Market Update
Asian markets all ended higher Tuesday with the Nikkei snapping a four-session losing run.
The Nikkei added 0.5%. The Shanghai Composite edged up 0.1% while the Hang Seng gained 0.6%. The Sensex gave up early gains and closed marginally higher, up just 0.1%. The All Ordinaries moved up 0.2%.
Elsewhere in the region, Thailand's benchmark SET index fell after the Royal Thai Army imposed martial law even as the Army chief sought to reassure the nation this was not a coup.
Moody's said the BJP-led NDA's victory in the Indian elections was credit positive for India.
Stocks on the Move
Textile major Sanyo Shokai fell 12.9% after the company said it would be discontinuing its licensing contract with Burberry as the British company is planning to launch its own sales operations in the Japanese market. The licensing agreement has been in place since 1970.
Staying with contracts, Fujitsu was added 3% on news Airbus has selected the Japanese company as its solution provider for their RFID Integrated Labels project. In this project, Airbus will attach Fujitsu RFID tags to major aircraft components.
Shares in Yahoo Japan surged 11.7% after the company canceled plans to acquire eAccess from Softbank Corp. Softbank shares closed up 0.4%.
Toshiba ended 1.3% higher. The Nikkei reported that Toshiba is to supply chips to Google for its smartphone with interchangeable modules expected next year.
Some other heavyweights such as Sony and Fanuc both slipped marginally lower.
Tencent Holdings was among the big movers in Hong Kong, up 4%. Kingsoft Corp. gained 4% while Kingdee International Software added 3.2%.
Property counters mostly remained weak after news yesterday of cooling prices in April. Poly Property Group was down 1.8% while Vanke Property Overseas reversed losses and ended marginally higher, up just 0.1%.
China Unicom fell 2.7% while China Telecom gave up 1% after the latter reported a sharp drop in April subscriber numbers. China Mobile gained 1.9%.
Earlier today, the Sensex extended its winning streak to a fourth straight session as power stocks, capital goods, banks, and public sector stocks all rallied. However, the markets gave up all of their gains on profit booking and ended up just 0.1%.
Among the major gainers, SSLT closed up 8%, followed by BHEL and M&M, both up 3.6% each, respectively.
Tata Steel strengthened 3.5% while Infosys was up 3.2%.
Airtel, HDFC, Wipro, and Hindalco all gained in a range between 2.4% and 2.8%.
In Sydney, Treasury Wine Estates surged 17.9% after it rejected a takeover bid from U.S. private equity firm KKR.
Genworth Mortgage Insurance Australia made a strong debut in Sydney in what was the exchange’s biggest IPO this year as the company raised A$583 million. Genworth shares rose 14% at its peak before closing 3.1% higher.