Market Update
Asian markets edged up Thursday in thin trade ahead of the four-day long Easter break beginning tomorrow.
The Nikkei was up a marginal 0.2%. The Shanghai Composite slipped 0.1% while the Hang Seng was up 0.4%. The Sensex gained 0.8% and the All Ordinaries added 0.6%.
Earlier, data showed foreign direct investment in China fell 1.47% in March to $12.24 billion.
In Japan, data showed household confidence rose less-than-expected to an annual rate of 37.5 from 38.3 in the preceding month.
In other news, Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said the bank was willing to make policy adjustments if needed. The comments came just ahead of the bank’s “sakura” report, or its assessment of regional economies, due to be published later in the day.
Stocks on the Move
A slightly softer yen helped some exporters' stocks. However, Sony fell 0.8% after it said it would sell its entire stake in videogame maker Square Enix for 15.3 billion yen, or $147 million, as reported by Dow Jones Newswires. Enix shares jumped 6.5%.
Newspaper reports also moved some shares as Canon gained 1.8% on a Nikkei article that the company is set to report a 50% increase in first-quarter operating report.
Rakuten surged at the market open also on a Nikkei article but pared almost all its gains and was up just half a percent.
Banks were higher in Hong Kong, supported in part by a decision to cut reserve requirement ratios for certain country-level rural banks. China Construction Bank Corp. advanced 1.3% while China Merchants Bank was up 1.5%. AgBank traded flat.
CITIC Pacific fell 3.4% on news its parent – state-owned CITIC Group – would transfer most of its assets to the company for 226.9 billion yuan in cash and shares.
In Mumbai, TCS was up 0.4% after the company reported healthy profits and forecast stronger growth.
Tata Motors and ICICI Bank led gains, up 3% each, followed by Axis Bank, up 2.6%, and Hindalco, up 2.3%.
Wipro was up 2.2%.
Tata Power, SBI, RIL, M&M, SSLT, Hero MotoCorp, Gail India, and Infosys all gained in a range between 1.1% and 1.8%.
Woodside Petroleum climbed a percent after the company reported a 16% rise in first-quarter production and said it remains in talks with the Israeli government to buy part of a giant offshore natural gas discovery – the Leviathan gas field.
Santos was down 0.2% after it said production was up just 1% from a year earlier and stuck to its previous output guidance for the year.
Electronics retailer Dick Smith was up 1.6% after it said it sees its New Zealand operations returning to growth and would open more stores there.