Asia report: Markets mostly higher on forex movements
Markets in Asia were mostly in the green on Friday, with foreign exchange capturing the attention of many traders, as the yen grew weaker and renminbi hit its lowest point against the greenback in eight years.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.66% to finish at 19,401.15, with the weaker yen boosting export stocks.
It was last 0.03% stronger, however, at JPY 118.14, showing a sharp gain on the greenback as Japan went to bed.
Video games maker Nintendo finished off the week with a serious 4.24% slide, bringing its losses for the week to 10.8%.
Investors appeared cautious with the developer, as it prepared to launch its ‘Super Mario Run’ game on Apple’s iOS smartphone platform.
It would be the first in-house game launched by Nintendo on the iPhone, and there was chatter among investors that the move to mobile apps was a risk to profitability.
On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.2% to 3,124.03 and the Shenzhen Composite added 0.95% to 1,991.63.
The People’s Bank of China fixed the daily renminbi rate at CNY 6.9508 per $1, compared to the CNY 6.9478 it closed at on Thursday.
Regulators allow the currency to trade 2% above or below the loose peg.
It’s understood Beijing has recently been trying to put the kibosh on capital outflows, and was spending some of its foreign exchange reserve to underpin renminbi, after the dollar hit 14-year highs in the wake of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hike this week.
South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.27% at 2,042.24, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong dropped 0.18% to 22,020.75.
Veterinary pharmaceutical companies were higher in Seoul, after the country’s agriculture ministry raised the bird flu alert to the highest status level as the disease spread.
Cheil Bio added 6.79% and Choong Ang Vaccine was 1.2% firmer.
Oil traders were apparently unconcerned by the greenback’s strength, with prices rising during Asian trading.
Brent crude was last 0.06% higher at $54.05 per barrel, though West Texas Intermediate was 0.28% lower at $50.76.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was in the red, down 0.1% at 5,532.90, with the gold subindex dragging the benchmark down as it dropped 6.71%.
The major gold miners in the sunburnt country were all down, with Alacer Gold losing 1.3%, Evolution Mining sliding 8.26% and Newcrest Mining 4.72% weaker.
Spot gold weakness was the catalyst for the drops, as its price dropped close to an 11-month low.
New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 rose 0.2% to 6,760.25, with chicken producer Tegel Group and dairy exporter A2 Milk recovering from selloffs earlier the week, rising 2.3% and 3.4% respectively.
Both of the down under dollars were weaker on the greenback, with the Aussie last retreating 0.1% to AUD 1.3604 and the Kiwi off 0.11% at NZD 1.4224 per $1.