Asian stocks mostly down, Tokyo sees late rally

A man looks at an electronic stock board of a securities firm in Tokyo on Nov. 5, 2014. Asian stock markets mostly fell Wednesday as oil’s fall to a three-year low weighed on energy companies and weaker European growth forecasts dampened sentiment. AP PHOTO/SHIZUO KAMBAYASHI

HONG KONG –Asian markets mostly fell Wednesday but Tokyo reversed early selling to add to the 10 percent rally since the Bank of Japan’s surprise monetary easing announcement last week.

The Nikkei’s late advance came as the dollar hit a seven-year high against the yen in response to news Republicans had captured both houses of the US Congress and the head of the BoJ reasserted his determination to beat deflation.

Wall Street’s lead was neutral following a disappointing batch of economic indicators, while the euro edged up despite news that the European Commission had slashed its growth outlook for this year.

Tokyo added 0.44 percent, or 74.85 points, to 16,937.32.

However, Seoul slipped 0.19 percent, or 3.76 points, to 1,931.43 and Shanghai gave up 0.47 percent, or 11.42 points, to 2,419.25. Sydney was flat, edging down 2.0 points to 5,517.9.

Hong Kong gave up 0.63 percent, or 150.04 points, to end at 23,695.62.

Japanese shares enjoyed a huge boost and the yen tumbled after the BoJ decision Friday, which will see vast sums of extra money pumped into the economy in a bid to tackle deflation and avert another recession.

Also fueling the buying was news that the country’s public pension fund–the world’s biggest–will double the amount of equities in its investment portfolio.

While profit-taking pared some of the dollar’s and the Nikkei’s recent gains early Wednesday, news that Republicans had taken control of the Senate from Democrats sent both rising again.

Adding to yen-selling sentiment was a speech by BoJ boss Haruhiko Kuroda that indicated the bank was prepared to do whatever was needed to hit a 2.0 percent inflation target by next year.

“In order to completely overcome the chronic disease of deflation, medicine should be taken until the end,” he said in Tokyo. “A half-baked medical treatment will only worsen the symptoms.”

Dollar surges against yen

The dollar–which stood at 113.57 yen early Wednesday in Tokyo–jumped to 114.37 yen in the afternoon, its highest since December 2007.

The euro was at 143.17 yen, against 142.61 yen earlier in the day.

The single currency was also at $1.2528 against $1.2545 in New York trade despite the European Commission’s decision to cut its eurozone 2014 growth forecast to 0.8 percent from 1.2, and its 2015 estimate to 1.1 percent from 1.7 percent.

The focus is now on the European Central Bank’s next policy meeting later this week, with analysts looking for some guidance on its plans for kick-starting the economy.

US shares ended broadly lower Tuesday after the Commerce Department said new orders for manufactured goods fell and the trade deficit widened.

Analysts also said last week’s initial estimate of growth in the third quarter, which came in at 3.5 percent, was likely overstated by as much as 0.4 percentage points, and that the current quarter would be slower.

The Dow edged up 0.09 percent, the S&P 500 dropped 0.29 percent and the Nasdaq slipped 0.33 percent.

Oil prices extended their recent losses as dealers looked ahead to the release of the latest US supply report after a sell-off in the previous session owing to price cuts by Saudi Arabia.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for December delivery fell 49 cents to $76.70, while Brent crude for December fell 82 cents to $82.00 in afternoon trade.

WTI had dropped $1.59 in New York late Tuesday to hit its lowest closing point since October 2011, as dealers continued to digest Saudi Arabia’s move to cut its prices for crude sold to the US markets.

Brent had fallen $1.96 in London to its lowest close since October 2010.

Gold was $1,148.34 an ounce from $1,169.98 late Tuesday.

In other markets:

— Singapore closed up 0.18 percent, or 5.97 points, to 3,287.54.

Singapore Telecommunication closed up 0.27 percent at Sg$3.77, while DBS Bank rose 1.32 percent to Sg$19.20.

— Kuala Lumpur lost 8.07 points, or 0.44 percent, to close at 1,839.29.

AMMB Holdings fell 1.49 percent to 6.63 ringgit, and Public Bank lost 1.08 percent to end at 18.26 ringgit.

— Jakarta closed down 0.08 percent, or 4.11 points, at 5,066.83.

Food producer Indofood Sukses Makmur fell 1.49 percent to 6,625 rupiah, while car maker Astra International gained 2.58 percent to 6,950 rupiah.

— Bangkok dropped 0.49 percent Wednesday, or 7.75 points, to finish at 1,577.40

Coal producer Banpu was unchanged at 27 baht but the country’s largest bank Bangkok Bank gained 0.25 percent or 0.50 baht to 199.50

— Mumbai advanced 0.20 percent, or 55.50 points, to end at 27,915.88. During the session, the index briefly touched a new high of 28,010.39.

Axis Bank gained 2.93 percent to 457.70 rupees, while aluminium maker Hindalco Industries fell 4.10 percent to 156.80 rupees.

— Taipei shed 0.30 percent, or 26.58 points, to 8,962.6.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. was unchanged at Tw$132.0, while leading chip design house MediaTek shed 1.73 percent to Tw$426.5.

— Wellington fell 0.39 percent, or 21.11 points, to 5,402.15, ending a 12-day winning streak.

Chorus was off 0.48 percent at NZ$2.08 and Spark dropped 2.82 percent to NZ$3.10.

— Manila ended 0.18 percent lower, slipping 13.20 points to 7,208.81.

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. slid 5.02 percent to 2,990 pesos while BDO Unibank gained 5.86 percent to 103 pesos.