Market Update
Asian markets ended little changed Wednesday.
The Nikkei slipped 0.2%. The Shanghai Composite added 0.8% while the Hang Seng ended flat. The Sensex was down 0.3% and the All Ordinaries too, ended unchanged.
Earlier in Japan, the country’s central bank held monetary policy steady as expected, unanimously voting to keep the current monetary base target. The BoJ also maintained its economic outlook for a continued moderate recovery. The BoJ also said "business fixed investment has increased moderately as corporate profits have improved."
Data showed Japan’s trade deficit narrowed in April to 808.8 billion yen versus a gap of 877.4 billion yen a year earlier and a 1.7 trillion yen deficit in March. The yen gained after the solid exports growth figures.
Another report showed the tax hike this month had a modest impact on department stores with data showing sales dropped 12% from a year earlier, marking the first decline in six months.
In Australia, data showed the wage price index remained unchanged in the last quarter.
Stocks on the Move
Mitsui Fudosan fell 2.4% on a report the company’s interest-bearing debt is set to increase as it plans more investments in expectations of higher land prices.
Exporters were mostly lower. Sony fell 0.7% while Konami was down 3%. Toshiba was down 2.8% while Sharp declined 1.5%.
Sinopec added 1.9% in Hong Kong on reports the firm was contemplating participation in its shale gas business from private investors.
Top Hang Seng weighted component HSBC was a drag on the index, down 1.1% as it traded without rights to its latest dividend and over concerns to its exposure to potential fines after being accused of manipulating financial benchmarks linked to the euro.
Lenovo added 3.4% after it rounded off its financial year with a strong finish in the fourth quarter, ending up with a record $817 million in full-year net profit as well as a record $38.7 billion in revenue.
Galaxy Entertainment Group was up 1.4% after it posted a 33% increase in earnings.
In Mumbai, the markets ended marginally lower as investors booked profits after the heady rise of the last few days fuelled by optimism of a new government.
SBI led losses, down 2.6%, followed by BHEL, down 2.4%, and Axis Bank, down 2.2%.
L&T was down 2.1% while Airtel ended 2% lower.
Gail India, Sun Pharma, Tata Power, Maruti Suzuki, Hero MotoCorp, Dr. Reddy’s Lab, and Tata Steel all ended lower in a range between 1% and 1.8%.
Miners fell in Sydney after another drop in iron-ore prices, as well as in prices of copper and nickel.
BHP Billiton gave up 1.2% while Fortescue Metals was 2.4% lower. OZ Minerals was down 2.2% and Atlas Iron weakened 3%. Rio Tinto was down 1.6%.
Telstra was up 0.8%, hitting a new nine-year high.
Woodside climbed 0.8% even as it pulled out of an agreement to buy a quarter of Israel’s largest natural gas field for as much as $2.6 billion.