(RTTNews) - The stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region closed mixed on Tuesday amid hopes of another U.S. economic stimulus package and a thaw in frozen credit markets. Japan’s Nikkei index rose more than 3% and Australia’s All Ordinaries jumped nearly 4%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 1.8%, South Korea’s KOSPI lost 1% and China’s Shanghai Composite index dropped 0.8%. Crude oil prices eased in late Asian deals despite hopes of a production cut by OPEC this week. In currency trading, the dollar weakened to the lower 101-yen levels in late Asian deals.

U.S. stocks closed sharply higher on Monday on the back of strong gains in the resources sector and comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and the White House in support of a second economic stimulus package. The Dow Jones industrial average soared 4.7% to 9,265, the S&P 500 jumped 4.8% to 985, and the tech-dominated Nasdaq composite index climbed 3.4% to 1,770.

At 4:32 a.m. ET, oil was quoted at $73.50 a barrel, down $0.75 after York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in November, rose by $2.40 to close at $74.25 dollars a barrel on Monday.

The U.S. dollar weakened to the lower 101-yen levels in late Tokyo deals from the lower 102-yen range in early trade and late Monday. In South Korea, the won finished the local session at 1,320.1 a dollar, down from Monday’s close of 1,315.0 won. The Australian dollar was weaker at US$0.6953 in late local deals, while the New Zealand dollar gained against the dollar to finish the domestic session at US$0.6172-0.6177.

The Japanese stock market closed sharply higher, extending its gains for a third consecutive session. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed up 300.66 points or 3.34% at 9,306.25 after posting a gain of 3.6% on Monday. The broader Topix Index of all First Section Issues gained 29.27 points or 3.16 to 956.64.

The markets had little to digest in terms of economic news on Tuesday.

Banking stocks advanced after the London Interbank Offer Rate, or Libor, which banks charge each other for three-month loans in dollars, fell overnight to 4.06%, the biggest decline in nine months. Mitsubishi UFJ jumped 6.1%, Mizuho Financial climbed 5.2%, and Sumitomo Mitsui advanced 2.6%.

Exporters closed higher, with Canon jumping 5.5%, Honda Motor rising 6.8%, Toyota Motor gaining 5.0%, electronics giant Sony advancing 2.9%, Nikon adding 2.1%, and heavy machinery maker Komatsu climbing 2.6%.

In the tech sector, Advantest surged 7.2%, Fanuc jumped 6.7%, Kyocera climbed 2.9%, and Fujitsu gained 3.6%.

Among oil-related stocks, Inpex Holdings soared 9.6%, Nippon Oil surged 9.1%, and Nippon Mining Holding jumped 11.6%. Trading house Mitsubishi Corp gained 6.2% and Mitsui & Co advanced 7.5%.

The South Korean stock market closed lower, reversing early gains, as investors turned doubtful about the effectiveness of the government’s financial stabilization package. The market started off stronger, but lost ground over the course of the trading session, dipping as much as 2.1% at one point. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index or KOSPI eventually closed down 11.53 points or 0.95% at 1,196.1 after opening nearly 2% higher.

On Sunday, the government unveiled sweeping measures aimed at providing three-year state guarantees for banks’ foreign debts worth up to US$100 billion and injecting $30 billion into dollar-starved banks and companies.

Among builders, Daewoo Engineering & Construction shed 0.9% and Samsung Engineering lost 1.5%.

In the tech sector, Market leader Samsung Electronics fell 0.4% and chip giant Hynix Semiconductor plunged 6.8%. LG Electronics declined 1.1% and LG Display lost 2.6%.

Top domestic carmaker Hyundai Motor dropped 3.5%,after the previous session’s 12%rally, on expectations for poor earnings.

However, the banking sector closed higher, with Hana Financial Group climbing 4.6% and Woori Finance Holdings gaining 2.0%.

The Chinese stock market closed lower on profit taking after two sessions of gains. Financials and property stocks led the losers. Investors also exercised caution on concerns about the economy after China’s growth slowed to 9% in the third quarter. However, agricultural stocks gained after the National Development and Reform Commission or NDRC said that the government would sharply raise investment in agriculture and accelerate the building of related infrastructure. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed down 15.48 points or 0.78% at 1,958.53.

The National Bureau of Statistics announced Monday that gross domestic product rose by 9.0% in the third quarter, down from the second quarter’s 10.1% expansion rate, and marked the slowest quarterly growth rate since the 7.9% during the SARS-hit second quarter of 2003.

Among banks, Hua Xia Bank fell 0.9% despite projecting a net profit increase of over 90% for the nine-month period. Bank of Beijing dropped 0.6% after the bank said that it is in talks with Beijing Capital Group to buy the latter’s stake in ING Capital Life Insurance, a 50-50 joint venture between Beijing Capital Group and ING Group. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China declined 1.7%.

Elsewhere in the financial sector, insurer Ping An Insurance fell 2.8% and brokerage CITIC Securities plunged 3.4%. In the propery space, China Vanke lost 2.4% and Poly Real Estate Group plummeted 3.2%.

Meanwhile, grain producer Heilongjiang Agriculture jumped 4.4% after the NDRC announced plans to raise the minimum purchase price for wheat by up to 15.3% in 2009. Hunan Jinjian Cereals Industry climbed 3.2%.

