Asia report: Most markets higher on oil price rise

Markets in Asia finished higher on Thursday, driven by an overnight uptick in crude prices, with Seoul particularly underpinned by a surge in technology giant Samsung Electronics.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.47% to 16,899.10, with a weaker yen contributing to rises in a number of domestic stocks.

The yen was last 0.14% weaker against the greenback at JPY 103.65 per $1.

Shares in Fujitsu soared 5.67%, amid unconfirmed reports that the company was looking to offload its ailing PC division, potentially to the Chinese PC buyout king Lenovo.

In South Korea, the Kospi added 0.6% to 2,065.30, after Typhoon Chyba slammed into southern parts of the peninsula late on Wednesday and through the night.

Carmaker Hyundai Motor finished 0.71% lower due to the storm, amid reports that two of its factories were offline due to flooding.

The benchmark was supported, however, by the weighty Samsung Electronics, which surged 4.45% after a letter was published by US activist hedge fund Elliot Management.

The fund called for a raft of corporate governance changes, including an increase in the dividend and splitting the corporate behemoth.

Samsung responded by saying it believes in “constructive and open dialogue”, and confirmed it would consider the proposals.

Its construction arm was also boosted by the dialogue, further assisting the Kospi as it jumped 7.89%.

Further south, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was 0.69% higher at 23,952.50.

A rise in oil prices overnight helped to boost markets in the region, after the US Energy Information Administration reported a fall in crude stockpiles, with a three million barrel drawdown last week.

It was the fifth surprise weekly drawdown stateside.

Price did fall after Asian markets closed, however, and Brent crude was last down 0.08% at $51.82 per barrel, with West Texas Intermediate losing 0.28% to $49.69.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.55% to 5,483.03, supported by the energy sector - which added 1.97% - and the weighty financials subindex, up 0.7%.

Estia Health fell 3.03% by closing time in Sydney, paring back earlier losses of almost 7%.

The aged care provider took the secateurs to its earnings guidance during the session, following on from the August announcement from regulators that the industry could not charge residents for capital maintenance of their facilities.

“Analysts fear [the guidance cut] will follow recent negative trends in the aged care sub-sector, and trigger further selling,” noted CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael McCarthy.

The sunburnt country posted a lower-than-expected seasonally adjusted trade deficit for August during the session, at AUD 2.01bn.

Import and export values were unchanged, however, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

In New Zealand, the S&P/NZX 50 bucked the regional trend for the second day in a row, falling 1.02% to 7,197.30.

It was led lower by rurally-focused lender Heartland Bank, which lost 2.7%

The great southern chicken fiasco also continued, with chicken producer Tegel Holdings declining 1.3%, adding to the falls of the last three weeks, which have come with no apparent catalyst.

Local analysts have pointed to the impending IPO of Tegel’s Australian competitor Ingham Group, suggesting some institutional investors have worked to drive the price of Tegel stock down in a bid to force a lower initial price for Ingham.

The down under dollars were both weaker against the greenback, with the Aussie last retreating 0.54% to AUD 1.3192 and the Kiwi off 0.32% to NZD 1.3985 per $1.