Asia report: Markets finish lower as metal prices tumble

Markets in Asia finished mostly lower on Thursday, as metal prices took a dive and after the US Federal Reserve stuck to its guns overnight, remaining hawkish on the state of the American economy.

Japan remained closed for the Greenery Day holiday - the second of three days off for traders during the country’s Golden Week.

The yen was last 0.17% weaker against the greenback, ath JPY 112.96 per $1.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.26% at 3,127.29, and the Shenzhen Composite fell 0.28% to 1,896.36.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index was off 0.05% at 24,683.88, while South Korea’s Kospi went against the regional trend to add 0.97%, closing at 2,241.24 after Wednesday’s holiday.

Stateside, the Fed finished its two-day policy meeting late on Wednesday, standing pat on rates and maintaining its view that the country’s economy was in a strong place.

Metal prices saw red during the session, with copper tumbling after an increase in inventories combined with concerns about a slowdown in the metal’s largest consumer, China.

“Most base metal prices were torched in Wednesday LME trading, with spot copper, nickel and zinc prices dropping by more than 3 percent on the day,” noted Patersons economic strategist Tony Farnham.

Oil prices were lower late in the Asian session, with Brent crude last down 1.32% at $50.13 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate falling 1.36% at $47.18.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was off 0.27% at 5,876.37, with the hefty financials subindex and the resources sector weighing on the wider benchmark.

On the resources front, BHP Billiton managed a 0.13% increase, though Fortescue Metals lost 4.79% and Newcrest was off 1.19%.

The banks were also on the back foot, with Australia and New Zealand Banking Group down 1.66%, Commonwealth Bank of Australia off 0.84% and Westpac losing 1.19%.

National Australia Bank was 0.54% softer after it reported a 2.3% improvement in first-half cash profit to AUD 3.29bn, ahead of the AUD 3.24bn forecast as polled by Reuters.

New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 was down 0.4% at 7,378.41, led lower by retirement village operator Summerset, which lost 2.2%, as its rival Metlifecare fell 1.1%.

The down under dollars were both weaker against the greenback, with the Aussie last off 0.22% at AUD 1.3501 and the Kiwi retreating 0.13% to NZD 1.4558 per $1.