Asian markets cautious, HK shares dip
Asian markets cautious, HK shares dip
SINGAPORE (Agencies): Hong Kong sank over two percent on Friday while Tokyo drifted after hitting a 17-year low a day earlier to cap a largely dismal week for Asian equities hit by fears of a worsening U.S. economy.
Taiwan fell more than three percent to end at a four-week low on expectations of poor first-half corporate earnings, Seoul edged a touch lower and Singapore shed 0.66 percent.
On the positive side, Sydney was led almost one percent higher by heavyweight stocks, Malaysia jumped almost two percent following better-than-expected second quarter economic performance and Bangkok rallied over two percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed 0.46 percent lower on Thursday and the technology-rich Nasdaq lost 0.92 percent as poor retailing profits reinforced worries over the slow economy.
Investors are bracing for more bad news when the U.S. government releases its durable goods orders data for July at 1230 GMT (7.30 p.m. Jakarta time), with an average month-on-month fall of about 0.6 percent expected.
Tokyo got a welcome reprieve from a rebound in select technology shares led by Murata Manufacturing Co Ltd, but the gains were limited by falls in real estate issues and some retail powerhouses such as Fast Retailing Co Ltd
But traders remained wary over high-tech earnings downgrades.
The benchmark Nikkei average crept up 0.35 percent to end at 11,166.31, but the capital-weighted TOPIX index fell 0.18 percent to 1,145.34.
Hong Kong hit a near 29-month low, driven by shares of China's leading wireless carrier China Mobile, which slid over seven percent, while rival China Unicom lost almost five percent amid a murky outlook for the Chinese telecoms sector.
The blue chip Hang Seng Index lost 2.07 percent, to end at 11,110.30.
Uncertainty over the weekend's economic advisory committee meeting compounded worries over Taiwan company results, sending the main TAIEX down 3.35 percent to 4,310.32. The TAIEX has shed nearly five percent in the past five sessions.
Malaysia's benchmark Composite Index rallied 1.94 percent to end at 682.87, recouping all its previous losses for the year-to- date as investors cheered a 0.5 percent year-on-year growth in second quarter gross domestic product, beating expectations of a contraction.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) ended down 0.13 percent at 569.31 led by Hynix Semiconductor, which plunged 10 percent, as creditors appeared at odds over providing fresh funds to the world's third-largest chipmaker.
Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed 0.8 percent higher at 3,348.0 as investors bought blue chips such as miners, banks and telcos.
Bangkok stocks kept their winning ways led by banking, finance and property issues, gaining 2.24 percent near the close, but Singapore shares were hit by nagging earnings woes.
The JSX Composite index ended up 0.4 percent, or 1.529 points, at 441.219. But decliners led gainers 57 to 51, with 90 stocks unchanged.
Volume was 260 million shares valued at Rp 268 billion rupiah (US$30.7 million).
Dealers said trade was slow as most market players were sidelined until the outcome of a meeting between the International Monetary Fund and the Indonesian government which ends Monday.