.11 percent, or 24.91 points, to 2,217.01.

Asian markets were barely stirred by the announcement of a slight improvement in US consumer spending for last month.

Retail sales in April were $419.0 billion, up from $418.7 billion the previous month, boosting the earnings outlook for Asian exporters.

Analysts had predicted a decline of 0.3 percent as consumers dealt with a January 1 increase in payroll and other taxes.

Consumer spending in the United States drives roughly two-thirds of all US economic activity.

The April jobs report in early May also came in stronger than expected. The US economy added 165,000 new positions and February and March job growth numbers were revised sharply upwards.

Inflation data, which is due on Thursday, will be the next key release.

The dollar was at 101.54 yen in afternoon Asian trade, weakening from 101.82 yen in New York late Monday but still much higher than the 99-yen range a week earlier.

The greenback briefly breached the 102-yen level in Monday’s Asian trade on the back of speculation that the US Federal Reserve could be the first among major central banks to roll back its quantitative easing policy.

The dollar’s strength has been a dominant theme in currency trading in recent days as it gained against other currencies due to further signs of US recovery.

The euro fetched $1.3014 and 132.16 yen against $1.2975 and 132.11 yen in US trade.

US stocks traded largely flat Monday under the shadow of lower than expected growth in Chinese industrial output for April, which suggested a sluggish recovery in the world’s second-largest economy.

The S&P 500 managed to set a new closing record, but only on the back of an almost negligible 0.07 point gain from the previous mark Friday, ending at 1,633.77.

The narrower blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.18 percent to 15,091.68.

Oil rebounded in Asian trade, with New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in June, gaining 19 cents to $95.36 a barrel. Brent North Sea crude for June delivery rose one cent to $102.83 in afternoon trade.

Gold was at $1,428.40 at 1040 GMT compared with $1,428.90 on Monday.

In other markets:

— Taipei was flat, edging up 3.50 points to 8,251.82.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. was 0.87 percent higher at Tw$115.5 while Hon Hai Precision fell 0.50 percent to Tw$79.2.

— Wellington fell 0.55 percent, or 25.78 points, to 4,645.86.

Telecom Corp. was down 1.11 percent at NZ$2.675 while Fletcher Building was up 0.70 percent to NZ$8.61.

— Manila rose 0.70 percent, or 51.08 points, to 7,313.46.

Bloomberry Resorts gained 2.79 percent to 12.54 pesos while Philippine Long Distance Telephone rose 2.62 percent to 3,210 pesos.

— Jakarta ended up 0.54 percent, or 27.31 points, at 5,081.94.

Car maker Astra International rose 1.44 percent to 7,050 rupiah, while palm oil producer Astra Agro Lestari lost 0.57 percent to 17,300 rupiah.

— Bangkok added 0.36 percent, or 5.75 points, to 1,623.48.

Skytrain operator BTS Group Holdings gained 3.55 percent to 8.75 baht, while Thai Union Frozen Products jumped 4.62 percent to 62.25 baht.

— Kuala Lumpur was flat, inching up 0.53 points to close at 1,788.43.

CIMB Group added 0.1 percent to end at 8.67 ringgit while Malayan Banking lost 0.8 percent to 10.14 ringgit.

— Mumbai rose 0.16 percent, or 30.62 points, to 19,722.29.

Reliance Communications jumped 5.77 percent to 111.85 rupees while state-run oil explorer ONGC was up 1.78 percent at 326.5 rupees.—Anuj Chopra