TOKYO/SHANGHAI (Dow Jones) — The stock exchanges in East Asia and Australia presented themselves without a clear trend on Wednesday. The trading centers moved between clear discounts in Japan and equally clear premiums in Hong Kong. Sentiment was supported somewhat by hopes of an easing of the currently difficult relationship between the USA and China. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to visit China in the coming weeks and meet top representatives of the People’s Republic there.
In general, China was the center of attention on the regional stock exchanges: Chinese exports had surprisingly plummeted in May after growth in the two previous months and had moved well below market expectations. Imports also fell again in May, albeit less significantly than feared. Traders interpreted the export data as a slap in the face for the global economy, while imports showed the weakness of the Chinese economy.
Speculations about new economic aid from the authorities shot up on the Chinese stock exchanges – especially for the ailing real estate sector. This coincided with reports that government agencies are said to have asked the country’s largest banks to lower the deposit rate.
Hope for stimuli in China
In Hong Kong, those hopes pushed the HSI up 0.8 percent in late business. The surcharges in the special administrative region were wide-ranging. On the Chinese mainland, on the other hand, concerns about the economic trend prevailed. The recovery after the end of the corona restrictions is clearly weaker than hoped, according to the trade. Reports of potential stimulus underscored the bleak state of the economy. The Shanghai Composite was up a meager 0.1 percent, as the rest of the heartland ended down. Stocks from the car battery sector were under pressure, the stocks of the largest manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries in China, CATL, lost 5.5 percent. A bearish sector analysis by Morgan Stanley weighed on sentiment.
In Japan, too, concerns about the economy prevailed, the Nikkei-225 lost 1.8 percent and gave back initial gains – burdened by a rising yen. This burdened the competitiveness of the Japanese export economy. The Japanese stock market is prone to profit-taking, it said, looking at the highest levels in 33 years. According to Händler, this was particularly noticeable in the semiconductor and electronics sectors. Renesas Electronics fell 3.9 percent and Lasertec 5.2 percent.
In South Korea, the Kospi ended trading virtually unchanged. The Australian S&P/ASX-200 closed again with losses, which, however, at 0.2 percent did not show the dynamic of the previous day by far, as an unexpected rate hike had charged. This time, data revealed the country’s weakest first-quarter growth since late 2021. As on the previous day, financial stocks were sold, Commonwealth, NAB and Westpac fell by up to 1.8 percent. Market observers feared a weaker mortgage business in view of the highest key interest rate level since the beginning of 2012. Meanwhile, the government is planning a reform of the national payment systems. It has also, for the first time, specifically asked the country’s regulator of banks, insurance companies and pension funds to take climate change risks into account in their work. Real estate stocks were also among the losers given the interest rate trend. Losses in auto and semiconductor stocks were offset by gains in industrial materials and battery manufacturing.
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Index (stock market) last +/- % % YTD end
S&P/ASX 200 (Sydney) 7,118.00 -0.2% +1.1% 08:00
Nikkei-225 (Tokyo) 31,913.74 -1.8% +24.6% 08:00
Kospi (Seoul) 2,615.60 +0.0% +17.0% 08:00
Shanghai Comp. 3,197.59 +0.1% +3.5% 09:00
Hang Seng (Hongk.) 19,252.81 +0.8% -3.5% 10:00
Straits-Times (Sing.) 3,177.46 -0.4% -1.9% 11:00
KLCI (Malaysia) 1,377.68 -0.4% -7.5% 11:00
FOREX last +/- % 00:00 Tue, 9:38 % YTD
EUR/USD 1.0675 -0.2% 1.0694 1.0711 -0.3%
EUR/JPY 148.73 -0.4% 149.35 148.99 +6.0%
EUR/GBP 0.8605 -0.1% 0.8610 0.8616 -2.8%
GBP/USD 1.2406 -0.1% 1.2421 1.2432 +2.6%
USD/JPY 139.32 -0.2% 139.64 139.12 +6.3%
USD/KRW 1,303.23 +0.3% 1,299.18 1,302.04 +3.3%
USD/CNY 7.1271 +0.1% 7.1195 7.1229 +3.3%
USD/CNH 7.1379 +0.1% 7.1303 7.1339 +3.0%
USD/HKD 7.8398 -0.0% 7.8426 7.8420 +0.4%
AUD/USD 0.6669 -0.0% 0.6670 0.6659 -2.1%
NZD/USD 0.6064 -0.2% 0.6077 0.6082 -4.5%
Bitcoin
BTC/USD 26,845.68 -0.7% 27,045.96 25,768.47 +61.7%
CRUDE OIL last VT settlem. +/- % +/- USD % YTD
WTI/Nymex 71.37 71.74 -0.5% -0.37 -10.6%
Brent/ICE 75.89 76.29 -0.5% -0.40 -9.4%
GAS VT Settlem. +/- EUR
Dutch TTF 24.73 24.86 -0.5% -0.13 -67.9%
METALS last day before +/- % +/- USD % YTD
Gold (Spot) 1,956.35 1,963.52 -0.4% -7.17 +7.3%
Silver (Spot) 23.45 23.63 -0.7% -0.17 -2.1%
Platinum (Spot) 1,037.53 1,036.50 +0.1% +1.03 -2.9%
Copper Future 3.75 3.77 -0.5% -0.02 -1.7%
YTD based on the closing price of the previous day
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 07, 2023 03:34 ET (07:34 GMT)
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