Most Asian markets climbed Thursday, with robust gains in Chinese resource stocks offsetting a sharp fall in property developers after Beijing unveiled a fresh set of measures to check rising home prices.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index regained 76.76 points, or 0.7%, to 10,478.70
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell back, however, 63.62 points, or 0.3%, to 23,779.60
Investor sentiment in the region was also underpinned by mild gains on Wall Street and also by the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision to continue with its controversial $600-billion U.S. bond-purchase plan to support the economy.
In Hong Kong, however, the fall in mainland property shares forced the market’s retreat after a choppy session, with China Overseas Land & Investment skidding 4.9% and China Resources Land giving up 3.9%.
The Tokyo market got a boost from the yen’s weakness against the euro, and on relief that the Fed would keep supporting the economy with its bond purchase plan.
Exporters were also broadly higher, with Sony Corp. rising 1.7% and Sharp Corp. rising 0.9%.
Toyota Motor Corp. was up 1.2% after falling Wednesday on news the firm will recall more than 1.7 million vehicles worldwide due to faulty parts, including defective fuel devices.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries climbed 4% after the Nikkei reported the firm is likely to post a fiscal year operating profit some 35% above the year-ago period.
Hitachi added 2% and Toshiba Corp. rose 1.6% after the Nikkei reported that the two firms are expected to win a 200 billion yen ($2.41 billion U.S.) nuclear-plant order.
But Hitachi Kokusai Electric a subsidiary of Hitachi, tumbled 12.9% after the company sharply lowered its full-year net profit outlook to ¥400 million from ¥5.4 billion, citing a downturn in its broadcasting- and video-systems segment and its wireless communications and information-systems business.
In Sydney, engineering group Downer EDI tumbled 20.1% after announcing another large $250-million Australian ($247.8 million U.S.) writedown on a train-building contract for the New South Wales state. The firm announced a A$190 million provision on the same contract in June last year, putting the deal in a loss-making position.
In Seoul, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering climbed 2.9% on news from Wednesday that it had signed an initial pact worth $1.2 billion with Norway’s Aker Drilling to build drill ships.
Higher petrochemical-product prices drove SK Innovation 4.8% higher, while S-Oil Corp. surged 12% after swinging to a profit in the fourth-quarter from a loss a year earlier.
In currency trading, the Japanese yen slumped against major currencies in late Asian trade after ratings agency Standard & Poor’s cut Japan’s long-term sovereign-credit rating to AA minus from AA, saying it expects Japan’s fiscal deficits to remain high in the next few years, "which will further reduce the government’s already weak fiscal flexibility."
The U.S. dollar was buying ¥82.91, compared with ¥82.16 late Wednesday in New York, while the euro was fetching ¥113.33 from ¥112.65.
CHINA
Chinese stock markets opened lower as property developers tumbled after Beijing decided to raise the minimum down payment on second-home purchases to 60% from 50% late Wednesday in an effort to cool the property market further.
Shanghai’s CSI 300 Index prospered 48.04 points, or 1.6%, to 3,026.47.
The State Council also called on local authorities to set reasonable 2011 property price targets by the end of the first quarter and decided to limit home purchases in some big cities and cities where property prices were deemed to have risen too fast.
But the strength of commodity prices on Wednesday lifted resource stocks in Shanghai, while automobile stocks also advanced on hopes for an improvement in 2011 sales.
Jiangxi Copper rose 3.8% and Zhongjin Gold Corp. climbed 4.5%, while SAIC Motor Co. added 2.8%.
Property developers were hit hard, with Poly Real Estate Group dropping 4.3% in Shanghai and China Vanke Co. falling 2.5% in Shenzhen.
In other markets
Korea’s Kospi Index added 4.55 points, or 0.2%, to 2,115.01
Taiwan’s Taiex Index moved forward 46.74 points, or 0.5%, to 9.102.33
Singapore’s Straits Times Index shaved off 0.95 points to 3,219.83
New Zealand’s NZX 50 deducted 3.79 points, or 0.1%, to 3,350.93
The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia returned from holiday to fall 1.70 points to 4,806.10.
