Most Asian markets ended higher Tuesday, with the financial sector leading the advance as trading resumed in Hong Kong and Australia after recent holidays, but Japan ended slightly lower as profit-taking hit auto makers.
Financial stocks outperformed across the region after Goldman Sachs reported better-than-expected quarterly results.
Japan's Nikkei 225 Average ended down 81.75 points, or 0.9% at 8842.68 after opening higher, though losses were tempered by expectations of improved earnings from the U.S. financial sector.
Hong Kong shares soared to catch up with recent gains in the U.S. and Shanghai markets as trading resumed after holidays on Friday and Monday, lifting the Hang Seng Index up 678.75 points, or 4.6%, to 15580.16.
In the banking sector, National Australia Bank ended up 2.8%, Industrial Bank of Korea gained 1.6% in Seoul, Chinatrust Financial Holding added 4.4% in Taipei and United Overseas Bank recently climbed 0.6% in a downbeat Singapore market.
HSBC Holdings rallied 9.3% in Hong Kong, helped by a plan to office buildings in New York and Paris up for sale as well as its London headquarters.
Goldman Sachs slipped 2.3% after-hours in the U.S., though the stock had marked a 4.7% regular session rise. Its fiscal first-quarter net income rose 20% as it recovered from its first quarterly loss since going public a decade ago in the prior quarter; the bank said it would sell $5 billion of common shares to raise money to repay government capital.
There was also a reminder the difficult economic environment: Singapore's advance estimate of first-quarter gross domestic product showed a contraction of 19.7% on a seasonally adjusted and annualized basis from the previous quarter, much worse than expected by economists.
Year-to-year, GDP fell 11.5%, the fastest drop since the government began compiling comparable data in 1976, versus the 8.6% decline tipped.
In Tokyo, automobile shares fell as investors locked in profits. Toyota Motor Corp. fell 3.6% and Nissan Motor Co. tumbled 6.3%. In spite of the day's loss, both stocks are up at least 30% in the year to date.
Qantas Airways shares slumped in early trading after it slashed its full year earnings forecast and said it would make further cuts in capacity, expenditure and jobs, but recovered in the buoyant Sydney market toward the close.
The Australian airline said it now expects profit before tax for the year to June 30 of between 100 million Australian dollars ($72 million U.S.) and A$200 million, from its previous forecast of around A$500 million. The stock ended up 2% in spite of ratings downgrades from Standard & Poor's.
Technology and automotive stocks sold off in Korea after recent gains, with Samsung Electronics off 1.4%.
The Singapore dollar rose after the Monetary Authority of Singapore said it was recentering its undisclosed nominal effective exchange rate, or NEER, band for the currency. Recently, the U.S. dollar was at S$1.5015, down from S$1.5140 before the MAS announcement.
CHINA
Shares of Chinese banks surged, buoyed by recent data which showed a strong growth in bank lending. Bank of Communications rose 5.4% and Bank of China added 4.6% in Hong Kong. The banks climbed 1% and 0.3%, respectively, in Shanghai.
Elsewhere:
China’s Shanghai 300 Composite Index picked up 20.35 points, or 0.8%, to close at 2,676.87
Singapore’s Straits Times Index edged forward 20.25 points, or 1.1% to 1,897.02
South Korea’s Kospi Composite Index picked up 4.37 points, or 0.3%, to 1,342.63
Taiwan’s Taiex Index gained 35.04 points, or 1.1%, to 5,892.68
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index was ahead 28.67 points, or 1.1%, or 2,599.82
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 surged 81.30 points, or 2.2% to 3,762.90