China Shenhua Energy surged 4.8% as crude oil prices rose by $2.40 to settle at $74.25 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Monday. The company said that commercial coal output in the nine months to September rose 17.6% on year to 137.9 million tons. China Petroleum & Chemical Corp slid 2.2%.

Baoshan Iron & Steel fell 2.1% after the company reported cuts to its December prices for major products by up to 1,000 yuan per ton.

The Hong Kong stock market closed lower as conglomerate CITIC Pacific tumbled 55% and telecom giant China Mobile fell 5% on the back of disappointing third-quarter earnings. The market got off to a good start, but lost steam as CITIC Pacific’s disclosure of a potential HK$15.5 billion loss from unauthorized foreign currency bets. Bucking the trend, oil producer CNOOC gained more than 3% on higher crude oil prices.

The benchmark Hang Seng index closed down 281.84 points or 1.84% at 15,041.17. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index shed 174.01 points or 2.34% to 7,267.12.

The Australian stock market closed sharply higher for the second straight trading session. The market started off firm and extended its gains amid signs that the global credit crunch might be easing. The resources sector led the rally on the back of stronger commodity prices. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed up 160.2 points or 3.9% at 4,302.5, extending Monday’s 4.3% gains. The broader All Ordinaries index gained 152.7 points or 3.73% to close at 4,251.4.

In the minutes of October 7 monetary policy meeting released today, the central bank’s board noted that it saw increased risks to the nation’s economy and hints that inflation would not get out of hand as it decided this month to reduce interest rates by a full percentage point. The board also said that while upcoming inflation figures would likely show an increase to around 5% for the year, the current staff forecast was for inflation to start to decline in 2009, and that weaker demand will probably mean inflation will fall faster than previously expected.

In other economic news, a report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that new motor vehicle sales for September declined 0.4% from last month and 8.2% on year.

In the banking sector, National Australia Bank gained 7.3% after the chief executive John Stewart said that the bank, and Australia as a whole, was well placed to weather the global financial crisis. National Australia Bank surged despite posting a 0.9% fall in reported annual net profit to A$4.5 billion, and a 10.7% plunge in cash earnings to A$3.9 billion. Commonwealth Bank closed flat, while ANZ jumped 6.3%, and Westpac advanced 0.7%.

In the resources sector, global miner BHP Billiton surged 10.7% and its rival and takeover target Rio Tinto soared 12.2%. Zinc producer OZ Minerals jumped 8.9% after the company said that it was reviewing the profitability of its Century zinc mine in Queensland.

Among energy stocks, Oil Search gained 8.6% despite saying that its revenue for the third quarter fell due to lower oil sales. Woodside Petroleum soared 11.0% and Santos gained 5.7%. Gold miners also finished higher, with Newcrest mining advancing 1.2% and Lihir Gold jumping 5.5%, despite weaker gold prices in Sydney.

Retailers also posted strong gains. Woolworths added 0.3% after the company lifted its first quarter sales and maintained its growth guidance for the full year. Harvey Norman gained 1.8% despite saying that retail margins continued to be under pressure. Wesfarmers, which owns Coles, climbed 8.9%.

Hearing implant company Cochlear plunged 6.9% despite saying that it was on track to achieve double-digit earnings growth in fiscal 2009.

The New Zealand stock market closed sharply higher, extending its gains for the third consecutive trading session. Wall Street’s rebound overnight and prospects of an interest rate cut by the central bank on Thursday buoyed investor sentiment. The benchmark NZX 50 index closed up 62.10 points or 2.15% at 2952.20 after rallying nearly 3% on Monday. The broader NZX All Capital index advanced 53.53 points or 1.82% to finish at 2,993.66.

Government data showed that annual inflation hit an 18-year high of 5.1% in the September quarter. Analysts said that inflation is likely to have peaked and that the rise would not stop the central bank from cutting rates aggressively at its policy meeting on Thursday.

In other economic news, credit card billings in New Zealand rebounded in September, although consumer spending remained under pressure, data released by the central bank data showed. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand said that total billings rose a seasonally adjusted 1.1% in September, its highest level in a year, following a 0.1% fall in August. Billings were up a seasonally adjusted 2.6% on year in the previous month and flat on the year to August.

Meanwhile, Statistics New Zealand said that food prices rose 0.6% in September, driven mainly by a 3.7% jump in the prices of meat, poultry and fish.

Top stock Telecom fell 2.4%, while Contact Energy jumped 3.4% and Fletcher Building rose 3.9%.

Other major gainers included Auckland International Airport 1.1%, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare 3.8%, Fisher & Paykel Appliances 1.5%, Sky TV 1.8%, Sky City 2.4%, Mainfreight 6.0%, Port of Tauranga 3.9%, The Warehouse Group 4.7%, and Sanford 2.4%.

Losers were Cavalier 0.4%, Pike River Coal 0.7%, Vector 0.5%, PGG Wrightson 4.4%, and Lion Nathan 0.8%.

Dual-listed stocks finished in positive territory, with ANZ surging 7.7%, Westpac gaining 3.2%, and AMP jumping 4.4%.

Other Asian markets:

Taiwan’s Taiex closed up 0.2% at 4,942; Malaysia’s KLCI closed up 8.7 points at 918; Singapore’s STI closed down 1% at 1,920; Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite Index closed up 0.9% at 1,440; and India’s Sensex was up 3.8% at 10,614 by 5:29 a.m. ET.

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

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