(RTTNews) - The stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region closed mixed on Friday amid growing concerns about a global recession after Wall Street rebounded strongly overnight in a late rally. The Japanese market recovered from its historic fall in the previous session and the Chinese market ended a three-day losing streak. Meanwhile, the stock markets in Hong Kong, India, South Korea and Australia gave away their early gains to close in negative territory. Crude oil prices rebounded on Friday in Asia amid growing expectations of an OPEC production cut.

At 5:07 a.m. ET, oil was quoted at $71.15 a barrel, up $1.30. The contract for November delivery closed down $4.69 at $69.85 a barrel on Thursday in New York.

U.S. stocks finished Thursday’s volatile trading session sharply higher as traders digested a slew of economic data. The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 4.7%, the S&P 500 gained 4.3%, and the tech-dominated Nasdaq composite index advanced 5.5%.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar was quoted in the lower 101-yen levels in late Tokyo deals, down from the upper 101-yen range in early trade. On Thursday, the dollar finished the local session in the mid 100-yen levels. The South Korean won rose sharply against the U.S. dollar. The won ended the local session at 1,334.0 a dollar, up from Thursday’s close of 1,373.0 a dollar. The Australian dollar closed higher at US$0.6888-0.6892 and the kiwi strengthened to US$0.6181.

The Japanese stock market closed sharply higher on bargain hunting following its biggest one-day fall, since the 1987 stock market crash, on Thursday. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average closed up 235.37 points or 2.78% at 8,693.82 after rising more than 3% in early trade. The broader Topix index of all first-section issues gained 29.77 points or 3.44% to 894.29.

On the economic front, an index measuring tertiary industrial activity in Japan fell 1.4% in August compared to the previous month, according the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The index stood at 109.1. Analysts had predicted a monthly decline of 0.8%. The index was also significantly lower than the 1.2% gain in July.

Meanwhile, foreign residents reversed recent course and became net buyers of Japan stocks last week, but remained net sellers of Japanese bonds and notes. Japan’s Ministry of Finance reported that foreigners bought a net 34.7 billion yen worth of Japan stocks for the week ending October 11, having been net sellers the preceding two weeks. Overseas residents sold a net 861.0 billion yen in Japanese bonds and notes for the week, their fourth straight week as net sellers.

Later in the day, the Japan Department Stores Association reported that nationwide department store sales continued to fall for the seventh straight month in September as fears of an economic slowdown in the wake of global financial market turbulence reduced household spending. According to the report, sales at Japan’s department stores declined at a faster pace of 4.7% year-over-year in September, compared to a 3.1% fall recorded in August. At the same time, sales at Tokyo’s 28 major outlets operated by 13 companies fell 4.6% in September, quicker than the 4.1% decrease seen in the previous month.

Most exporters rose after the dollar climbed back above 101 yen. Toyota Motor jumped 3.3% and Sony surged 5.2%. Honda Motor rose 5.2% and Canon gained 5.7%, while machinery maker Komatsu plunged 4.7%.

Nippon Steel soared 5.3% and JFE rallied 7.0% on the back of a Nikkei report that a consortium including Nippon Steel and JFE Holdings has decided to invest in a Brazilian iron ore miner.

On the other hand, commodity-related stocks were mixed after crude futures dipped below $70 overnight in U.S. trading. Mitsui & Co. lost 3.5% and Sumitomo Corp dropped 4.9%. Oil and gas miner Inpex Holdings edged up 0.3% and Nippon Oil surged 6.2%.

In the banking space, Mizuho Financial Group slipped 0.3% and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group declined 0.4%, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group rose 2.6%. Among tech stocks, Advantest edged up 0.2%, Fanuc advanced 0.5%, Kyocera added 2.4% and Fujitsu jumped 4.9%.

Defensive sectors like telecom and pharmaceuticals closed higher. DoCoMo jumped 7.4%, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone soared 9.8%, and KDDI Corp gained 7.1%. Astellas Pharma surged 9.0%, Eisai advanced 4.9%, and Chugai Pharmaceutical climbed 4.6%.

The South Korean stock market tumbled to a three-year low, extending its losses for the third straight trading session. The market started off higher, gaining nearly 1.4% in early trade, but lost ground amid concerns about a global economic slowdown. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index or KOSPI fell 33.11 points or 2.73% to finish at 1,180.67, posting its lowest level since October 31, 2005.

On the economic front, South Korea’s trade account remained in the red in September amid rising import costs for oil and other raw materials, according to a government report. The Korea Customs Service said that the trade deficit amounted to $2.06 billion last month, bringing the cumulative deficit for this year to $14.67 billion.

Financial shares led the losers. Second-ranked financial service provider Shinhan Financial Group plunged 8.8% and Hana Financial Group fell by its daily limit of 14.9%.

Leading shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries tumbled 11.0% and shipping giant Hanjin Shipping plummeted 9.3%.

Among tech exporters, Hynix Semiconductor dropped 2.3%, while market heavyweight Samsung Electronics edged up 0.2%.

The Chinese stock market closed higher, ending a three-day losing streak. However, the gains were limited ahead of third quarter economic data scheduled for release on Monday. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index finished up 20.71 points or 1.08% at 1,930.65, after falling as low as 1,902.60. For the week, the key index lost 3.50%. The index has lost more than 63% so far this year. Brokerages gained after Sinolink Securities forecast a 122% increase in nine months net profit and resource stocks rallied on bargain hunting, but banks finished weak.

