Japanese stocks fell on Tuesday after the yen strengthened following the Bank of Japan’s policy meeting, while a decline in Samsung Electronics weighed on the South Korean market.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 erased 196.58 points, or 1.5%, to 13,317.62
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index dropped 260.43 points, or 1.2%, to 21,354.66
Mainland Chinese markets remained closed through Wednesday for the Dragon Boat Festival.
The dollar continued its march against a number of Asian currencies, after Standard & Poor’s upgraded its ratings outlook on the U.S. to stable from negative on Monday, citing the country’s strong economic performance.
The yen however pushed back against the dollar after the Bank of Japan’s policy meeting disappointed the market, leaving policy unchanged. In particular, the central bank did not extend its low-price fund-supplying operation.
The dollar fell sharply after the Bank of Japan announced its decision — last at ¥98.31 compared with ¥98.74 late Monday in New York.
Softbank Corp. fell 0.4% in Tokyo after the company agreed to raise its offer for Sprint Nextel Corp. to $21.6 billion from $20.1 billion U.S. previously.
Also in Tokyo, Sony added 2.2% after announcing at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles that it will introduce its upcoming PlayStation 4 at $399, significantly undercutting Microsoft’s steeper-than-expected $499 price tag for its Xbox One.
South Korea’s Kospi Composite declined, with the index weighed by its single largest constituent, Samsung Electronics Co. , which lost 2.5% on concerns that its Galaxy S4 smartphone may not be selling as well as expected.
There was also heavy selling in Southeast Asia, with the Philippines and Indonesia hit particularly hard. These markets have been under pressure in recent weeks, as concerns about high valuations and outflows by foreign investors have led to substantial declines.
Australia resumed trading after closing on Monday for a public holiday, getting its first chance to react to the events that influenced the previous session — namely, last week’s forecast-beating U.S. non-farm payrolls data and disappointing Chinese economic data that came out over the weekend.
Australian markets closed higher, as a weak Australian dollar lifted offshore-income earners, while attractive dividend yields supported banks.
CSL Ltd., News Corp., QBE Insurance and Amcor — all of which have a high level of U.S. dollar revenue — rose 0.5% to 2.4%.
Australia’s four biggest banks — Commonwealth Bank of Australia, ANZ, Westpac and National Australia Bank — gained 0.2%-0.8% as their fully-franked dividend yields rose to the 5.5%-7.0% range, after share price falls in the order of 13%-21% over the past few weeks.
The Australian dollar continued its recent selloff into European trade, hitting its lowest level since September 2010 at $0.9338 U.S., as home loans growth greatly undershot expectations and as Goldman Sachs warned that the resource-rich nation was at risk of recession.
The Aussie was recently at $0.9349 U.S.
In other markets;
Singapore’s Straits Times Index removed 30.13 points, or 0.9%, to 3,170.38
Korea’s Kospi Index docked 12.02 points, or 0.6%, to 1,920.68
Taiwan’s Taiex Index dipped 44.40 points, or 0.5%, to 8,116.15
In New Zealand, the Exchange 50 Gross Index fell 9.81 points, or 0.2%, to 4,463.58
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 returned from holiday to add 19.36 points, or 0.4%, to 4,757.06.
