Asian markets trade lower on economic worries

(RTTNews) - The stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region were trading lower on Wednesday, after Wall Street closed higher overnight, as lingering economic worries dented investor sentiment. Asian stocks fell, led by commodity producers and financials, as oil, gold and aluminum prices dropped and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group posted its lowest quarterly profit in at least four years. Crude oil prices briefly touched a 22-month low Tuesday on recession fears.

U.S. stocks closed higher on Tuesday, pulling off a final-hour rebound, as Hewlett Packard's quarterly results offset negative sentiment generated by a fall in Citigroup's fall to a 13-year low on fears about widespread job cuts and weak economic data. U.S. Labor Department reported that the nation's wholesale prices plunged by a record amount in October and the American homebuilders' confidence index for November dropped to a new all-time low. The Dow closed up 151.2 points or 1.8% at 8,424.8, the Nasdaq gained 1.2 points or 0.1% to 1,483.3 and the S&P 500 advanced 8.4 points or 1.0% to 859.1.

Oil prices continued to fall Tuesday as a government report showed a plunge in gasoline prices in October. Light, sweet crude for December delivery fell 56 cents to settle at $54.39 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In the Asian session Wednesday, oil was quoted at $54.53 a barrel, up 14 cents, by 8:15 p.m. ET.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar traded in the upper 96-yen range in early Tokyo deals, flat with Tuesday's close in the upper 96-yen levels in Tokyo. In South Korea, the won strengthened slightly to 1,441.8 a dollar. The Australian dollar opened weaker at US$0.6440-0.6445 and the kiwi traded flat at US$0.5495 in early local trade.

The Japanese stock market was trading lower as fears about a deepening global recession offset the positive impact from the overnight rally on Wall Street. At 8.04 P.M. ET, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index was losing 85 points, or 1.02%, to 8,243.41 and the broader Topix Index of all First Section Issues was down 1.38 points to 834.06.

On the economic front, Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Wednesday that total industrial activity in Japan eased 0.1% in September compared to the previous month. That was in line with analyst expectations following a revised 1.7% monthly decline in August. On a quarterly basis, industrial activity fell 0.8% in the third quarter compared to the preceding second quarter.

In the banking space, Mitsubishi UFJ slipped 2.57%, Mizuho Financial declined 0.70%, Sumitomo Mitsui lost 1.17% and Resona Holdings improved 0.08%. On Tuesday, Mitsubishi UFJ reported a 61% fall in its profit for the second quarter and reiterated its recently lowered full-year forecast.

Among export-oriented stocks, Sony added 0.75%, Canon gained 1.42% and Nikon advanced 0.98%. Automaker Mazda rose 2.17%. On Tuesday, U.S. automaker Ford Motor Co., the holder of a 33.4% stake in Mazda, said it has sold a 20% stake for about $540 million. Meanwhile, Toyota added 0.98% and Nissan improved 0.56%. Honda eased 0.73%.

Among tech stocks, Advantest declined 1.74%, Fanuc eased 0.18% and Kyocera gave away 0.60%. NTT DoCoMo will partner South Korean firm KT Freetel to develop a smart phone that features free software from Google. The company's stock advanced 1.39%.

In the oil sector, Inpex Holdings rose 2.67%, Showa Shell advanced 1.32% and Nippon Oil added 0.57%. However, trading house Marubeni slipped 2.62%, Itochu declined 1.03% and Sojitz remained unchanged.

The South Korean stock market was trading sharply lower, extending its losses for the seventh straight trading session. The market opened weak as worsened U.S. economic indicators dented investor sentiment. At 8:07 p.m. ET, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index or KOSPI was down 28.4 points or 2.7% at 1,007.8.

In the tech sector, Hynix Semiconductors plunged 6.9%, market heavyweight Samsung Electronics fell 2.0%, LG Electronics declined 2.6%, and LG Display lost 1.3%.

Automaker Hyundai Motor dropped 3.0% and top steelmaker POSCO shed 2.2%.

Financials were mixed, with Shinhan Financial Group losing 1.0%, KB Financial Group declining 1.7%, Woori Finance gaining 1.2%, and Mirae Assets & Securities advancing 1.9%.

The Australian stock market was trading lower, at fresh four-year lows, despite a triple-digit gain on Wall Street overnight. According to market analysts, the resumption of short selling in non-financial stocks triggered the fall in the market. At 8:47 p.m. ET, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index was losing 48 points or 1.37% to 3,475, after losing 3.55% on Tuesday. The broader All Ordinaries index was falling 51 points or 1.45% to 3,462.

On the economic front, the Leading Index published by Westpac Bank and Melbourne Institute showed growth at an annualized rate of 1.1% in September, far below the 3.5% growth reading last month and also well below the index's long-term average of 3.9%. The survey's coincident index, which measures current economic activity, registered 1.6% in September, down from 1.8% in August and below the long-term average of 3.6%.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics' new motor vehicle sales data for October revealed that sale of new cars in Australia was down a seasonally adjusted 0.5% to 80,366 units in October, following a revised 0.4% monthly decline in September. On an annual basis, new vehicle sales fell 10.6% after a revised 8.6% decline in September.

Among banking stocks, Commonwealth Bank of Australia fell 1.63%, and ANZ Banking Group edged down 0.31%, while National Australia Bank edged up 0.47%. Westpac dropped 1.41%, while investment bank Macquarie Group advanced 3.42% after Goldman Sachs JBWere upgraded Macquarie to 'Buy' from 'Hold', with its first-half earnings coming in above Goldman's estimates and the company saying that it was well funded and had strong capital position.

In the resources sector, index leader BHP Billiton dropped 2.77%, and Rio Tinto fell 1.96%. Gold miners were weaker, after gold closed modestly lower for a second straight session on Tuesday. Sino Gold edged down 0.35%, Newcrest Mining fell 0.84%, and Lihir Gold was down 0.86%.

Among energy stocks, Oil Search dropped 4.58%, Santos fell 4.16%, and Woodside plunged 6.20%.

In the retail sector, David Jones dropped 6.29%, and giant retailer Woolworths fell 4.88%, while Coles' owner Wesfarmers advanced 1.76%.

The New Zealand stock market opened marginally higher, with the benchmark NZX 50 index adding 1.03 points or 0.04% to 2,715.62 and the broader NZX All Capital Index advancing 2.50 points or 0.09% to 2,764.00.

On Wednesday's economic data calendar, Statistics New Zealand reports third quarter producer prices at 21:45 GMT.

In the early trading on the New Zealand stock market on Wednesday, the country's top ranked share Telecom added 0.43%, while the second ranked Contact Energy eased 0.14%. Fletcher Building, the third best stock, collected 0.52%.

In the retail sector Hallenstein Glasson, jewelry retailer Michael Hill International and Pumpkin Patch remained unchanged, as the Warehouse gained 1.63%.

In the energy sector Vector and TrustPower remained unchanged in the early trading on Wednesday.

Among the dual listed issues AMP, Australia and NZ Banking Corp, APN News & Media and Lion Nathan remained unchanged. Telstra dropped 0.83% and Westpac Bank fell 1.86%.

Other Asian markets:-

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down 0.8% at 12,810; China's Shanghai composite index was up 0.8% at 1,917; Singapore's Straits Times index was down 0.6% at 1,673; Taiwan's weighted index was down 0.8% at 4,673; and Malaysia's KLCI was down 4.6 points at 878.

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