Market Update
Asian markets ended mixed Tuesday.
The Nikkei gained 0.6%.
Chinese markets fell after hefty liquidity draining measures from the country's apex bank. The Shanghai Composite fell 1.4% while the Hang Seng gave up 1.6%.
Data also showed China’s money supply grew at the weakest pace in more than a decade in March.
The Sensex was down 0.6% while the All Ordinaries gained 0.5%.
The People's Bank of China withdrew a massive CNY172 billion via repurchase agreements earlier Tuesday, it said on its website.
Separately, data showed Chinese banks stepped up lending in March, issuing 1.05 trillion yuan in new yuan loans, up from 644.5 billion in February.
Earlier Tuesday in Sydney, minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia's April meeting showed the bank expects falling mining investment and weak public demand to constrain growth for some time but believes there are early promising signs in other parts of the economy.
Stocks on the Move
Fujitsu ended a percent higher while Panasonic pared the day’s gains and closed flat. The Nikkei reported that the two companies have agreed to set up a new company to unify their design and development operations for chips.
Bellwether Toyota was down 0.2% while Nissan gained 0.7%.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial was up 1.5%.
Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. gained 1.9% while JFE Holdings also strengthened about the same.
Banks were lower in Hong Kong with ICBC down a percent and AgBank off 2.4%. China CITIC Bank fell 6.5%.
Tencent was volatile and swung to losses. Shares ended down 1.9% after trading over a percent higher earlier in the day. Media reports said the company has received regulatory approval to set up a privately-owned bank, the first of its kind in China.
Mumbai markets returned after an extended weekend and traded lower, in line with the downbeat sentiment in the region.
Data showed wholesale price inflation accelerated more than expected to 5.7% in March from a year ago, and above expectations for a 5.3% increase.
Interest rate sensitive shares were among the bigger losers.
Data released after the market close showed retail inflation rose to 5.7%, mainly due to higher food costs.
Hindalco was the top loser, down 4.5%, followed by Axis Bank and HDFC, down 3.3% each.
SSLT fell 3.1% while Tata Steel and Tata Motors closed down 2.8% and 2.6% each, respectively.
BHEL and HDFC Bank gave up 2% each while M&M, Tata Power, Sun Pharma, SBI, ICICI Bank, and Gail India all declined in a range between 1.2% and 1.9%.
Infosys gained 0.8% after the company reported results that beat expectations. Cross-town rival Wipro gained 3.7% while Mumbai-based TCS shares closed up 4.1% ahead of its own results due tomorrow.
Aussie stocks ended higher with banks WBC, NAB, CBA, and ANZ all up about half a percent each.
Rio Tinto edged up 0.1% even as it reported a fall in first-quarter iron-ore shipments.