(RTTNews) - The stock markets in the Asia-Pacific region closed mixed on Wednesday. The markets in Japan, South Korea and Australia extended gains to close higher, while the markets in Hong Kong and India closed sharply lower. Crude oil continued to trade below $49 a barrel in late Asian trades Wednesday.

U.S stocks saw some volatility over the course of the session before ending Tuesday’s trading firmly in positive territory, although well off their highs. The choppy trading came as investors responded to a mixed bag of economic news and remarks by president-elect Barack Obama. The Dow closed up 62 points or 0.69% at 9,015, the Nasdaq gained 24 points or 1.50% to close at 1,652, and the S&P 500 advanced 7 points or 0.78% to finish at 935.

In late Asian trades Wednesday, crude oil was trading at $48.94, up $0.36 or 0.74%. Oil slipped below $49 a barrel on Tuesday as weak U.S. economic data triggered a bout of profit-taking, outweighing concerns over supply-disruptions. Light, sweet crude for February delivery declined $0.23 to settle at $48.58 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The U.S. dollar strengthened against the Japanese yen in late trades Tokyo ahead of key U.S. employment data. However, the dollar weakened against the South Korean won as well as the Australian and New Zealand currencies.

In late trades Tokyo, the dollar was quoted in a range of 93.13-93.16 yen, down 0.40 yen from Tuesday’s close of 93.53-93.54 yen. In Seoul, the dollar closed trading at 1,292.5 won, down from Tuesday’s close of 1,312.5 won. In Sydney, the Australian dollar closed higher at US$0.7225, up from Tuesday’s close of US$0.7118. In late trades Wellington, the New Zealand dollar was buying US$0.5969, up from US$0.5879 in late trades Tuesday.

The Japanese stock market extended its gains to a seventh straight session following a positive lead from Wall Street overnight on optimism about president-elect Barack Obama’s economic stimulus plans. Export-oriented stocks rose on the back of a weaker yen.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index gained 158.40 points, or 1.74%, to close at 9,239.24, a two-month closing high. The broader Topix Index of all First Section issues advanced 12.05 points, or 1.38% to settle at 888.25.

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

Tech stocks advanced following the gains made overnight by their U.S. counterparts. Advantest jumped 7.07%, Kyocera gained 6.65% and Fanuc climbed 9.42%. Banking stocks also closed mostly higher. Mitsubishi UFJ rose 2.11%, Mizuho Financial added 0.35% and Resona Holdings gained 2.15%, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial gave away 2.53%.

Among export-oriented stocks, Canon jumped 11.45%, Komatsu gained 4.40% and Sony surged 8.73%. Sharp climbed 12.42%. The company said it hopes to expand production of solar batteries. Automaker Toyota rose 3.28%, Mazda jumped 14.82% and Nissan climbed 9.68%. Honda gained 11.00% despite a report in the Nikkei business daily that the company has decided to delay the launch of a passenger car plant in Argentina by six months or more from the originally scheduled second half of this year as demand drops in South America.

In the oil sector, Inpex Holdings climbed 5.67%, Nippon Oil advanced 1.61% and Showa Shell added 1.95%. Trading house Mitsubishi gained 5.39%, Marubeni rose 7.45% and Itochu jumped 7.22%.

NEC Corp. said Tuesday it had latent securities losses totaling 87.6 billion yen for its fiscal third quarter through December. The company added that it was uncertain whether the loss would have any impact on its earnings for the three months. However, the company’s stock advanced 4.98%.

Toshiba Corp. plans to triple its capacity to manufacture equipment for hydroelectric power plants in China by 2015. The company’s stock jumped 7.33%.

The South Korean market closed in positive territory for the fifth straight session on Wednesday, tracking the overnight positive lead from Wall Street and buoyed by the government’s stimulus plan unveiled on Tuesday. Tech, banking and shipping stocks closed higher.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index, or KOSPI, rose 33.89 points, or 2.84%, to close at 1,228.17.

South Korea’s Finance Ministry said Tuesday that it plans to invest 50 trillion won, or about $38 billion, in eco-friendly projects over the next four years in an attempt to kick-start the faltering economy. The plan was approved at a cabinet meeting held earlier and is expected to create one million new jobs in Asia’s fourth-largest economy.

The government’s stimulus plan calls for investing 39 trillion won in nine major businesses, while 11 trillion won would go to 27 related businesses, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said.

On the economic front, the Korea Automobile Manufacturers’ Association said Wednesday that South Korea’s production of cars, trucks and buses declined 6.4% in 2008 from a year ago due to the global economic downturn. Production fell to 3.83 million units in 2008, the first annual decline in seven years.

Tech stocks advanced on the positive lead from their U.S. counterparts overnight. Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics gained 5.22%, Hynix Semiconductor advanced 1.22%, LG Philips LCD added 1.39% and LG Electronics rose 3.32%.

In the banking space, Woori Finance climbed 15.00%, Korea Exchange Bank gained 3.63% and KB Financial, the holding firm of Kookmin Bank, added 0.25%. Shipbuilder stocks extended gains. Daewoo Shipbuilding climbed 7.71% and Hyundai Heavy jumped 5.68%.

Automaker Hyundai Motor climbed 8.48%, while Ssangyong Motor eased 0.38%. Steel maker POSCO jumped 5.91%.

