Market Update
Asian markets traded mostly higher Tuesday following a record close on Wall Street overnight.
The Nikkei was down 0.9%. The Shanghai Composite gained 1.1% while the Hang Seng was up 0.9%. The Sensex declined 0.4% while the All Ordinaries edged up 0.1%.
Data earlier from China were mostly in line with expectations with the consumer price index up 2.5% to a four-month high in May from a year earlier, and 0.1% higher from the previous month. On the wholesale side, producer prices were down 1.4% year-on-year. The Hang Seng slipped briefly into the red but was back up after the data release.
Further helping markets, China's apex bank Monday announced a cut in the cash reserve ratio for selected banks. Also late Monday, the China Securities Regulatory Commission said it is reopening the market for initial public offerings after a nearly five-month block.
The Sensex swung to losses after hitting a fresh intra-day high in the morning session.
Overnight, the Dow and the S&P 500 ended at fresh records with the latter reaching an all-time high for the fourth straight session.
Stocks on the Move
Sony was down 0.7% while Panasonic edged up 0.1%.
Canon declined 0.3% and Olympus fell 1.6%. Toshiba was also down 0.7% while Sharp Corp. fell 2.3%. Konami gave up 1.1%.
Nintendo ended down 0.8%, reversing intra-day gains of over 2%.
Tokyo Dome was down 0.6% after a report in the Nikkei that said the company’s operating profit likely fell in the last quarter.
In Hong Kong, Citic Resources dropped about 10% over concerns regarding a probe into the use of commodities as collateral as the port of Qingdao.
Casino stocks were all lower after reports the local government in Macau is putting more restrictions on the use of China’s state-backed UnionPay payment cards in casinos.
Wynn Macau was down 4.6% while Galaxy Entertainment was down 1.6%. MGM China Holdings fell 3% while Sands China was down 1.9%. SJM Holdings dropped 5.2%.
China Mobile reversed intra-day losses and ended 1.2% higher. The company is reportedly buying an 18% stake in Thai peer group company True Corp. for $882 million.
FMCG companies were in focus after the Met Department predicted a below-normal rainfall this year. Top losers on the Sensex were ONGC, down 3.1%, followed by Hero MotoCorp, down 2.9%, Tata Steel, down 2.8%, BHEL, down 2.7%, and SSLT, down 2.6%.
In Sydney, BHP Billiton edged up 0.1% while Rio Tinto added 0.4%. Fortescue Metals was up 2.4%.
ANZ was up 0.3% after a broker upgrade.