China’s shares fell and bank shares pressured Australia on Thursday, but Japan’s market rose ahead of a key jobs report in the U.S. later this week.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index moved higher 50.38 points, or 0.2%, to 20,664.44, helped by a weaker yen.
The U.S. dollar traded roughly flat from Wednesday’s close at ¥124.89, but the yen has been weakening ahead of U.S. non-farm payrolls data Friday.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index lopped off 138.88 points, or 0.6%, to 24,375.28, and a gauge of Chinese companies listed in the city fell 0.3%.
In Australia, the S&P ASX 200 ended lower as the country’s biggest banks take steps to raise billions of dollars to meet regulatory demands for higher capital holdings, a protection against the risk of possible crises.
Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. announced Thursday plans to raise three billion Australian dollars ($2.2 billion U.S) as it reported a strong rise in quarterly profit. A day earlier, Westpac Banking Corp. increased the size of a hybrid-securities offering by A$500 million to A$1.25 billion.
Shares of Australia & New Zealand were suspended. Westpac was down 3%.
A fall in oil also is hurting Australian energy firms after light, sweet crude prices fell to multi-month lows overnight. Weekly inventory data showed a small increase in U.S. crude production and President Barack Obama urged lawmakers to support the Iranian nuclear deal.
Shares of Rio Tinto Ltd. rose 1.1% after the company reported its first-half net profit. While the figure plunged 82% on-year to $806 million U.S., underlying earnings, stripping out one-time charges, came in at $2.92 billion U.S. for the period, higher than the $2.42 billion U.S. forecast in a Wall Street Journal poll. The Anglo-Australian miner has been battered by a deepening rout in the prices of iron ore, copper and coal.
CHINA
In China, the CSI 300 fell 35.05 points, or 0.9%, to 3,831.85, as investors continue to assess the level of regulators’ commitment to support mainland stocks.
On Thursday, fresh worries emerged that China’s stock regulator might start approving firms’ share-placement applications as early as this Friday. The prospect of new shares could prompt investors to withdraw cash from existing positions, stoking further instability.
Still, the backdrop that Beijing will continue to buy shares to prop up the market remains. Goldman Sachs analysts estimate that the Chinese government has spent up to 900 billion yuan ($144.9 billion U.S) to support the stock market, equivalent to 1.6% of the market’s total capitalization and 2.2% of its free float size, or the amount of freely tradeable shares.
The firm says it believes the government, through a state-owned fund called China Securities Finance Corp., which has been tasked to prop up the market, has the potential to spend roughly two trillion yuan to buy stocks directly and indirectly through investing in mutual funds and providing credit to brokers, based on local media reports.
ANZ analysts estimate that Chinese banks, which have also been tasked to support the market, have extended 1.3 trillion yuan to CSF Corp.
In other markets
Singapore’s Straits Times Index inched up 5.27 points, or 0.2%, to 3,196.66
In Taiwan, the Taiex index slid 92.71 points, or 1.1%, to 8,449.56
In Korea, the Kospi index lost 16.47 points, or 0.8%, to 2,013.29
The NZX 50 doffed 9.82 points, or 0.2%, to 5,928.69
The ASX 200 Index tumbled 63.87 points, or 1.1%, to 5,610.10
