Asian equity markets were largely lower in Tuesdays morning session, tracking a tumble on Wall Street overnight, and after latest data added to concerns about slowing activity in the worlds second-largest economy.The flash HSBC/Markit China manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) slipped to 49.5 from a final reading of 50 in November, contracting for the first time in seven months. The 50-point level separates growth from contraction.Overnight, US stocks finished lower, topping off a wild ride that had the Dow Jones Industrial Average trading in a more than 300-point range on either side of neutral as crude prices came under renewed selling pressure.US crude futures were trading on Tuesday below USD 56 a barrel and near a 5-year low hit in the prior session, dropping for a fifth session after the UAE oil minister said there was no need for an emergency OPEC meeting to support prices. London Brent crude for January delivery was untraded yet, after settling down 79 cents at USD 61.06.Nikkei skids 1.9 percentJapans key Nikkei 225 index retreated below the 17,000 level in early trade, touching a five-week low, on the back of a stronger yen.As a result, exporters started the day on the back foot. Suzuki Motor plunged 4 percent while Nissan and Nintendo slumped 2.2 and 3.2 percent each.Heavyweight components Fast Retailing and Softbank also 2 percent, respectively.Mainland bourses mixedChinas benchmark Shanghai Composite index reversed opening losses to rocket up 0.7 percent as a disappointing preliminary reading on the countrys manufacturing activity boosed expectations that more stimulus measures may be unveiled to avoid a sharper slowdown.Financials led gains; CITIC Securities rose the maximum allowable 10 percent while Haitong Securities and Huatai Securities surged more than 7 percenteach.However, infrastructure plays traded lower, despite new supportive measures from authorities. Beijing approved fresh infrastructure projects worth USD 31 billion, which includes a third airport in the capital and 5 roads in the southern and central region. China Railway Group receded 2 percent while Anhui Conch Cement shed 0.5 percent.In Hong Kong, the key Hang Seng index opened 1 percent lower on Tuesday.ASX drops 0.4 percentAustralias benchmark S&P ASX 200 index traded lower, tracking weakness in the US overnight and the relentless slide in energy prices.Commodity stocks were under pressure, particularly oil and gas producers. Santos tanked nearly 2 percent, while Woodside Petroleum and Oil Search lost 1.9 percent each. Iron ore miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto also traded 2.9 and 1.2 percent lower, respectively.Outdoor clothing firm SurfStitch debuted at a small discount in Australia after raising AUSD 83 million (USD 68.24 million) in an initial public offering.The Australian dollar was relatively unchanged against the US dollar after minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australias December policy meeting revealed that the central bank felt a further decline in the local currency was needed to help cushion the economy from falling resource prices.Meanwhile, focus is on Australias hostage incident. Heavily armed police stormed into the cafe early Tuesday morning and freed a number of hostages held there, ending a sixteen-hour siege in which three people including the attacker were killed. A police source named the hostage taker as Man Haron Monis, an Iranian refugee and self-styled shiekh who was charged last year with being an accessory to the murder of his ex-wife.Kospi loses 0.3 percentSouth Korean shares mirrored losses in its Asian peers to start off Tuesday near an eight-and-a-half-week session low hit in Mondays session.Electronics giant Samsung Electronics was in focusafter data showed that it continued to lose market share to rivals like Apple, Xiaomi and Huawei in the third quarter of 2014, in countries like China. Shares of the South Korean firm opened marginally higher on Tuesday.
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 03:30:32 +0000
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