Asia report: Markets mixed as Chinese trade data underwhelms
Markets in Asia finished mixed on Friday, with Chinese shares slipping after fresh data revealed less-than-stellar export figures for December, and equally underwhelming trade data for the year.
AUD/USD
$0.6530
18:12 26/04/24
GBP/NZD
NZD2.1010
18:12 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
¥157.6900
18:12 26/04/24
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 finished positive, adding 0.8% to settle at 19,287.3, with the yen stronger against the greenback - it was last ahead 0.09% at JPY 114.62 per $1.
Video games maker Nintendo lost 5.75% as it debuted the ‘Switch’ gaming console.
The console is a hybrid TV-based and handheld device, and was priced for the US market at $299.99 - higher than the $250 investors were looking for.
Embattled airbag maker Takata leapt 16.47%, hitting its daily price limit after media reports suggested it could plead guilty on Friday in the US to criminal misconduct over its faulty, deadly airbag products.
The guilty plea, along with a penalty of $1bn, would resolve the criminal case, the reports said, with the penalty made up of a $25m criminal fine, $125m in compensation to victims and $850m in compensation to automakers, which suffered losses as a result of the recalls.
On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite finished down 0.22% at 3,112.3, having bobbed above and below the waterline for much of the session, while the smaller tech-focused Shenzhen Composite lost 1.55% at 1,921.0.
The data revealed dollar-denominated exports from China dropped 6.1% year-on-year in December, with imports increasing 3.1%.
Those readings both missed Reuters-polled forecasts, which picked a 3.5% fall for exports and a 2.4% rise in imports.
The full-year figures showed exports from China falling 7.7% with imports down 5.5%, both in dollar-denominated terms.
South Korea’s Kospi was off 0.5% to settle at 2,076.80, with the Bank of Korea standing pat on its official 1.25% interest rate as expected.
Chief of the Samsung conglomerate, Jay Lee, departed the special prosecutor’s office in Seoul after being holed up for almost 24 hours.
He was being questioned in connection with the corruption scandal surrounding impeached president Park Geun-hye.
It was reported that the special prosecutor was considering whether to arrest Lee, with a spokesman for the investigation team telling assembled media that a decision would be made in two days.
Samsung Electronics was down 3.45% on the Seoul bourse, with Samsung Heavy off 0.94%, while Samsung C&T crept up 0.39%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index finished the day up 0.47% to 22,937.38.
Melco International Development soared in the special administrative region, after a subsidiary announced a special dividend equating to $650m.
It also confirmed a change to its dividend policy, to target a quarterly cash dividend of three cents per share, rather than the current policy based on a 30% ratio.
Oil prices were higher during Asian trading, with Brent crude last down 0.94% to $55.49 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate off 1.01% at $52.48.
Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was off 0.79% to finish at 5,721.1, dragged down by its weighty financials subindex, which lost 1.43%.
The ‘big four’ Australasian banks all lost more than 1%, with Australia and New Zealand Banking Group down 1.82%, Commonwealth Bank off 1.38%, National Australia Bank losing 1.33%, and Westpac 1.58% softer.
In New Zealand, the S&P/NZX 50 lost 0.4% to 7,036.77, led lower by financial stocks in parallel with the Sydney bourse.
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group was down 2.3% in Wellington, while Westpac was off 2.2%.
The down under dollars were both stronger, with the Aussie last advancing 0.07% at AUD 1.3351 against the greenback and the Kiwi strengthening 0.35% to NZD 1.4030 per $1.