Wednesday 5 October, 10:00 AM BST (Thomson Financial): Asian markets ended
lower as negative sentiment from the U.S. regarding interest rate rises spread
through to Asia. Japan's market came off Tuesday's strong gain on profit
taking, while Hong Kong's market, which closely follows U.S. interest rates,
closed heavily down. Meanwhile, the Korean bourse fell sharply on program
selling, while Taiwan's market ended marginally lower. Finally, the market in
Australia fell heavily on profit taking.
Tokyo's Nikkei-225 Index lost 48.95 points or 0.36% to 13,689.89, while
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Stock Index dropped 221.81 points or 1.44% to 15,161.03.
Korea's Kospi Index fell by 15.38 points or 1.24% to 1227.40, while Taiwan's
Weighted Index eased by 7.11 points or 0.12% to 6135.01. Australia's All
Ordinaries Index plunged 94.70 points or 2.06% to 4496.80.
Japan's market ended lower on profit taking following big gains the
previous day and negative sentiment from the United States. Financial stocks
came under pressure after recent strength, while chip makers also suffered and
ship builders dropped back.
Mizuho Financial Group fell following the announcement that it will sell
700,000 shares to raise funds in order to repay debt owed to the Resolution
and Collection Corporation of Japan, a state agency that loaned the bank money
to clear up its bad debts. Other banking stocks that lost ground were Mitsui
Trust, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Shinsei Bank.
Elsewhere, chipmakers headed south, with Elpida Memory leading the falls,
followed by Fujitsu and Hitachi, while ship builders were sluggish as Sumitomo
Heavy Industries dropped heavily, along with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries,
Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Hitachi Zosen all closing down.
Meanwhile, in Hong Kong shares posted heavy losses after U.S. Federal
Reserve officials talked of the need to raise interest rates, which Hong Kong
rates track. The falls were broad based as few stocks avoided losses, with
property stocks Sun Hung Kai, Henderson Land and Wharf Holding coming under
particular pressure, while banks were also in the firing line, BOC Hong Kong
and HSBC Holdings both slipping.
In Korea, the market closed sharply lower, with most large caps falling
due to program selling as the market awaited next week's monetary policy
committee meeting. Heavyweight Samsung Electronics fell back as did Samsung
SDI, while in the automobiles sector Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors both ended
lower. Steel maker Posco fell heavily on worries over its second half
performance, while in the banking sector most stocks were weak, with Kookmin
Bank, Woori Bank and Hana Bank all down.
Meanwhile, Taiwan's market ended marginally lower, led by the financial
sector and some technology stocks. Financial stocks continued to lose ground
on disappointment over consolidation in the sector, with Taishin Financial and
Chinatrust Financial both losing ground, while in the technology sector UMC
was the subject of profit taking and fell, following four sessions of gains.
Finally, the Australian market fell heavily on broad based profit taking
following a negative lead from Wall Street, where investors took fright at the
prospect of rising interest rates, in order to counter inflationary pressures.
Resources heavyweights BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto both posted heavy losses,
while the financial sector also suffered heavy falls, with Babcock and Brown
one the of biggest losers, plummeting by over 10% and continuing the sell off
that began at the start of the week.
Ian.Littlewood@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
reports. For more information about Thomson Financial visit us on-line at
http://www.thomsonfinancial.com .
SOURCE Thomson Financial Corporate Group
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