Asian stocks cautious before China data; Strong yen hurts Nikkei Asian stocks traded cautiously on Friday as investors awaited key data reports from China for further direction. Japans Nikkei was modestly lower, Australias S&P ASX 200 hit a new three-week high and South Koreas Kospi was steady around 2,040 points. Meanwhile, a positive lead from Wall Street supported sentiment. The S&P 500 surged to a record high after the U.S. Congress reached a last-minute deal to re-open the government, but the Dow came under pressure on fears that the agreement may not hold. Name Price Change %Change NIKKEI Nikkei 225 Index 14580.27 -6.24 -0.04% HSI Hang Seng Index 23094.88 --- UNCH 0% ASX 200 S&P/ASX 200 5311.10 28.00 0.53% SHANGHAI Shanghai Composite Index 2188.54 --- UNCH 0% KOSPI KOSPI Index 2046.33 5.72 0.28% CNBC 100 CNBC 100 ASIA IDX 7375.51 8.58 0.12% China data deluge China, the worlds second biggest economy, is due to release third-quarter economic growth numbers, September retail sales, industrial output and fixed asset investment at around 10am Singapore/Hong Kong time. Third-quarter gross domestic product data is forecast to show Chinas economy expanded 7.8 percent on year, according to a Reuters poll, up from 7.5 percent in the second quarter. The newly installed government has been cracking down on speculative lending, fraudulent invoicing and dubious trading. The policies will remove the threat of a possible hard landing. The issue is that in the short term it will affect current data and the GDP figure today will illustrate the short-term effects of these policy changes, wrote Evan Lucas, market strategist at IG in a note. Nikkei lower A stronger currency led Japanese shares to snap a seven-session winning streak. The yen rose to a one-week high of 97.71 per dollar overnight, after hitting a three-week low earlier in Thursdays session, and that sparked some profit-taking. Index heavyweight Softbank fell nearly 1 percent while Mazda Motor dipped 0.4 percent. Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda is due to deliver a speech later this afternoon and investors will be watching out for any comments on the direction of monetary policy. Sydney up 0.5% Higher metal prices supported Australias resource-heavy index, leading the benchmark to its highest levels since September 27 while the Australian dollar moved off its four-month high of US$0.9647, hit overnight. Gold miners Newcrest Mining and Evolution Mining surged 5 percent following a 3 percent jump in bullion prices while Endeavor Mining rallied 10 percent. Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory climbed 6 percent after its second-largest shareholder emerged as the newest bidder in a takeover battle for the dairy firm. Oil and gas firm Santos eased 1 percent after releasing a 1 percent drop in quarterly production. Kospi up 0.1% Earnings news dominated trade in South Korean markets while exporters also benefited from a stronger Japanese currency. As the yen rises, local exporters receive a competitive advantages in overseas markets. Memory chip maker LG Display rallied over 2 percent after reporting a 51 percent rise in annual net profit for the third-quarter. The news saw SK Hynix add 1.7 percent.
Posted on: Fri, 18 Oct 2013 00:50:50 +0000