Asia report: Japan shines on quiet Tuesday

The Nikkei 225 advanced 1.94% to close at 17.048.55, rising on an initially weaker yen against the greenback early in the session.

Japan’s safe-haven yen advanced on the dollar in late trading, and was last 0.21% stronger at JPY 111.72 per USD.

Of the exporters, Toyota shot up 3.1%, Nissan gained 1.98% and Honda closed up 1.24%.

On the corporate front, Jiji News reported that Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Hon Hai Precision Industry - better known as Foxconn - was likely to reduce its capital injection into Sharp by JPY 100bn. Its initial plan was to put JPY 489m into the beleaguered electronics firm.

Sharp’s shares closed down 6.52%.

The Nikkei also reported that airbag manufacturer Takata planned a sale of US-based Irvin Automotive Products for tens of billions of yen, to fund the costly recall of its defective airbags. Shares in Takata closed up 0.38%.

In China, the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.64% to finish below the 3,000 mark, at 2,999.36. The Shenzhen Composite closed down 0.3% at 1,880.79, and the ChiNext slipped 0.25% to 2,221.70.

China sentiment was muted after chief of the People’s Bank of China, Zhou Xiaochuan, posted on the bank’s official Weibo blog that he wasn’t looking for funds to rush into the country’s capital market, despite his recent pledges to accelerate its development and growth.

The central bank guided renminbi weaker in the morning, tracking the depreciation of currencies it trades with overnight.

Metal plays were mainly lower in China, with Baoshen Steel finishing down 2.02%, Yunnan Copper slipping 2.8% and Shandong Jinling Mining down 4.45%.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index slipped 0.08% to finish at 20,666.75, while Seoul’s Kospi inched forward 0.35% to 1,996.81.

Asian markets appeared generally quieter, though stable, ahead of the Good Friday holiday, according to Julius Baer head of Asia research Mark Matthews.

“There is no real reason for them to sell off, apart from their being high,” he noted.

That was countered by rhetoric from Deutsche Bank, which said in its Asia Economics Monthly that the region’s economic outlook remained a cause for concern.

“Exports, which declined across the board in the region last year, have started 2016 even weaker, both in value and volume terms,” the report said.

“Weak demand from China is a key contributor to this phenomenon, but another important element is chronic weakness in demand from the EU.”

Oil - which had advanced overnight - slipped back during Asian trading, but still remained well above the $40 per barrel mark. Brent crude was last down 0.15% to $41.48 per barrel while West Texas Intermediate lost 0.07% to $41.49.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.32% to finish at 5,166.63. That came in spite of fresh government data showing a slight increase in house prices in the fourth quarter.

Financials and materials dragged Sydney down, with the two sub-indexes losing 0.46% and 0.58% respectively.

Mining stocks were mixed, with Rio Tinto down 0.54% and BHP Billiton down 1.49% in Sydney, while Fortescue closed up 0.36% after an overnight rise in iron ore prices.

Energy equities were also up in the sunburnt country, with Santos up 0.25% and Woodside Petroleum climbing 0.77%.

Reserve Bank of Australia governor Glenn Stevens also discussed the risky rise of the Australian dollar earlier on Tuesday. He said commodity prices would need to recover, and the US Federal Reserve would need to keep interest rates at current levels to justify such a high Aussie.

New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 reached yet another record high, closing up 0.34% at 6,664.25.

The risers in Wellington were led by hydroelectric generator Meridian Energy, which had seen an unusually large number of shares change hands in recent days after being added to the FTSE Developed Asia Pacific Index.

The down under dollars were mixed, with the Aussie continuing its gain on the greenback, last sitting 0.27% stronger at AUD 1.3162. The Kiwi headed in the opposite direction, losing 0.08% to sit at NZD 1.4802 per USD.