Asia report: Markets fail to fire despite Wall Street rebound
Most markets in Asia finished in the red on Friday, after a turbulent day on most of the region’s bourses as traders shrugged off Wall Street’s overnight recovery.
AUD/USD
$0.6533
23:03 26/04/24
GBP/NZD
NZD2.1025
23:53 26/04/24
Hang Seng
17,651.15
10:20 26/04/24
Nikkei 225
37,934.76
09:44 26/04/24
USD/JPY
¥158.3270
01:54 27/04/24
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was down 0.4% at 21,184.60, as the yen strengthened 0.44% against the dollar to last trade at JPY 111.92.
The broader Topix index was off 0.31% at 1,596.01 in Tokyo.
On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite was 0.19% lower at 2,598.85, and the smaller, technology-heavy Shenzhen Composite was 0.17% softer at 1,290.62.
South Korea’s Kospi slid 1.75% to 2,027.15, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong lost 1.11% to close at 24,717.63.
The blue-chip technology stocks were mixed in Seoul, with SK Hynix staging a recovery as it rose 3.55%, while Samsung Electronics remained broadly flat.
Sentiment in Asia seemed little swayed by a decent showing on Wall Street overnight, with markets there recovering from a disastrous performance earlier in the week.
Analysts and market watchers were not convinced that Asia’s struggling bourses could pull off any similar tricks.
“We suspect that many investors are likely to be still licking their wounds after the recent sell-off so any rebound is likely to be muted barring a fresh catalyst,” noted OCBC Bank earlier.
Oil prices were lower, with Brent crude last down 1.28% at $75.92, and West Texas Intermediate falling 1.52% to $66.32.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 eked out gains of 0.02% to settle at 5,665.20, pushed over the line by the hefty financials subindex, which was 0.35% higher.
Of the major banks in Sydney, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group was up 0.44%, Commonwealth Bank of Australia added 0.83%, National Australia Bank rose 0.69%, and Westpac Banking Corporation was 0.46% firmer.
Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 was clinging on by an even thinner thread, rising just 0.002% to close at 8,568.40, managing to snap its five-session losing streak.
Both of the down under dollars were weaker on the greenback, with the Aussie last off 0.76% at AUD 1.4233, and the Kiwi retreating 0.82% to NZD 1.5457.