Telecom issue SK Telecom eased 0.24% and KT slid 3.65%. Oil scrip S-Oil added 0.96%, SK surged 3.72% and energy stock KEPCO added 1.56%. Among airline stocks, Asiana Air Line gained 4.17% and Korean Air Line closed unchanged.

The Australian stock market extended gains to close higher Wednesday, following modest gains overnight on Wall Street. Resource stocks gained on the back of improved commodity prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index surged 37 points or 0.99% to close at 3779.70 and the broader All Ordinaries index advanced 39 points or 1.06% to settle at 3,728.20.

On the economic front, the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Retail Trade Trends Data for November showed that retail sales in Australia rose in November by a seasonally adjusted 0.4%. Trend retail sales also increased 0.1% on month.

In the resources sector, index leader BHP Billiton rose 2.84% and Rio Tinto climbed 8.08%, as Rio’s aluminum arm stood to gain from planned output cuts by top U.S. aluminum producer Alcoa. Iron ore miner Atlas Iron soared 30% after it said it found high-grade iron ore at its Pardoo project in Pilbara region.

Gold miners closed mixed. Sino Gold gained 3.18%, while Newcrest Mining slumped 6.04% and Lihir Gold declined 1.14%.
Among banking stocks, Commonwealth Bank of Australia declined 1.76%, ANZ Banking Group eased 0.32% and Westpac edged down 0.29%. National Australia Bank added 0.72% after the company said it raised US$2.5 billion from U.S. investors. Investment bank Macquarie Group climbed 8.66%.

In the energy sector, Oil Search gained 2.39%, Woodside added 0.41%, and Santos advanced 0.46% after the oil and gas explorer signed a $US585 million contract with CITIC Pacific Mining to supply gas to the Sino Iron project in Western Australia.

In the retail sector, David Jones rose 2.95% and Coles’ owner Wesfarmer surged 5.93%, while Woolworths declined 1.84%.

The New Zealand stock market pared gains to close lower for the first time in four sessions on Wednesday. The benchmark NZX 50 index declined 19.13 points, or 0.69%, to settle at 2,764.24, while the broader NZX All Capital Index lost 14.35 points, or 0.52% to end at 2,769.24.

On the economic front, reports on service sector activity, factory orders, and pending home sales painted a mixed picture of the economy.

Among the top stocks, Telecom and Fletcher Building closed unchanged, while Contact Energy eased 0.40%.

In the retail sector, the Warehouse advanced 1.96% as investors continued to look favorably on the company’s smaller-than-expected decline in sales reported Tuesday, while Hallenstein Glasson, Pumpkin Patch and jewelry retailer Michael Hill closed unchanged. Among energy stocks, Vector advanced 1.45% and TrustPower declined 1.21%.

Among other notable stocks, Air New Zealand surged 4.44% and PGG Wrightson gained 2.19%, while Fisher & Paykel healthcare slipped 3.73%, Sky Network slid 3.80% and Guinness Peat Group shed 5.77%.

Among the dual-listed issues, AMP surged 3.85%, Australia and NZ Banking Corp gained 0.53%, Lion Nathan fell 5.96% and Westpac Bank closed unchanged.

The Hong Kong stock market closed sharply lower on Wednesday, extending its losses for a second straight session. Banking stocks closed lower after Bank of America sold part of its stake in China Construction Bank. The benchmark Hang Seng Index shed 522.05 points, or 3.37%, to close at 14987.46.

Shares of China Construction Bank shed 8.76% after Bank of America sold a 2.5% stake in the bank for about $2.8 billion. Among other banks, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China shed 7.26% and Bank of China slid 3.2%. Market heavyweight HSBC Holdings slipped 5.48%.

Telecom stocks also closed lower, erasing recent gains, after China handed out the much-anticipated licenses for next generation mobile networks on Wednesday. China Mobile, the largest firm by capitalization in the Hong Kong market, fell 5.48%. China Unicom plunged 10.60% and China Telecom shed 5.02%.

Among property stocks, Sun Hung Kai Properties eased 0.34%, Cheung Kong slid 3.37% and Hopson Development plunged 2.96%. Offshore oil producer CNOOC declined 3.65%, refiner Sinopec lost 3.64% and PetroChina dipped 4.73%.

The Indian stock market closed sharply lower on Wednesday, rocked by revelations of a fraud at software services firm Satyam Computer Services. The news sparked a rout in the company’s shares and shook confidence in the broader share market.

The Bombay Stock Exchange’s benchmark BSE 30 index shed 749.05 points, or 7.25%, to close at 9,586.88.

Shares of India’s fourth-largest software developer Satyam Computer Services plunged 77.7% after the company’s founder and chairman Ramalinga Raju said the company had been inflating its profit for several years. The company said it had $1.04 billion of “inflated” cash on its balance sheet at the end of September 30, 2008.

Shares of Reliance Industries, the country’s largest publicly traded company, fell 12% and ICICI Bank, the second-largest lender, tumbled 11%.

Other Asian markets:

Singapore’s Straits Times Index declined 33 points, or 1.73%, to close at 1,881, China’s Shanghai Composite Index lost 13 points, or 0.68%, to end at 1,924, and Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite Index gave away 14 points, or 0.98% to close at 1,421. Taiwan’s Weighted Index gained 63 points, or 1.32%, to settle at 4,790 and Malaysia’s KLSE Composite advanced 5 points to settle at 928.

For comments and feedback: contact editorial@rttnews.com

Copyright(c) 2009 RealTimeTraders.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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

Subscribe by RSS Subscribe by Email  Email This Post To A Friend