Asian markets largely quiet on back of retreat in New York

HONG KONG: Asian markets were largely muted on Tuesday, tracking a retreat in New York as anticipation builds ahead of major earnings reports and a Federal Reserve policy meeting.

Hong Kong shed 0.3 percent, Tokyo and Shanghai were flat and Sydney lost 0.2 percent.

But Seoul gained 0.9 percent as South Korean tech giant Samsung announced a record profit for the July to September period, its best for any quarter, and said it would double its dividends next year.

The world’s biggest memory chip and smartphone maker has faced multiple challenges since last year, including a humiliating recall of its flagship Galaxy Note 7 handsets and a corruption scandal that engulfed its de facto leader.

But its profits and share price have rocketed this year, thanks to strong demand for its memory chips and revived smartphone sales following the roll- out of the new- generation Galaxy Note 8.

Its quarterly net profits soared to 11.2 trillion won ($10.0 billion) — a jump of 148 percent on the same period a year earlier — and Samsung shares rose 1.92 percent on Tuesday.

Samsung Electronics is the key subsidiary of the sprawling Samsung Group, whose heir Lee Jae-Yong was found guilty in August of bribery, perjury and other charges stemming from payments to the secret confidante of ousted president Park Geun-Hye.

Tokyo shares clawed back earlier losses to end flat after Japan’s central bank announced it would maintain its 2.0-percent inflation target — seen as crucial in a long battle against deflation that is blamed for holding back the once-booming economy.

A stronger yen weighed on automakers, with Toyota losing 1.2 percent and Honda falling 0.5 percent, while SoftBank plunged on reports that talks over a planned telecoms mega-merger had been cancelled.

SoftBank fell 4.6 percent, after leading business daily Nikkei reported that merger talks between its US subsidiary Sprint and fellow wireless operator T-Mobile — controlled by Deutsche Telekom — had been scrapped.

In other downbeat news, Chinese manufacturing growth slowed in October after two consecutive months of acceleration, according to official data released Tuesday, due to weak demand and a drop in production because of public holidays and restrictions before a key Communist Party meeting.

In early European trade, London gained almost 0.2 percent while Paris was flat. Frankfurt was closed for a German public holiday.