HONG KONG: Asian stocks saw modest gains on Wednesday as investors stayed cautious over the economic outlook despite the US Federal Reserve's dram
atic move to cut interest rates to near zero, dealers said.
Tokyo gained 0.52 per cent, off an earlier high, while Hong Kong closed 2.2 per cent higher and Sydney added 0.4 per cent.
The Federal Reserve on Tuesday slashed its base rate from 1.0 per cent to a range of zero to 0.25 per cent and predicted "exceptionally low" rates would persist "for some time."
The dramatic move to prop up the ailing US economy sent Wall Street stocks soaring and sparked rallies in early Asian trading on Wednesday, but dealers said profit-taking and deeper concerns for the world economy pared gains.
"The Fed's aggressive moves also indicated that there's more downside risk in economic fundamentals, which will continue to pressure corporate earnings and economic growth," Seo Jeong-Kwang, an analyst at Seoul-based LIG Investment & Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.
ICEA Securities strategist Ernie Hon said he remained cautious about the near-term outlook for the market, and warned that it may soon "turn its attention back to discouraging economic figures and corporate results."
The US rate cut sent the dollar plunging to a 13-year low against the yen, raising concerns in Japan that the country's exports will become less competitive.
Financial shares rose in Tokyo after the Fed's move, but the strong yen and more bad news from the auto sector hurt carmakers.
Shares in Honda Motor Co lost 4.2 per cent shortly before it slashed its profit projections on Wednesday. Nissan lost 4.1 per cent after saying it would reduce production on weak demand and would cut another 500 jobs in Japan.
Dealers said the market hoped the Bank of Japan would further cut its own super-low interest rates when its policy board holds a two-day meeting starting Thursday.
TOKYO: Japanese shares ended up 0.52 per cent.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange's benchmark Nikkei-225 index ended up 44.50 points at 8,612.52. The Topix index of all first section issues gained 9.84 points, or 1.19 per cent, to 838.46.
Japan's top bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group gained 2.2 per cent to 519 yen, Mizuho Financial Group added 3.2 per cent to 237,500 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group advanced 4.4 per cent to 354,000 yen.
Honda Motor Co lost 4.2 per cent to 1,891 yen ahead of its announcement that it was slashing its net profit projections by more than half for the year.
Nissan Motor Co gave up 4.1 per cent to 302 yen.
Top automaker Toyota Motor Corp bucked the trend, gaining 0.66 per cent to close at 3,030.
HONG KONG: Hong Kong shares closed 2.2 per cent higher.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index was 330.31 points up at 15,460.52, after trading between 15,179.38 and 15,557.45. Turnover was light at 56.40 billion Hong Kong dollars (7.23 billion US).
Henderson Land ended up 7.8 per cent at 33.05 dollars, off a high of 33.30 dollars. New World Development rose 6.5 per cent to 7.56 dollars. Sun Hung Kai Properties closed 4 per cent higher at 68.70 dollars.
Mainland mobile operator China Unicom rose 4.2 per cent to 10.46 dollars after saying it plans to buy assets from its parent company.
SYDNEY: Australian shares gained 0.4 per cent.
The benchmark SP/ASX200 index rose 14.4 points to close at 3,570.6 points while the broader All Ordinaries gained 16.1 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 3,515.0 points.
Trading in the Commonwealth Bank was halted pending a share placement, its shares at 29.15 dollars. Among other banks, ANZ was down 4.6 per cent to 13.70 dollars and Westpac was down 4.7 per cent to 15.72 dollars.
National Australia Bank rose 0.6 per cent to 19.32 dollars.
Miner BHP Billiton rose 1.0 per cent to 30.95 dollars and its rival Rio Tinto added 2.9 per cent to 40.32 dollars.
SHANGHAI: Chinese shares closed up 0.09 per cent.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers A and B shares, rose 1.81 points to 1,976.82 on turnover of 68.4 billion yuan (10 billion dollars).
Chongqing Iron and Steel closed up 1.8 per cent to 4.08 yuan. Liuzhou Iron and Steel rose 3.8 per cent at 3.52 yuan.
Dongfang Electric gained 2.1 per cent to 29.00 yuan, and Northeast Electric Development rose 2.2 per cent at 2.77 yuan.
Banks and securities firms bucked the trend. Shanghai Pudong Development Bank fell 1.7 per cent to 13.80 yuan.
Citic Securities shed 0.7 per cent to 21.33 yuan, and Haitong Securities was down 3.5 per cent at 8.67 yuan.
TAIPEI: Taiwan shares closed 0.67 per cent higher.