Among brokerages, Sinolink Securities jumped 7.9% and CITIC Securities gained 1.9%. In the resources sector, China Petroleum & Chemical advanced 1.7% and index heavyweight PetroChina gained 1.9%. China Shenhua Energy climbed 0.7% and Aluminum Corp of China rose 1.8%. Zijin Mining fell 0.8% as gold for December delivery fell on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In the banking space, China Merchants Bank dropped 1.1%, but China CITIC Bank added 1.9%. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China closed unchanged. Elsewhere in the financial sector, China Pacific Insurance gained 0.4% after the company announced that that its two units booked unaudited premium income of 76.7 billion yuan in the first nine months of 2008.

Property stocks closed mixed. China Vanke fell 0.6%, while Poly Real Estate Group rose 1.7%. GD Power Development shed 3.4% after the company projected an 80% fall in net profit for the first nine months of the year compared to the same period last year.

The Hong Kong stock market fell 4.4% to a three-year closing low. The benchmark Hang Seng Index closed down 676.31 points at 14,554.21, after advancing to 15,300.07 in opening trade. For the week, the key index closes 1.6% lower.

Mainland mobile phone operator China Unicom tumbled 6.7% on concerns its merger with fixed-line network China Netcom might hurt earnings. PetroChina plunged 6.0% and offshore oil producer CNOOC plummeted 6.2%.

Among Chinese banks, China Construction Bank dropped 6.7% and Bank of China slumped 7.8%. Shares in gold miner Zijin Mining sank 7.5% after the price of the precious metal eased further on Friday.

The Australian stock market closed lower, extending its losses for the third straight session. The market started off higher, but gave away more than 3% of early gains to close marginally lower amid weakness in the banking and resources sectors. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed down 42.6 points or 1.06% at 3,970.8, while the broader All Ordinaries index lost 43.3 points or 1.09% to finish at 3,944.8. On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December share price index contract was up 24 points at 4,051.

On the economic front, the Australian Bureau of Statistics released its international trade price indices for the September quarter. Import Price Index increased 5.0% on quarter and 9.6% for the 12-months through September, while Australia’s Export Price Index increased 13.8% on quarter and 32.9% on year.

In the resources sector, diversified miner BHP Billiton plunged 4.7% and its rival Rio Tinto plummeted 5.1%. Gold miners closed lower on weaker gold prices in Sydney. Newcrest Mining tumbled 6.4%, Lihir Gold fell 5.3%, and Newmont slumped 8.8%. Energy stocks lost ground after oil prices fell for a third day on Thursday. Woodside Petroleum shed 2.7%, Santos lost 4.3%, and Oil Search gave away 3.1%.

Among banks, ANZ dropped 2.8%, Commonwealth Bank declined 2.3%, National Australia Bank sank 4.9%, and Westpac slid 2.4%. Meanwhile, the retailers finished mixed, with Woolworths adding 1.7%, David Jones jumping 5.4%, and Wesfarmers losing 0.9%. Harvey Norman closed unchanged.

Macquarie Airports gained 2.6% after security holders voted in favor of the group’s sale of A$1.5 billion of assets and a buyback of A$1 billion of its securities. Healthscope closed unchanged after the private hospitals operator said that the global economic turmoil would have no impact on the company and it had sufficient funds for its expansion plans. ABB Grain soared 12.8% after the grain storer and marketer raised its annual profit guidance range to between A$47 million and A$49 million.

The New Zealand stock market closed higher, on bargain hunting, after posting more than 6% losses over the previous two trading sessions. The benchmark NZX 50 index closed up 44.08 points or 1.59% at 2,808.77. However, the key index lost ground in the afternoon session after gaining more than 2% in morning trading. The broader NZX All Capital index advanced 52.40 points or 1.87% to 2,859.69. On the economic front, investors had little news to digest on Friday.

Top stock Telecom surged 4.9%. Telecom accounted for nearly half of the day’s turnover as buyers moved in following Thursday’s 8.6% fall in price to its lowest level in more than 16 years. Second-ranked Contract Energy fell 1.0%, but the third best company Fletcher Building advanced 2.1%.

In the retail space, Hallenstein Glasson lost 3.1% and jeweler Michael Hill declined 1.4%, while Pumpkin Patch jumped 8.6% and The Warehouse Group surged 8.4%.

Pike River Coal closed up 5.4%. The company reported late in the day that it has struck coal at its West Coast mine after two years of tunneling to reach its target of premium-grade hard coking coal.

Steel & Tube Holdings closed unchanged after Australia’s second largest steelmaker OneSteel announced that it has terminated its takeover of Steel & Tube, citing increased market volatility. OneSteel currently holds 50.27% interest in Steel & Tube.

Other Asian markets:

Taiwan’s Taiex closed down 2.3% at 4,960; Malaysia’s KLCI closed down 1.6% at 905; Singapore’s STI closed down 3.7% at 1,878; Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite Index closed down 4.4% at 1,399; and India’s Sensex finished down 5.7% at 9,975.

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Posted in Categories: Australia, Economy, Japan, New Zealand, Releases, USA.

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