Japanese shares got a lift Thursday from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s commitment to keep easy monetary policy, but some other markets ended lower or pared early gains on worries that rising commodity prices and appreciating regional currencies would slow economic growth and corporate earnings.
The Nikkei 225 Index jumped 157.90 points, or 1.6%, to 9,849.74, despite concerns over grim March industrial production data, which showed a record 15.3% in March from the previous month.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index surrendered 87.21 points, or 0.4%, to 23,805.60
Most regional markets began the day on an upbeat note after the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee signaled Wednesday that its controversial $600-billion U.S. bond purchase program will end in June.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank would keep interest rates low and that although it wouldn’t launch a fresh round of bond purchases, it would reinvest proceeds from maturing securities to keep buying bonds.
Bernanke’s remarks, which were broadly in line with expectations, were met with relief that an end to the Fed’s asset purchase program wouldn’t disrupt liquidity and risk appetite in global markets.
Kyocera Corp. soared 5.3% after reporting strong fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and Advantest Corp. spiked 5.6% after posting a sharply narrower loss in its fiscal fourth quarter.
Panasonic Corp. gained 2.4% on reports it planned to cut 40,000 jobs worldwide to trim costs and stay competitive.
Sony Corp. dropped 4.5%, extending losses on news Wednesday that its online video game network had been hacked.
Stocks in Sydney pared their early gains in the wake of a handful of profit warnings and a strong Australian dollar. The currency hit a fresh post-float high of $1.0947 against the U.S. dollar during the session, weighing down currency-sensitive stocks such as Westfield Group Australia, and Bluescope Steel Ltd. which fell 1%, and 4.9%, respectively.
Hit by profit warnings, shares of Goodman Fielder Ltd. and Whitehaven Coal Ltd. lost 9.1% and 2.1%, respectively.
The Seoul market was held back as investors booked profits in heavyweight technology and construction stocks. Samsung Electronics Co. fell 2.6% and Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. lost 0.7%.
Some others rose on earnings-linked news, however. LG Electronics Inc. tacked on 1.9%, buoyed by expectations of a firm turnaround in second-quarter earnings although the tech company Wednesday reported an unexpected first-quarter loss.
Hynix Semiconductor Inc. rose 1.3% after the world’s second-largest producer of computer memory chips gave an upbeat outlook.
In foreign exchange trading, the U.S. dollar continued to fall against major rivals. The euro climbed to $1.4835 U.S. from $1.4788 U.S. late in New York on Wednesday; the single currency was also fetching 120.92 yen from ¥121.44. The dollar was at ¥81.53 from ¥82.17
CHINA
In China, lingering worries that high crude-oil and commodity prices might force Beijing to continue tightening its policies weighed on the market.
Shanghai’s CSI 300 Composite Index slid 47.73 points, or 1.5%, to 3,161.78
Property shares slipped, with shares of Poly Real Estate Group Co. dropping 2.8% and Cinda Real Estate Co. declining 3.9%.
Airline stocks also lost ground as crude-oil prices stayed at elevated levels, with Air China Ltd. sinking 5%.
Mainland Chinese stocks were also pressured by sharp losses for the country’s foreign currency-denominated B shares, which were hurt by a weaker U.S. dollar and concerns over China’s planned launch of an international board.
In other markets;
Korea’s Kospi Index squeaked higher by 1.65 points to 2,208.35
Taiwan’s Taiex Index removed 8.48 points, or 0.1%, to 9,040.77
Singapore’s Straits Times Index moved higher 2.31 points to 3,184.99
New Zealand’s NZX 50 grew 11.72 points, or 0.3%, to 3,503.76
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 inched up 0.10 points to 4,873
