Australian shares rebounded strongly to end higher Tuesday in the wake of a larger-than-expected 1-percentage-point interest-rate cut by the country's central bank amid a worsening financial-markets crisis worldwide.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index briefly fell below the key 10,000 mark for the first time since December 2003. However, the key index trimmed a part of the 557-point loss in early trade to close the session at 10,155.90, down 317.19 points or 3.03%.
On the economic front, the Bank of Japan's Board of Governors voted to leave the overnight call rate unchanged at 0.50% for the 23rd consecutive meeting at the conclusion of its two-day monetary policy meeting in Tokyo.
Among other data released today, official foreign reserve assets declined to 995.89 billion yen in September from 996.74 billion yen in the previous month. Meanwhile, Japan's Cabinet Office said in a preliminary report that the leading index fell to 89.3 in August from 91.4 in July. Economists had expected the index to decline to 89.2. Similarly, the coincident economic index logged a reading of 100.7, down from 103.5 recorded in July. The August reading matched economists' expectations. Moreover, the lagging index came in at 100.2 from 101.0.
In the financial sector, Mitsubishi UFJ rose 0.6%, but Mizuho Financial lost 2.7%, and Sumitomo Mitsui dropped 1.3%. Top brokerage Nomura Holdings advanced 0.7%.
Automaker Honda plunged 5.0%, Suzuki shed 3.9% and Nissan fell 4.8%. Electronics giant Sony dropped 3.2%, but heavy machinery maker Komatsu gained 2.3% and Nikon climbed 2.0%.
Sharp cut its outlook for annual operating profit by one-third due to sluggish domestic sales of mobile phones. The company's stock tumbled 9.3%.
In the tech sector, Advantest slipped 0.2%, Fujitsu plummeted 4.3%, Fanuc lost 1.5% and Kyocera shed 3.5%.
Among oil-related stocks, Inpex Holdings declined 2.0%, while Nippon Oil plunged 5.4% and Showa Shell slid 2.6%.
CHINA
The Chinese market closed lower, extending Monday's losses. The market started off sharply lower, but came off the day's low as property developers gained on talk of government support measures, including a cut in interest rates. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed down 15.90 points or 0.73% at 2,157.84, off a low of 2,072.90.
Among property developers, China Vanke jumped 4.8% and Poly Real Estate surged 6.2%. Banks clawed back some of their initial losses. ICBC advanced 2.2%, China Construction Bank climbed 0.7% and Bank of China gained 0.6%. However, China Merchants Bank dropped 1.7%, extending Monday's 10% loss.
Elsewhere in the financial sector, Ping An Insurance fell 4.4% on news about its huge investment losses related to Belgian-Dutch financial group Fortis. Ping An announced that it will take a 15.7 billion yuan charge in its third quarter results. The Chinese insurer holds about 5% stake in the troubled European group.
Brokerage firms fell on profit taking following Monday's strong gains. CITIC Securities and Haitong Securities both fell by the 10% daily limit. Resources stocks continued their slide amid worries that slowing global growth will reduce demand for energy and raw materials. Chalco shed 3.4%, China Shenhua Energy plunged 6.3%, and Baoshan Iron & Steel fell 3.3%.
Index heavyweight PetroChina slipped 0.2%, while China Petroleum & Chemical Corp rose 1.8%. Airlines benefited from lower crude oil prices, with China Eastern Airlines gaining 6.4%, Air China advancing 3.4%, and China Southern Airlines jumping 6.2%.
Elsewhere:
Taiwan's Taiex closed up 0.3% at 5,524.
Singapore's STI closed up 0.4% at 2,177.
Malaysia's KLCI closed flat at 997.
Indonesia's Jakarta Composite index closed down 1.8% at 1,619.
The S&P/ASX 200 index ended 1.7% higher at 4,618.70 in Sydney.
New Zealand's NZX 50 index lost 1.5% to 3,004.19.
with files from other wire services
