Friday 19 August, 10:00 AM BST (Thomson Financial): Asian markets ended
the day mostly lower after Wall Street posted a mixed performance overnight.
The Japanese market slipped, ending slightly lower as investors took profits
from recent gains, while Hong Kong's market dropped, adding to Thursday's
heavy losses. The Korean index declined but was off its intraday lows amid
some bargain hunting, but Taiwan's market dropped, with technology plays under
pressure. Finally, Australia rose, outperforming the region, with resources
heavyweights in favour.
Tokyo's Nikkei-225 Index slipped by 15.64 points or 0.13% to 12,291.73,
while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Stock Index fell by 109.48 points or 0.72% to
15,038.61. Korea's Kospi Index was down by 2.83 points or 0.26% to 1089.88,
while Taiwan's Weighted Index dropped by 46.15 points or 0.74% to 6158.94.
Australia's All Ordinaries Index rose by 19.70 points or 0.45% to 4429.90.
The Japanese equity market came off its intraday lows but still ended the
day slightly weaker following Wall Street's mixed ending on Thursday.
Investors sold off stocks that had posted solid gains in recent days, with
steel stocks in particular ending the session lower. Elsewhere, there were
some gains in the technology sector, while car manufacturers were mixed.
Steel stocks came under pressure, following recent gains, with Kobe Steel
and Nippon Steel among sector plays ending the day lower. Technology plays
showed some resilience to the downside, with Advantest, Hitachi and Kyocera
posting gains, although Sony and Toshiba declined. Meanwhile, carmakers were
mixed, with Honda higher, while Nissan and Toyota declined.
Meanwhile, shares in supermarket operator Seiyu posted solid gains,
despite the company's half year group net loss widening to 10.59 billion yen,
compared to its 2.88 billion yen loss in the same period last year, while
leaving its full-year outlook unchanged.
Shares in Hong Kong declined, adding to Thursday's heavy losses, as
investors continued to take profits. The properties sector was under
particular pressure, with Cheung Kong Holdings and Sun Hung Kai Properties
leading the downside. Banking stocks were also weaker, with BOC Hong Kong
adding to Thursday's losses in the wake of its first half net profits.
Elsewhere, mobile operators China Mobile and China Unicom also dropped.
Korea's market fell, but the key share index closed off its intraday lows
as investors started picking up bargains following the market's recent heavy
losses. Heavyweight technology stock Samsung Electronics fell, as did Hynix
Semiconductor. Elsewhere, steel play POSCO dropped, while KEPCO also ended the
day lower. On a stronger note, shares in Korea Exchange Bank surged as the
lockup period for its largest shareholder is due to expire in October.
Meanwhile, Taiwan's market also fell, underperforming regional bourses on
continued concerns over the level of oil prices. Technology stocks remained
under pressure, with heavyweight chipmakers TSMC and UMC both ending the day
lower, while BenQ fell heavily after its second quarter net profit fell to 480
million Taiwan dollars from 2.98 billion Taiwan dollars the same period last
year.
Finally, the Australian market rose, outperforming the region, as
resources heavyweights posted solid gains. Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton both
climbed, the latter ahead of the release of its full-year results next week,
while oil stocks also gained weight. Elsewhere, shares in Patrick Corp.
surged, despite the company saying on Thursday that it expected its full-year
net profit to be 10-15% below last year's result, but some participants
pointed to talk that the company might be a bid target.
Olivier.Masson@thomson.com; Thomson Financial
This is Thomson Financial Corporate Services Asia Market Commentary. The
information herein is believed to be true and accurate. If you have any
questions please e-mail James Sang at James.Sang@tfn.com. We take no
responsibility for inaccurate information and reserve the right to update our
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http://www.thomsonfinancial.com .
SOURCE Thomson Financial Corporate Group
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