Asia stocks mostly down, weak yen lifts Tokyo

HONG KONG: Asian stocks mostly fell yesterday tracking a sell-off on Wall Street and oil consolidated after hitting a six-month high, but Tokyo’s Nikkei bounced into positive territory thanks to a softer yen.

Traders moved cautiously following weak earnings in the US and Japan and a shaky performance in Asia Wednesday during which an early rally petered towards the end of the day.

Tokyo’s Nikkei ended 0.4% higher as the yen eased on speculation the Bank of Japan will boost its stimulus programme.

The dollar rose to 108.95 yen in afternoon trade --up from 108.39 yen in New York -- after speculation began circulating that the central bank could further ease monetary policy as soon as next month.

However, Toyota tumbled after warning that its annual net profit is set to fall by about a third owing to recent yen gains and an emerging market slowdown.

Scandal-hit Mitsubishi shares soared 16% after Nissan Motor confirmed yesterday that it was in talks for a capital tie-up with the firm. After the market closed Nissan said it would buy a 34% stake in a deal valued at about $2.2 billion.

Hong Kong shed 0.7% in late trade and Shanghai ended marginally lower ahead of the release of fresh economic indicators out of China this week.

A disappointing trade report at the weekend revived concerns about the world’s second largest economy, while there are fears Beijing will hold off introducing any fresh stimulus after a government warning over debt levels. Sydney slipped 0.2% and Seoul retreated 0.1%. “There’s just enough out there to keep investors cautious,” Tim Schroeders, a portfolio manager in Melbourne at Pengana Capital, told Bloomberg News.

Most energy firms climbed after the Department of Energy said US crude stockpiles slid 3.4 million barrels last week, sparking an oil price rally. Analysts’ consensus had been for a rise of 750,000 barrels.

West Texas Intermediate jumped 3.5% Wednesday while Brent climbed 4.6%, putting both contracts around levels not seen since November. Yesterday Brent was up 0.1% and WTI gained 0.2%. In Hong Kong energy giant CNOOC and PetroChina posted healthy gains while Sydney-listed BHP Billiton put on 0.2% and Woodside Petroleum rallied 2.4%.

Manila fell one percent following its largest two-day gain since 2013 that was fuelled by president-elect Rodrigo Duterte trying to sooth nervous investors.

The euro was at $1.1407, down from $1.1426 Wednesday as Europe saw waning optimism over bailout talks between Greece and the euro-zone.