Asian markets ended mixed Thursday after a volatile session as investors weighed the immediate positive impact of the coordinated interest rate reductions by central banks around the globe against concerns that a recovery in the slowing global economy could be drawn out.
The 225-issue Nikkei average ended down 45.83 points or 0.50% at 9,157.49 while the benchmark Hang Seng index closed up 511.51 points or 3.31% at 15,943.24.
On the economic front, the Japan Machine Tool Builders Association said that core machinery orders plummeted an annual 13.0% in August, marking the largest decline since July of 2006. Analysts expected a decline of 2.3% on year. It was also far less than the 4.7% fall in July.
Meanwhile, Japanese machine tool orders declined 4.8% in September compared to a 13.9% fall in August.
Retailers finished weak after Aeon reported Wednesday a fiscal first-half net loss of 16.01 billion yen compared to a profit of 23.81 billion yen a year earlier. Aeon plunged 10.5%, Fast Retailing plummeted 7.3%, and Seven & I Holdings tumbled 8.4%. After the market closed, Seven & I said that its first-half operating profit rose 2.8%, driven by strong growth in its convenience store business. The company also reiterated its full-year outlook.
Meanwhile, drug wholesalers Mediceo Paltac Holdings and Alfresa Holdings rose 10% each after the Nikkei reported that the companies have agreed to merge by April 1.
Financial sector also finished higher. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group gained 7.5% and Mizuho Financial Group rose 3.6%.
Among exporters, Canon jumped 4.1%, Kyocera climbed 2.0%, Toyota Motor advanced 3.1%, and Sony surged 5.7%. Sony said that it would launch PlayStation 3 game consoles with an 80-gigabyte hard disk drive, bigger than previous models, in Japan at the end of October for 39,980 yen.
CHINA
The Chinese market closed lower, paring early gains, after the central bank cut interest rates and bank reserve requirements in a bid to ease credit and boost market sentiment. Property developers led the decliners, while banks surrendered some of their early gains.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed down 17.64 points or 0.84% at 2,074.58. The index has closed in negative territory for a fifth straight session and has now lost 219 points or about 9.5% in the first four trading days of this month.
The People's Bank of China slashed lending and deposit rates by 0.27 percentage point effective Thursday, while it lowered bank reserve requirements by half a percentage point to 16% from October 15.
In the property sector, China Vanke lost 3.9%, Poly Real Estate plunged 7.9%, and China Merchants Property Development shed 2.2%. Banks closed mixed, with China Merchants Bank rising 0.7% and Bank of China declining 0.6%.
Brokerages closed higher following a media report that China is likely to choose 11 domestic brokerages to participate in a trial program for margin trading. Haitong Securities advanced 2.5% and CITIC Securities gained 1.5%.
Elsewhere:
Taiwan's Taiex closed down 1.5% at 5,130.
Malaysia's KLCI closed down 0.1% at 968.
Singapore's STI closed up 3.4% at 2,102.
South Korea's Kospi rose 0.6% to 1,294.89.
New Zealand's NZX 50 index slipped 0.1% to 2,944.40.
In Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 index fell a further 1.5% to 4,320.90.
with files from other wire services
