Asia report: Markets mostly higher, though Singapore stalls
Asian markets ended mostly higher on Thursday, with the major indexes now rallying for more than a week, although a technical fault brought the Singapore market down from most of the session.
AUD/USD
$0.6812
18:28 20/09/24
GBP/NZD
NZD2.1350
18:27 20/09/24
Hang Seng
18,258.57
10:20 20/09/24
Nikkei 225
37,723.91
09:44 20/09/24
USD/JPY
¥143.7955
18:28 20/09/24
Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.65% to 16,385.89, and the smaller Topix was up 0.84% to 1,311.16.
Shares in the country rebounded as the yen weakened on expectations of further fiscal and monetary easing, after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe led his party to a landslide victory at House of Councillors elections at the weekend.
The yen was last 1.1% weaker against the greenback, at JPY 105.64 per $1.
Major exporters were mixed, with Honda losing 1.39%, Sony up 2.86% and Toyota adding 0.36%.
Nintendo shares were rising again off the back of the wild success of the Pokemon Go mobile game, rising 15.9% during the session.
On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.22% at 3,053.91 while the Shenzhen Composite was up 0.16% at 2,044.93.
South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.16% at 2,008.77, whand Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 1.12% to 21,561.06.
The Bank of Korea kept its base rate on hold on Thursday, at 1.25%, sending the Korean won slightly higher after the announcement.
In its policy statement, the central bank said it was continuing to monitor external conditions and the monetary policies of other countries, including the effects of Brexit.
Many took the statement as an implication that rates might need to be cut in the short-term if global conditions become worse.
The won was last 0.47% stronger on the US dollar, at KRW 1,137.80 per $1.
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index was down 0.13% in mid-morning, before trading came to a standstill.
In a statement, the Singapore Exchange said the securities market was “put in adjust phase at 1138 hours due to duplicate trade confirmation messages being generated.
SGX confirmed the duplicate trades were not executed, and described the market as “orderly”.
It had initially said trading would come back online at 1400 local time, before pushing it back to 1600, and finally saying the market would not reopen at all on Thursday.
Singapore’s government released fresh data during the day, showing slower-than-expected economic growth in the second quarter, at 0.8% on an annualised and seasonally-adjusted basis.
A Reuters poll had growth forecast at 0.9%.
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group economist Weiwen Ng said they remain cautious over growth in Singapore.
“The risk of external weakness spilling into domestic activity...will continue to be a drag on the labor market, muting both growth and inflation outlook.”
Singapore's dollar was last 0.14% stronger against the greenback, at SGD 1.3448 per $1.
Markets have been in rebound mode in recent days as investors look for further stimulation from Japan and the UK.
The hope came with a caveat, however, as analysts warned that if investors’ expectations were not satiated, market sentiment would be negatively impacted.
“In recent days risk sentiment has been buoyed by the expectation of further stimulus and the lack of new news overnight appears to have taken the wind out the market's sails,” noted National Australia Bank currency strategist Rodrigo Catril.
He added that the risk of disappointment would be higher unless stimulus expectations are met.
Oil prices were ahead during Asian trading, with Brent crude last up 0.99% at $46.72 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate adding 1.06% to $45.23.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 closed up 0.43% to 5,411.60, while across the Tasman Sea in New Zealand the S&P/NZX 50 rose 0.2% to a record close of 7,080.32.
The down under dollars were mixed, with the Aussie last 0.48% stronger against the greenback at AUD 1.3082 per $1, while the Kiwi was 0.75% weaker at NZD 1.3848.