Asia report: Sydney losses lead most markets lower

Markets in Asia finished lower virtually across the board on Wednesday, with the Australian bourse leading the way as stocks in Ardent Leisure - the operator of the Dreamworld theme park on the Gold Coast - plummeting after four people were killed on a ride at the park on Tuesday.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 benchmark was the odd one out, adding a modest 0.15% to close at 17,391.84.

Video gaming firm Nintendo was once again at the top of domestic news, releasing its interim earnings after markets closed.

The company posted a first-half operating loss of $57m, despite the runaway success of its Pokemon Go mobile game during the period.

Its shares were down 0.67% at the close, before earnings were announced, as investors continued to voice their disappointment with the upcoming Switch console platform.

The yen was trading relatively stronger against the greenback, and was last 0.08% ahead at JPY 104.14 per $1.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.46% at 3,117.64, while the smaller Shenzhen Composite lost 0.4% to close at 2,069.36.

South Korea’s Kospi was off 1.14% to 2,013.89, with the main domestic news consisting of reports that travel agencies and organisers in China had been handed down orders from provincial leaders to lower the number of Chinese tourists visiting South Korea.

The reports came from the JoongAng Daily newspaper, which said travel agents had until the end of October to front up with plans to reduce the numbers.

On the Korean corporate front, LCD panel manufacturer LG Display posted third quarter operating profit, which was down 2.9% year-on-year.

That was still slightly ahead of analyst forecasts, leading to a 0.5% rise in LG Display shares.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index lost 1.02% to 23,325.43, with Macau-based casino operator Galaxy Entertainment rising 1.91% after publishing third quarter results.

The gambling firm said its net profit rost 28% in the third quarter year-on-year, with a number of other casino companies in the region also rising - Sands China added 1.28% and Wynn Macau was 0.98% firmer.

Oil prices were lower during Asian trading, with Brent crude last off 1.28% at $50.15 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate losing 1.4% to $49.27.

The weaker oil price came after the American Petroleum Institute released fresh data showing a 4.8 million barrel increase in stockpiles stateside in the week to 21 October - significantly more than the 1.7 million barrel increase picked by economists polled by Reuters.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 1.53% to settle at 5,359.79, with the hefty financials subindex down 1.32% and energy stocks losing 2.47% as a result of the weaker oil prices.

Theme park operator Ardent Leisure saw its shares tumble 14.89% to settle at AUD 2.00.

Its Dreamworld property in the Gold Coast resort city remained closed on Wednesday, after four attendees were killed on the Thunder River Rapids ride on Tuesday.

Details surrounding the accident were not immediately available, though it appeared the ride - a relatively leisurely water-based ride, which was opened with the park in the 1980s - malfunctioned, causing one of its vehicles to flip on or near a conveyor belt designed to carry it to the loading station.

It was the first visitor fatality in the park’s history, and a statement from Ardent Leisure confirmed the park would remain closed “until further notice”.

The big four regional banks were all in the red, with Australia and New Zealand Banking Group down 0.91%, Commonwealth Bank of Australia off 1.38%, National Australia Bank losing 1.22% and Westpac 0.97% softer.

On the energy front, Beach Energy plummeted 6.29%, while Oil Search lost 3.01%, Santos was down 2.97% and Woodside Petroleum 6.29% lower.

Fresh data from Canberra showed the country’s consumer price index rose 0.7% quarter-on-quarter for the three months to September, up from the 0.4% rise in the prior quarter.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics said the consumer inflation figure for the 12 months to September hit 1.3%.

“The [Reserve Bank of Australia] will see today's pick up in quarterly inflation as a net positive from record low rates of 1.5%, so this pushes any concerns of further easing well back into 2017,” noted ThinkMarkets senior market analyst Matt Simpson.

Earnings season was also in full swing in Sydney, with retail conglomerate Wesfarmers - which owns one of the country’s biggest grocers Coles, as well as the British Homebase chain - posting its first quarter numbers.

Food and alcohol sales at the Coles group improves 1.8% over the three months to September, though that was well off the 3.3% seasonally-adjusted number published for the quarter to June, leading to a 5.71% drop in Wesfarmers stock.

In New Zealand, the S&P/NZX 50 dropped 1.5% to 6,896.20, with manuka honey producer Comvita tumbling 11.4%.

The company - which exports honey-based health products globally - issued a warning that its first-half numbers are likely to be in the red due to an unexpected fall in sales.

Both of the down under dollars were stronger against the greenback, with the Aussie last 0.54% ahead at AUD 1.3006 and the Kiwi strengthening 0.19% to NZD 1.3933 per $1.