Market Update
Asian markets ended mostly lower Friday, shrugging off a positive lead from Wall Street overnight as investors worried over heightened tensions in Ukraine.
The Nikkei edged up 0.2%. The Shanghai Composite fell 1.% while the Hang Seng fell 1.5%. The Sensex gave up 0.8%. Markets in Sydney and New Zealand were closed for ANZAC Day, when both countries remember their war dead.
Ukraine said five separatists were killed Thursday, drawing an immediate response from Russian troops as they began conducting military manoeuvres along the border and President Putin warned of consequences. That drew a sharp response in the U.S. where Secretary of State John Kerry accused Russia of "deception" and "destabilization" and hinted at imposing more sanctions. He also said Russia had not honoured an agreement aimed at defusing the crisis.
Earlier today, data in Japan showed core consumer price inflation rose to an annualized rate of 2.7% in March, marginally better than expectations for a 2.8% increase.
The markets were also disappointed after discussions with the U.S. failed to conclude in the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal despite some progress in the talks.
Stocks on the Move
NTT Docomo closed up 0.8% after the company confirmed reports of exiting the Indian market because of intense competitive pressures. DoCoMo blamed licensing issues and delayed 3G penetration for leaving the world’s second-biggest mobile phone market.
A corruption scandal earlier last year – the largest of its kind – involving India’s telecom department, saw the cancellation of a number of permits to operators. The corruption plagued ruling United Progressive Alliance government in India has dealt ineffectively with a number of important issues such as the pricing of 3G spectrum, among other things.
Honda ended a percent higher. Reporting after the market close, the auto major posted a more-than-doubling of profit over the year-ago quarter but said the momentum would fade as the effects of the currency gains wear off. Its profit forecast a weaker-than-expected 3.6% profit growth for the year to next march, below analysts’ estimates.
Toyota ended half a percent higher while Nissan fell 0.9%.
Japan Tobacco gained 1.2% while NEC gained 1.7% after both companies reported results.
Sony was down 1.2% while Toshiba fell 1.5%. Panasonic increased 1.5%.
Advantest gave up intra-day gains of 2.4% and ended 3.7% lower.
Chinese internet major Sina Corp. (listed in New York) closed down 3.1% after it was caught with pornography posted on its web portal, resulting in the government revoking two of its publishing licenses. Pornography is illegal in China. Sina issued an apology saying they "feel regretful and ashamed." However, the stock was up 0.4% in after-hours trading.
Sina’s newly listed spun-off microblogging venture Weibo also fell 4.5% although it was up 1.5% in after-hours.
Rivals Sohu and Netease closed down 2.1% and 0.4% each, respectively, in New York. Tencent was down 1.3% in Hong Kong.
Bank shares dragged the Hang Seng index lower with Bank of China down 0.9% as it kicked off earnings for China's big state-owned banks.
ICBC was down 1.5% while AgBank fell 0.9%. China Construction Bank Corp. ended 1.3% lower and Bank of Communications gave up 1.6%.
China Mobile fell 0.9%, extending losses after reporting results Wednesday.
In Mumbai, Axis Bank ended 1.1% percent. Reporting after the bell, the lender posted an 18.4% jump in net profit and approved a five-for-one stock split.
Leading losses on the Sensex, ITC fell 2.8%, followed by NTPC, down 2.7%, and HUL, down 2.6%.
The FMCG heavyweights such as ITC and HUL were down after the Indian Meteorology Department said the country will likely get below-normal levels of monsoon this year
ICICI Bank was down 2.3% and Hero MotoCorp gave up 2.1%.
L&T, ONGC, Cipla, Maruti Suzuki, Gail India, HDFC Bank, Tata Power, and Wipro all declined in a range between 1% and 1.9%.
Maruti reported results just before the market close, revealing a worse-than-expected fourth-quarter net profit.