By V. Phani Kumar and Michael Kitchen, MarketWatch
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — Asian markets ended higher Wednesday as
investors bought into beaten-down sectors, with Japanese shares ending a
seven-session losing streak and Chinese stocks edging higher ahead of
the announcement of the nation’s next generation of leaders.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index
HK:HSI
+1.20%
rose 1.2%, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200
AU:XJO
+0.20%
and South Korea’s Kospi
KR:SEU
+0.23%
gained 0.2% each, and Taiwan’s Taiex
XX:Y9999
+0.33%
ticked 0.3% higher.
Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average
JP:100000018
+0.04%
ended fractionally higher at 8,664.73, snapping a string of lower finishes, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index
CN:000001
+0.37%
climbed 0.4% after changing direction a few times during the choppy trading session.
The advance came despite a weak Wall Street finish Tuesday on worries
over the U.S. fiscal outlook, while a successful bond auction by Greece
helped ease concern about its ability to repay maturing debt.
“Risk assets re-priced after the [U.S.] election for the economy going
over a steeper fiscal cliff. The re-pricing may have run its course,
pending greater clarity on the fiscal-cliff negotiations,” said Tim
Condon, head of research for Asia at ING Financial Markets.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Tuesday that it was
“deeply implausible” that Republicans wouldn’t help resolve the fiscal
cliff.
Read full story on Geithner’s remarks.
Techs among bright spots
Asian markets generally shrugged off the lower U.S. close, as tech
shares traded broadly higher across the region on the back of
better-than-expected earnings results from technology bellwether Cisco
Systems Inc.
CSCO
-0.03%
after the close of U.S. trade.
Read: Cisco shares surge after hours following results
In Tokyo, gains for the major tech names included a 1.1% rise for Sony Corp.
JP:6758
+1.05%
SNE
+1.13%
, a 4.7% advance for Renesas Electronics Corp.
JP:6723
+4.67%
RNECY
-16.75%
and a 0.8% climb for Panasonic Corp.
JP:6752
+0.78%
PC
-1.43%
.
Shares of debt-laden Sharp Corp.
JP:6753
+7.24%
SHCAF
+7.57%
surged 7.2% on reports it was conducting final talks with Intel Corp.
INTC
-2.34%
for a major investment, and was also discussing a possible tie-up with Qualcomm Inc.
QCOM
+0.83%
Among Seoul-listed tech blue chips, Samsung Electronics Co.
KR:005930
+0.44%
SSNLF
+3.31%
added 0.4%, while SK Hynix Inc.
KR:000660
+4.93%
HXSCL
0.00%
rallied 4.9%, and LG Electronics Inc.
KR:066570
+4.59%
improved by 4.6%.
In Hong Kong, financials were among the major gainers, as shares of index heavyweight HSBC Holdings PLC
HBC
-0.21%
HK:5
+1.15%
added 1.2%, and China Construction Bank Corp.
HK:939
+3.18%
CICHY
-0.68%
rose 3.2%.
Also among the Hang Seng Index components on the rise, casino operator Sands China Ltd.
SCHYY
+0.08%
HK:1928
+3.19%
advanced 3.2%.
Over in Australia, some miners enjoyed a rebound after heavy losses Tuesday, with Rio Tinto Ltd.
AU:RIO
+0.57%
RIO
-0.86%
adding 0.3%, and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd.
AU:FMG
+0.76%
FSUMF
-3.09%
gaining 0.8%.
BHP Billiton Ltd.
AU:BHP
-0.06%
BHP
-1.23%
fell 0.1%. The mining giant announced the sale of its Canadian Ekati
diamond-mine interest and marketing operations to Harry Winston Diamond
Corp.
CA:HW
-2.23%
HWD
-2.53%
for $500 million in cash.
Read: BHP Billiton sells Ekati to exit diamond business.
Sydney-listed financials also pared losses from the previous session, with National Australia Bank Ltd.
AU:NAB
+0.56%
NAUBF
-2.85%
adding 0.6% after falling 1.4% on Tuesday, while insurer QBE Insurance Group Ltd.
AU:QBE
+2.38%
QBEIF
-10.39%
rose 2.4%.
But Japanese banks were broadly softer, with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc.
JP:8306
-1.43%
MTU
-0.23%
down 1.4% and Mizuho Financial Group Inc.
JP:8411
-0.81%
MFG
+0.49%
off 0.8%, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc.
JP:8316
+0.04%
SMFG
-0.68%
ended flat. All three were set to report earnings following the close of trade.
Meanwhile, the tentative performance of mainland Chinese shares came as
investors awaited the outcome of the Communist Party’s National
Congress, which ends Wednesday.
The party was expected Thursday to announce the names of its top
leaders, who will then almost certainly occupy top positions in the
government in a once-in-a-decade leadership change that will take place
next year.
“Expectation [is] that Li Keqiang becomes premier. He is an
English-speaking economist who championed rapid urbanization to
establish the Chinese middle class. So [that] could be a slight positive
to property sector in the long term, but short-term concerns remain on
expansion of [the] property tax trial,” said Andrew Sullivan, a
principal sales trader at Piper Jaffray.
Sullivan was referring to comments earlier this week reportedly made by
China’s housing minister, who said he doesn’t expect any relaxation in
restrictions on the sector, and that the government is studying an
expansion of an experimental property-tax program.
Shares of real-estate major Gemdale Corp.
CN:600383
-0.95%
dropped 1%, and Poly Real Estate Group Co.
CN:600048
-2.01%
shed 2% in Shanghai.
But those losses were countered by gains for some financial- and resource-sector stocks, with PetroChina Co.
CN:601857
+0.35%
PTR
-2.26%
rising 0.4% and Ping An Insurance Group Co.
CN:601318
+0.67%
PNGAY
-1.21%
adding 0.7%.
Varahabhotla Phani Kumar is a reporter in MarketWatch's Hong Kong bureau.
Michael Kitchen is Asia editor for MarketWatch and is based in Los Angeles.
