Japanese stocks shot lower on Wednesday as Tokyo reacted to a sharply stronger yen. Meanwhile an overnight pickup on Wall Street buoyed the rest of Asia, with Australian stocks hitting their highest level since June 2008.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 continued its slide, dumping 307.19 points, or 2.1%, to 14,299.69, after the U.S. dollar lost a total of 1.2% against its Japanese counterpart on Tuesday, though the greenback did pick up slightly on Wednesday--last at ¥101.96 compared with ¥101.63 late Tuesday in New York.
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong gained 246.20 points, or 1.1%, to 22,843.17
The yen rose slightly during Asian trade in the previous session, when the Bank of Japan said it would keep its monetary policy unchanged.
The currency rose later in the day after the central bank’s governor said at a news conference that he wasn’t contemplating further easing measures, disappointing expectations.
Some regional technology stocks did bounce back. Chinese Internet giant Tencent Holdings was up 2.5% in Hong Kong, South Korean search engine and online game company Naver Corp. added 2% in Seoul and phone maker HTC Corp. is flat in Taiwan.
In corporate news, shares in Australian department-store operator David Jones surged 23% in Sydney after it said on Wednesday that it had received a 2.15-billion-Australian-dollar ($2.01-billion U.S.) takeover bid from South African retailer Woolworths Holdings. The company’s board is recommending that shareholders accept the A$4 a share offer, which represents a 25% premium to its share price on Tuesday.
In other markets;
The Shanghai CSI 300 eked ahead 1.30 points to 2,238.62
Taiwan’s Taiex Index added 42.32 points, or 0.5%, to 8.930.57
Singapore’s Straits Times Index gained 5.83 points, or 0.2%, to 3,209.92
Korea’s Kospi Index grew 5.92 points, or 0.3%, to 1,998.95
The New Zealand Exchange 50 index moved ahead 35.85 points, or 0.7%, to 5,031.56
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was up 53.15 points, or 1%, to 5,463,78
