Wednesday 5 August 2015

Asia Stocks Mostly Lower Tracking Fall in US Markets

Tokyo stocks opened lower on Wednesday, despite positive earnings reports and a weaker yen, as US shares slid on another big decline from Apple.

The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange fell 0.15 per cent, or 30.21 points, to 20,490.15 at the start.

US stocks ended lower Tuesday following a mixed batch of earnings reports and a fall by Apple of 3.2 per cent, leaving it down more than 12 per cent since its July 21 earnings release.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.27 per cent.

The broad-based S&P 500 fell 0.22 per cent, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index slid 0.19 per cent.

In Tokyo Toyota, which said Tuesday its net profit for the three months to June jumped 10 per cent to $5.2 billion, fell 2.53 per cent to 7,915 yen in the first few minutes of trading.

In Tokyo forex trade, the dollar was at 124.32 yen early Wednesday, up from 123.93 yen early Tuesday.

The greenback traded at 124.36 yen in New York late Tuesday.

A weak yen is positive for Japanese exporters as it makes them more competitive abroad and increases profits when repatriated.

The euro was at $1.0885 and 135.29 yen compared with $1.0882 and 135.32 yen in US trade.

Hong Kong stocks opened slightly higher Wednesday, rising 0.17 per cent to defy a lower finish on Wall Street and a slide in Tokyo's opening exchanges.

The city's benchmark Hang Seng Index added 42.3 points to 24,448.42.

Chinese shares were slightly lower on Wednesday morning, as investors took profits after strong gains the previous day sparked by new restrictions on short-selling, dealers said.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index edged down 0.29 per cent, or 10.89 points, to 3,745.65.

The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China's second exchange, lost 0.10 per cent, or 2.17 points, to 2,148.78.

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