Asian Shares Recover From Sharp Early Drop
Asian stocks recovered from an early sell-off to end mixed on Tuesday amid rising U.S.-China trade tensions after the U.S. moved to block China Mobile from entering its telecommunications market on national security grounds.
Chinese stocks reversed steep losses to finish on a positive note and the yuan pared losses after sliding through 6.7 per dollar on expectations of intervention from policymakers to halt a rout.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 10.79 points or 0.4 percent to 2,786.35. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slumped 409.54 points or 1.41 percent to 28,545.57 as traders returned to their desks after a holiday on Monday.
Japanese shares closed near three-month lows as the July 6th deadline looms for the Trump Administration’s planned imposition of tariffs. The Nikkei 225 Index fell more than 1 percent at one point before recouping most losses to end the session down 26.39 points or 0.1 percent at 21,785.54.
The broader Topix Index dipped 0.2 percent to close at 1,692.80. Non-ferrous metal companies and shipping firms were among the worst hit on persistent worries about the growing threat of a global trade war.
Australian stocks rose notably after the country’s central bank left its key interest rate unchanged at a record low, as widely expected, saying its stance remains consistent with sustainable growth in the economy and achieving the inflation target over time.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 32.40 points or 0.5 percent to 6,210.20, while the broader All Ordinaries Index closed 0.5 percent higher at 6,302.80.
The big banks rose 1-2 percent. Woodside Petroleum and Santos rose about 1 percent as oil prices climbed in Asian trading after Libya declared force majeure on significant amounts of its supply.
On the other hand, miners BHP Billiton, South32 and Rio Tinto lost 2-3 percent after commodity prices fell overnight on a firmer dollar.
Sigma Healthcare tumbled 3.1 percent on losing a contract to supply the Chemist Warehouse discount chemist chain. Ebos Group, which won the contract, jumped 5.8 percent to extend gains for the second straight session.
Seoul stocks closed marginally higher, led by gains in chipmakers such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which ended up 1.3 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively.
South Korea’s consumer price inflation held steady at the end of the second quarter, figures from Statistics Korea showed.
The corresponding index climbed an annual 1.5 percent, the same rate of increase as in May. Economists had expected the inflation to accelerate to 1.7 percent.
New Zealand shares rallied, led by consumer staple stocks after A2 Milk Company extended its supply deal with Synlait for two years.
A2 Milk shares climbed 3.2 percent and Synlait gained 1.4 percent, while the benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index jumped 111.12 points or 1.2 percent to close at 9,053.59.
Indonesia’s Jakarta Composite index was losing as much as 1.7 percent, Malaysia’s KLSE Composite was down 0.2 percent, the Taiwan Weighted dropped 0.6 percent and Singapore’s Straits Times index was marginally lower while India’s Sensex was rising 0.2 percent.
Overnight, U.S. stocks climbed well off their session lows to end higher as technology shares rebounded and data showed American factory activity accelerated for the second straight month this summer.
The Dow inched up 0.2 percent, the S&P 500 gained 0.3 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 0.8 percent.
by RTTNews Staff Writer
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