The weighted index rose 31.13 points to 4,648.02 on turnover of 94.53 billion Taiwan dollars (2.89 billion US).
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, the world's leading contract microchip maker, rose 3.37 per cent to 46, while rival United Microelectronic Corp was up seven per cent at 7.82.
SEOUL: South Korean shares closed 0.7 per cent higher.
The KOSPI index ended up 8.19 points at 1,169.75. Volume was 638.44 million shares worth 6.48 trillion won (4.89 billion dollars).
KB Financial Group climbed 6.2 per cent to 36,250 won. Hana Financial Group gained 6.6 per cent to 21,900 won.
Hynix Semiconductor was up 3.6 per cent at 7,230 won.
Hyundai Motor fell 1.1 per cent to 47,000 won. Kia Motors was down 1.2 per cent to 8,090 won. Ssangyong Motor fell 8.5 per cent to 1,235 won.
GS Engineering and Construction lost 3.1 per cent to 58,800 won. Hyundai Heavy Industries declined 2.8 per cent to 207,000 won. STX Pan Ocean fell 4.7 per cent to 11,150 won.
SINGAPORE: Shares closed 0.16 per cent lower.
The blue-chip Straits Times Index was down 2.80 points at 1,779.29 on volume of 1.08 billion shares worth 985 million shares.
Singapore Airlines fell 28 cents to 11.12 Singapore dollars and shipping firm Neptune Orient Lines was steady at 1.21.
Property firm City Developments was up 22 cents to 6.39.
Banks were lower, with DBS down 24 cents to 9.72, UOB was eight cents lower at 13.20, while OCBC eased 20 cents to 5.12.
Chinese property developer Yanlord Land Group rose 2.5 cents to 86 cents.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian shares closed 0.9 per cent higher.
The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index gained 7.70 points to close the day at 862.50.
Turnover was 338.10 million shares valued at 544.75 million ringgit (156 million dollars).
IOI Corp added 3.1 per cent to 3.30 ringgit, Sime Darby gained 3.8 per cent to 5.50 and Tenaga Nasional rose 1.7 per cent to 6.0. Telekom Malaysia gained 1.33 per cent to 3.04.
BANGKOK: Thai shares closed 0.14 per cent higher.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite index rose 0.63 points to close at 445.94 points while the bluechip SET-50 index gained 0.70 points to 315.96 points.
Turnover was 4.54 billion shares worth 19.68 billion baht (570.66 million dollars).
Thailand's top energy firm PTT Plc lost 3.00 baht to close at 177.00 baht while its subsidiary PTT Exploration and Production slipped 1.00 to 109.00.
Another leading energy firm, Banpu, dropped 4.00 to 222.00.
The country's biggest lender Bangkok Bank rose 0.50 to 72.50 while Siam Commercial Bank added 2.00 baht to close at 51.00.
JAKARTA: Indonesian shares ended 1.6 per cent higher.
The Jakarta Composite Stock Index closed 21.14 points higher at 1,363.98.
Car distributor Astra International climbed 6.8 per cent to 10,950 rupiah and cement maker Indocement jumped 11 per cent to 4,150.
Bank Rakyat Indonesia rose 4 per cent to 4,550 rupiah on bargain buying.
MANILA: Philippine shares closed 0.8 per cent higher.
The composite index added 15.24 points to 1,904.56 and the all shares index rose 0.9 per cent to 1,207.97. Turnover reached 815.4 million shares worth 2.2 billion pesos (46.2 million dollars).
Philippine Long Distance Telephone added 0.2 per cent to 2,110 pesos, Ayala Corp. ended 1.9 per cent up to 211 pesos, and Jollibee Foods soared 9.5 per cent to 46 pesos.
WELLINGTON: New Zealand shares were little changed.
The benchmark NZX-50 index closed 0.85 points, or 0.03 per cent, higher at 2,695.93 on turnover worth 102.7 million dollars (59.6 million US).
Fisher & Paykel Appliances fell one cent to 1.27 dollars and fishing company Sanford was down five cents at 5.10.
Market leader Telecom fell five cents to 2.35 dollars, Fletcher Building rose 14 cents to 6.07 and Contact Energy rose eight cents to 6.93.
Pay television operator Sky TV fell seven cents to 3.88 dollars, Air New Zealand eased two cents to 86 cents and Auckland International Airport rose a cent to 1.67.
Infrastructure investor Infratil rose one cent to 1.70 dollars and Port of Tauranga rose 15 cents to 6.30.
MUMBAI: Indian shares fell 2.62 per cent.
The benchmark 30-share Sensex index lost 261.69 points to 9,715.29.
