Asia report: Markets mixed as trade confidence wanes

Markets in Asia finished mixed on Wednesday, with a number of bourses in the region giving up earlier gains as recently-boosted confidence in geopolitical relations began to waver.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was down 0.49% at 21,687.10, as the yen strengthened 0.33% against the dollar to last trade at JPY 106.85.

Financial plays, oil companies and shipping were up, but they were offset by losses in the consumer goods sector.

Shares in SoftBank Group rose 3.45% after reports that its US subsidiary Sprint was once again in merger talks with German-owned mobile carrier T-Mobile.

The pair had called off a previous round of combination discussions in November.

On the economic front, core machinery orders in Japan advanced 2.1% in February month-on-month - well ahead of the consensus forecast for a 2.5% drop, as polled by Reuters.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite added 0.56% to finish at 3,208.31, and the smaller, technology-heavy Shenzhen Composite rose 0.53% to 1,850.97.

The People’s Bank of China said it was now preparing ro introduce a number of measures in a bid to further open up the nation’s financial services sector by the end of the year.

It said it would increase foreign ownership limits of securities, fund management, futures and life insurance companies to 51% in the coming months.

South Korea’s Kospi was down 0.27% at 2,444.22, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong managed to rise 0.55% to 30,897.71.

Solid performance on Wall Street overnight was not reflected in Asia on Wednesday, as investors realised that Chinese president Xi Jinping’s positive trade comments on Tuesday were unlikely to lead to a quick solution to the ongoing tension between his country and the US.

“For now the market chooses to believe that Xi's words will prove to be more than mere platitudes in coming months,” noted National Australia Bank head of foreign exchange strategy Ray Attrill in a note earlier in the Asian session.

Oil price were climbing, with Brent crude last up 0.55% at $71.43 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate ahead 0.61% at $65.91.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.48% to settle at 5,828.70, with the hefty financials subindex sinking 0.96%.

Most other sectors were also in the red, although energy and materials both posted gains.

Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 fell 0.2% to 8,453.72, led lower by church donation payment technology firm Pushpay, which fell 3%.

The software company, which was looking to list in the US, said its annualised committed monthly revenue fell 19% in the March quarter.

It was a mixed picture for the down under dollars, with the Aussie last 0.21% weaker against the greenback at AUD 1.2914, while the Kiwi strengthened 0.01% to NZD 1.3580.