= Asian Shares End Mixed; Earnings In Focus, Markets Choppy

SINGAPORE, Apr 24, 2009 (Dow Jones Commodities News Select via Comtex) -- JFEEF | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Asian markets ended mixed Friday after struggling to find direction, with JFE Holdings leading steelmakers down in Japan after announcing a decline in earnings, while a stronger yen hurt exporters.

Hong Kong stocks ended with small gains after moving in both directions. Software and telecommunication shares were pushing the Indian market toward its seventh straight weekly advance.

Patrick Yiu, associated director at CASH Asset Management in Hong Kong said the market lacked direction as it was undergoing a phase of consolidation after weeks of hefty gains.

"I think the market has run up on hopes of an economic recovery...it may continue to rise in the second half of the year when data confirms the recovery," Mr. Yiu said.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Average finished down 1.6% at 8,707.99 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.3% to 15,258.85.

China's Shanghai Composite fell 0.6%, Taiwan's Taiex inched up 0.1%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slid 0.8%, South Korea's Kospi shed 1.1% and New Zealand's NZX 50 gave up 0.1%.

In afternoon trading, India's Sensex rose 1.9%, while Singapore's Straits Times Index fell 0.4%.

Several markets changed direction at least once during the session, tracking choppy trade overnight in New York, which saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average cross the flat line 82 times Thursday, before finally finishing 0.9% higher. The DJIA futures were recently two points lower in screen trade.

In Tokyo, shares of JFE Holdings fell 3.1% after the company reported a 26% drop in net profit for the year ended March 31, and withheld its earnings forecast for the year because of volatile business environment. It also dragged down other steelmakers, with Nippon Steel down 4.2% and Sumitomo Metal Industries slumping 5.2%.

Exporters were also beaten down on the yen's strength, with Toyota Motor dropping 2.1% and Canon down 2.7%.

NEC Electronics surged 10.6%, though, after the Nikkei reported the firm and Renesas Technology had struck a basic agreement to merge.

Property shares helped tip the market higher in Hong Kong, with Sun Hung Kai Properties rising 1.4% and Cheung Kong (Holdings) gaining 2.3% amid expectations of a recovery in demand for homes. Shares of China Huiyuan Juice Group soared 13.4% on reports Coca-Cola has reopened talks to take a minority stake in the juice maker.

Chip makers dragged the market lower in Seoul after Samsung Electronics reported a 72% drop in first-quarter profit and Hynix Semiconductor posted its sixth-straight quarterly net loss. Hynix ended down 4.7%, while Samsung skidded 5.6%.

"Investors' focus has shifted to corporate earnings and the outlook from economic data, so U.S. March existing-home sales data, U.S. jobless claims, and Korea's first-quarter GDP won't have much impact on the market today," said Jung Seung-jae at Mirae Asset Securities in Seoul.

The broad-market decline came in spite of a growth of 0.1% in South Korea's first-quarter GDP from the previous quarter, after a 5.1% plunge in the fourth quarter of last year.

Bank of America-Merrill Lynch analysts said the positive growth was because of government spending and a bounce-back in private consumption.

"Reflecting this, and assuming modest sequential growth in the remaining quarters, we have revised our 2009 growth outlook to minus 3% (from minus 3.6% previously)," they wrote in a report. "That said, we continue to expect the economy to face headwinds from weak domestic and external demand, with the onus of recovery on accommodative macro policies."

In Sydney, Rio Tinto gained 2.2% and BHP Billiton fell 1.3% on market speculation of a friendly deal between the mining giants, after the Age reported Thursday that Rio's chairman met his BHP counterpart.

Financials declined in Shanghai on speculation the banking regulator might tighten lending norms after a surge in loans in the first quarter. Shares of Industrial & Commercial Bank of China fell 1.2% and Bank of Communications dropped 1.2%.

In Mumbai, the gains were led by bargain buying in telecom shares, which have underperformed the broad market of late. Bharti Airtel surged 6.4% and Reliance Communications gained 3.7%.

In foreign currency markets, the Japanese yen was gaining on risk aversion ahead of the weekend. The dollar was recently at 96.97 yen from 97.92 yen late in New York. The euro was at 128.47 yen from 128.69 yen, and at $1.3244 from $1.3140.

June Nymex crude was recently trading eight cents higher at $49.70 per barrel. Nymex crude oil futures have remained strong, trading near $50 per barrel, largely on optimism that economic conditions are on the upswing. But prices face a downside risk on weak demand that could easily continue through summer, said Citi Futures Perspectives analyst Tim Evans, who added that he sees crude falling to the "$40 area and possibly lower."

Spot gold was recently $7.40 higher at $911.20 a troy ounce, supported by risk aversion and signs of a modest recovery in Indian bullion demand, said HSBC analyst James Steel.

-Dow Jones Newswires; +65-6415-4140; markettalk@dowjones.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

04-24-09 0541ET

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