Most Asian markets ended lower Wednesday on negative cues from Wall Street and caution ahead of a Federal Reserve interest-rate decision, but banks in Japan surged on hopes for a delayed introduction of stricter capital requirements.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 Index jumped 93.93 points Wednesday, or 0.9%, to 10,177.41
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index fell backward 202.18 points, or 0.9%, to 21,611.74.
Japanese banks jumped on a rush of buyers after the Nikkei reported that the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, which has been discussing introducing stricter capital requirements since September 2008, has agreed to effectively delay the enforcement of new capital adequacy rules for large banks, opting to create a transition period of at least 10 years.
After starting the session bid-only, Mizuho Financial Group ended up 15.2% and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group surged 14.3%, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial rose 4.9%.
Regional energy-related names were mixed in spite of overnight gains in crude-oil prices, on caution ahead of U.S. oil inventory data. Light, sweet crude for January delivery was up 13 cents at $70.82 on Globex recently, after settling 1.7% higher in New York.
Inpex rose 1.5% in Tokyo and Oil Search gained 3.1% in Sydney, while Cnooc ended 1% lower in Hong Kong.
In Seoul, LG Electronics rose 2.6% to outperform the broad market after saying Tuesday it will roll out a range of three-dimensional televisions.
CHINA
The Shanghai 300 Composite Index skidded 22.62 points, or 0.6%, to 3,560.72
Shares of Chinese property developers and banks extended losses on concerns Beijing may act to cool property prices in some cities. China Overseas Land & Investment gave up 1.7% and Guangzhou R&F Properties dropped 2.7% in Hong Kong, while Beijing North Star fell 0.65 in Shanghai.
Among banks, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank gave up 0.6% in Shanghai, while China Merchants Bank lost 1.2% in Hong Kong.
In Shanghai, shares of debutante China Shipbuilding Industry opened for trade at 8.41 yuan ($1.23 U.S.), 14% higher than the company's initial public offering price of 7.38 yuan, but well below market expectations of a 20% to 30% gain. The stock ended at 8.30 yuan.
Elsewhere;
Taiwan’s Taiex index was down 56.02 points, or 0.7%, to 7,751.60
Singapore’s Straits Times index gained 15.23 points, or 0.5% to 2,813.93
Korea’s Kospi index slid 1.61 points to 1,664.24
New Zealand’s NZX Index finished 15.19 points, 0.5%, higher at 3,132.30
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell back 11.60 points, or 0.3%, to 4,661.90
