Asia report: stocks recover as yuan continues to devalue
Chinese stocks reversed losses to close higher on Wednesday as Beijing defended the lowering of the yuan.
Hang Seng
23,064.12
10:20 04/10/24
Nikkei 225
39,504.53
09:45 04/10/24
Orion Health Group Limited Ordinary Shares
$0.00
07:31 11/03/19
Telstra Corporation Limited.
$3.86
08:31 04/10/24
China’s central bank it was unlikely to guide the yuan lower after it dropped for three consecutive days.
The Shanghai Composite rose by 1.77% while the Shenzhen exchange was up by 2.21%.
Airline operators recovered after falling over the past few days due to fears weaker currency would hurt Chinese carriers.
China’s oil majors also improved following oil prices rising overnight as analysts suggested a weaker yuan may boost energy demand among export led industries.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose by 0.43%, while Singapore was up by 1.23%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up by 1%, despite less than buoyant capital expenditure figures, while the nation’s core machinery orders fell by more than expected to 7.9% in June.
The figures were down for the first time in the four months and added to concerns the economy shrank in the second quarter, London Capital Group analysts said. The yen was at ¥ 124.56 the dollar.
Down under Australia’s ASX closed slightly higher with losses from Telstra and Computershare offset by energy stocks and the miners.
In New Zealand, shares tumbled on fears of the slowing Chinese economy, S&P NZX 50 Index fell 0.3%, led by health management software firm Orion.