Asia report: Markets mixed as dollar stagnates

Markets in Asia were mixed on Wednesday, with traders focussing on a higher oil price as well as a stagnant dollar, ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee’s two-day policy meeting finishing.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 0.48% at 20,050.16, as the yen bobbed around the dollar, last weakening 0.01% to JPY 111.9.

Carmakers were the winners of the day in Tokyo, after Mitsubishi Motor set the tone by beating earnings expectations.

Mitsubishi shares finished up 4.46%, after it reported record first quarter operating profits of JPY 20.6bn, against estimates for profits of JPY 15.1bn.

Video game giant Nintendo was another expectation-beater, reporting operating profits of JPY 16.21bn for the three months to 30 Jun, ahead of analyst forecasts for profits of JPY 11.55bn.

Toshiba was also back in the spotlight, after the ailing technology firm’s board told local media they would meet with other bidders, including Western Digital and Hon Hai Precision Industry - better known at Foxconn - over the sale of its valuable memory chip business.

The company had announced a Japanese state-backed consortium as the preferred bidder for the division in June, although it had so far failed to reach a final deal.

Western Digital was also questioning the legality of the deal, saying it should have been consulted over any decision given its SanDisk subsidiary is in joint venture with Toshiba at a manufacturing facility.

Toshiba has been trying to sell its memory chip division for much of the year, in a bid to control a cash crisis created by the failure of its US nuclear development acquisition Westinghouse.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.12% at 3,247.58, while the smaller, technology-heavy Shenzhen Composite was 0.3% lower at 1,843.12.

South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.22% to 2,434.51, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong was up 0.33% at 26,941.02.

LG Display reported its second-quarter earnings after the close in Seoul, with operating profits rising to KRW 804bn, up significantly from KRW 44.4bn at the same time last year.

Hong Kong-listed gambling shares were down, after Wynn Macau reported soft mass market performance in Macau on Tuesday, despite a rise in second quarter revenues for the company.

Shares in Wynn were down 4.12%, while sector peers Galaxy Entertainment and Melco International Development were down 1.98% and 2.9% respectively.

Traders were looking to the end of the FOMC’s two-day policy meeting, which would occur later in the global day, for cues as to what the Federal Reserve was planning to do next.

Markets were not expecting a rate hike at all this time around, but they were interested as to the timeline for the central bank’s planned selldown of its mammoth balance sheet.

Oil prices were ahead after rising overnight on the back of news that US producer Anadarko was planning to reduce its capital spend in a bid to lower oil prices.

Brent crude was last up 0.69% at $50.55 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate gained 0.91% to $48.33.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was 0.87% firmer at 5,776.63, with gains in the energy and materials subindexes boosting the benchmark, as they gains 2.94% and 2.08% respectively.

New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 was up 0.03% at 7,710.59, led higher by dairy and infant food exporter A2 Milk, which was 4% firmer.

The down under dollars were mixed, with the Aussie last 0.47% weaker against the greenback at AUD 1.2658, while the Kiwi strengthened 0.09% to NZD 1.3470.