Asian markets mostly ended higher Wednesday, with stocks in Tokyo overcoming intraday volatility to soar on hopes the Bank of Japan will cut interest rates in a move that could force a retreat of the yen and help the country's exporters.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average surged up 7.7% or 590.0 points in volatile trade to close at 8,211.9 while the benchmark Hang Seng index closed up 105.8 points or 0.8% at 12,702.1.
On the economic front, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said in a preliminary report that Japan's industrial output climbed 1.2% on month in September, higher than the 0.4% monthly increase that analysts had been expecting, compared to the 3.5% monthly decline in August. On an annual basis, industrial output was up 0.4% in September. For the third quarter of 2008, production fell 1.2% compared to the previous quarter, down for the third straight quarter.
Pulp and paper and warehouse stocks led the gainers, while the only decliner was the securities sector. Nippon Paper soared 14.9% and Mitsubishi Logistics jumped 9.7%, while top brokerage Nomura Holdings plunged 5.9% after the company posted worse-than-expected second-quarter earnings on Tuesday. Among other brokerages, Daiwa Securities Group fell 2.9% and Shinko Securities lost 3.7%.
Exporters gained on the back of a stronger dollar. Honda Motor jumped 18.4%, Toyota Motor gained 10.4%, Canon rose 6.9%, Sony advanced 1.8%, and Toshiba climbed 11.0%.
Banks closed mixed. Mitsubishi UFJ advanced 4.4% and Sumitomo Mitsui climbed 1.5%, while Mizuho Financial lost 3.7%. Tech stocks also finished mixed, with Advantest gaining 8.5%, Kyocera surging 10.1%, Fanuc rising 3.2%, and Fujitsu plunging 7.7%.
Among commodity-related stocks, Inpex Holdings rose 6.7%, Nippon Mining Holding soared 15.2%, and Nippon Oil gained 4.3%. Mitsubishi Corp gained 8.7% and Mitsui & Co advanced 5.3%.
Panasonic gained 4.6% after the company said Tuesday that its group net profit in the first half of the 2008 increased 22.2% from a year ago to 128.49 billion yen, setting a new high for the first time in 23 years.
CHINA
The Chinese stock market finished a volatile session sharply lower, erasing early gains. Brokerages were hit hard after a report said that China is likely to postpone the launch of margin lending and short selling. Worries about weak corporate earnings outlook also weighed down the market. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed down 52.01 points or 2.94% at 1,719.8, its lowest level in 25 months, after rebounding 2.8% on Tuesday. The key index has fallen 67.3% so far this year.
The South China Morning Post reported Wednesday that the State Council has put on hold plans for a launch next month amid growing concerns that they might worsen the market's volatility. Haitong Securities plunged 7.8% after the company reported that its third-quarter net profit fell 68.8% year-over-year to 640.57 million yuan and CITIC Securities plummeted 7.4% ahead of its earnings announcement on Thursday.
Among refiners, China Petroleum & Chemical Corp tumbled 6.6%, but index heavyweight PetroChina rose 1.1% ahead of their earnings announcement later today.
Banks retreated, with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China falling 5.8%, China Merchants Bank losing 0.7%, and Industrial Bank plunging 3.2% after the company posted a 21% increase in its third-quarter net profit on year-over-year basis.
China Shenhua Energy lost 1.8% after it reported third-quarter net profit of 7.89 billion yuan, up 48.4% from a year earlier.
Airline stocks came under pressure after two major carriers reported losses in the third quarter. China Eastern Airlines plunged 7.4%. The company said that it expects to book a net loss for 2008 after posting an unaudited third-quarter net loss of 2.33 billion yuan under Chinese accounting standards. Air China slumped 7.5% after the company booked a net loss of 1.94 billion yuan for the third quarter compared to a profit of 2.19 billion yean a year earlier.
Among property developers, China Vanke gained 1.9%, but COFCO Property fell 2.1% after its net profit for the first three quarters fell 63.35 on year-over-year basis.
Elsewhere:
Taiwan's Taiex closed up 0.15% at 4,406.
Singapore's STI closed up 0.28% at 1,671.
Indonesia's Jakarta Composite Index closed up 0.2% at 1,113.
Malaysia's KLCI closed down 3 points at 829.
India's Sensex closed up 0.405 at 9,044.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index rose 1.3% to 3,845.60.
New Zealand's NZX 50 index gained 2.2% to 2,745.60.
with files from other wire services
