Asian markets mostly edged higher on Wednesday, though Japanese stocks retreated after a sharp gain in the previous session. Corporate earnings were the focus in Australia.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index faded 76.71 points, or 0.5%, to 14,766.53, pulling back from a sharp 3.1% rise in the previous session that was sparked by a surprise move by the Bank of Japan.
Stocks in Tokyo had enjoyed their best daily performance since August on Tuesday after the central bank took steps to encourage bank lending, raising expectations of looser monetary policy in the future.
Also in Tokyo, the yen strengthened during Asia trade, another sign that the positive sentiment created by the Bank of Japan didn’t survive into a second session. The U.S. dollar was last trading at ¥102.09, after gaining 0.4% on Tuesday, compared with ¥102.35 late Tuesday in New York.
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong gained 76.80 points, or 0.3%, to 22,664.52
Corporate earnings were the focus in Australia. At the forefront in Sydney was Fortescue Metals Group, which fell 2.3% after the world’s fourth largest iron-ore miner reported its profit more than tripled in its first fiscal half as both sales and iron-ore prices improved.
Despite the positive results, the company’s stock fell, after having risen 6.4% over the three sessions prior to the announcement.
Shares in Brambles added 2.5%, after the world’s largest supplier of wooden pallets, used for transporting goods, reported a sharp rise in half-year profit, helped by a de-merger of its documents storage and destruction business.
Shares in Woodside Petroleum, however, fell 0.3% after the oil company posted a 41% drop in full-year profit after a project outage hit its oil production volumes. Insurer Suncorp Group lost 2.8% after the company reported a 4.5% fall in its first-half profit, as its general insurance business was hit by rising claims.
CHINA
The Shanghai CSI 300 Index regained 26.22 points, or 1.2%, to 2,308.66, as sentiment picked up ahead of the National People’s Congress in early March on expectations of market-positive policy decisions.
In other markets;
Taiwan’s Taiex Index tacked on 20.78 points, or 0.2%, to 8,577.01
Singapore’s Straits Times Index advanced 18.01 points, or 0.6%, to 3,088.79
Korea’s Kospi Index ditched 3.98 points, or 0.2%, to 1,942.93.
The New Zealand Exchange 50 index added 19.04 points, or 0.4%, to 4,914.14
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 hiked 15.42 points, or 0.3%, to 5,408.24
