Market Update
Asian markets traded mixed as regional concerns weighed on some of the bourses and the yen remained stronger against the dollar in late morning Asian trade.
At the time of writing, the Shanghai Composite had snapped a 7-day losing streak, trading 0.5% higher. The Nikkei was down 0.3% while the Hang Seng gained 0.6%. India's Sensex rose 0.5% on opening. The S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.3%.
Trading volumes were thin as investors remained cautious ahead of market holidays in the U.S. and Britain on Monday.
Stocks on the Move
Exporter stocks slipped into the red in Japan as the dollar remained below the 81 yen level. In late-morning East Asia trade, the U.S. dollar was at 80.77 yen, compared with 80.87 yen late Friday in New York.
Sony Corp. was down 1.6% after it was reported a company executive would testify before the U.S. Congress over recent cyber-attacks that compromised customer records.
Toyota Motor Corp declined 0.3% and Honda Motor fell 1.1% after the company said it won't go ahead with a share buy-back plan to conserve cash.
In China, property developers lost ground as China Overseas Land & Investment gave up 0.9%. PetroChina Co gained 0.4%, continuing its advance from Friday after the company's parent said last week it would acquire more shares in the energy company.
The Indian benchmark was pushed up by index heavyweights in opening trade with Reliance Industries trading up 0.4% and State Bank of India, up 0.5%. HDFC Bank gained 0.9%. Top gainers on market opening were Sterlite Industries, Jaiprakash Associates, Cipla and Mahindra & Mahindra, all up between 1.2% and 2% each respectively.
The S&P/ASX 200 traded lower despite receiving mostly positive cues from Wall Street and the commodity markets. Weakness in financial stocks kept the benchmark in negative territory. Commonwealth Bank was down 1.1%. National Australia Bank was off 0.9% and ANZ was down 0.5%. Miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto were both up, trading 0.1% and 0.5% higher. BHP said that shortage of hydrogen had temporarily halted output at its Kwinana nickel refinery in Western Australia.
Entertainment firm Tabcorp said it had agreed to raise US$ 460 million, or A$ 429.38m in debt, from the US private placement market for the proposed holding company of its casino businesses. Shares in Tabcorp were up 0.1%.