Exporters up as buck nears 100 yen; Hong Kong up, Shanghai, Sydney down
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Asian markets were split on either side of breakeven Tuesday, with Japanese stocks pacing gains as exporters such as Toyota Motor Co. were spurred by the yen's weakness, while Australian shares cut losses after the central bank cut its benchmark interest rate by 0.75 percentage point to 5.25%.
Most other markets in the region went on a roller-coaster in thin trade, with financials and property shares nudging higher amid central banks' easing moves, while resource-related stocks dragged after crude-oil prices declined on worries about weakening global demand for commodities.
The Nikkei 225 Average jumped 6.3% to end at 9,114.60, as trading resumed for the first time since Friday, when the benchmark tumbled 5%. The broader Topix index gained 5% to 910.70.
The S&P/ASX 200, which fell more than 2% earlier in the day, ended the day 0.2% lower at 4,215.10 in Sydney. The index narrowed losses as financials such as Westpac Banking Corp. and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group rebounded after the Reserve Bank of Australia's sharper-than-expected interest rate cut. Economists widely expected a half-point cut.
"Seventy-five basis points is certainly a surprise," said Stuart Smith, a private-client adviser at Bell Potter Securities in Brisbane. "I think the RBA has got one eye on inflation and one eye on the economy. So there's no danger of a recession here. That's the big message."
A basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index reversed declines to end 0.3% higher at 14,384.34.
The stocks had declined earlier in the day after Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang said Monday that the risk of a recession in 2009 has increased, according to reports.
"The Hong Kong economy is still strong enough, although there is a risk that it may go into a recession," said Linus Yip, strategist at First Shanghai Securities in Hong Kong.
"The markets have stabilized and at least in the short term they should find some solid support," Yip said, adding he expects the Hang Seng Index to end the year between 15,000 and 17,000.
South Korea's Kospi rose 2.2% to 1,153.35, and New Zealand's NZX 50 index slipped 0.4% to 2,844.31.
Taiwan's Taiex slipped 0.1% to 4,992.63, and China's Shanghai Composite gave up 0.8% to 1,706.70.
Malaysia's KLSE Composite rose 0.6% to 904.74 and the Philippines' PSE Composite gave up 1.1% to 2,003.04.
In afternoon trading, Singapore's Straits Times Index gave up 1% to 1,864.14 and India's Sensitive Index, or Sensex, lost 0.5% to 10,285.31, after advancing in the previous four sessions.
Regional movement
Exporters broadly advanced in Tokyo as the Japanese currency weakened toward the milestone of 100 yen to a U.S. dollar. Sony Corp. jumped 6.5% and Nintendo Co. gaining 4.3%.
Among automakers, Toyota rose 3.2% and Honda Motor Co. ded 0.4% despite reporting a sharp decline in October sales in the U.S. Toyota sales dropped 23% from the year-ago month, while Honda's declined 25%.
Shares of Nissan Motor Co., however, slumped 10.6% after its U.S. sales tumbled 33%, and after the company Friday slashed its net-income forecast for the current financial year to 160 billion yen ($1.62 billion) from 340 billion yen.
In Seoul, Hyundai Motor Co. stock gave up 3.7% as the company's sales shrank 31%, while Kia Motors Corp. lost 3.9% on a 39% slump in U.S. sales, even as the broad market ended firmly in positive territory.
