Asia report: Markets mixed as investors sift through earnings
Markets in Asia were mixed on Thursday, as investors sifted through a number of earnings reports after a soft Wednesday session on Wall Street overnight.
AUD/USD
$0.6416
23:00 19/04/24
GBP/NZD
NZD2.1007
23:53 19/04/24
Hang Seng
16,224.14
10:21 19/04/24
Nikkei 225
37,068.35
09:44 19/04/24
USD/JPY
¥154.6345
23:58 19/04/24
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was up 0.15% at 21,739.78, as the yen was stable against the dollar, last trading at JPY 113.74.
Financial plays and carmakers were mostly higher, as was messaging app Line, which surged 16.73% after it released earnings.
Brewing giant Asahi Group was making headlines, amid reports it was looking to sell its soft drink subsidiary LB, having purchased it over a decade ago.
Shares in Asahi were down 0.1%.
On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.33% at 3,408.24, and the smaller, technology-heavy Shenzhen Composite added 0.25% to 2,030.35.
China confirmed details of its first dollar-denominated sovereign bond issue in more than 10 years on Thursday, with more than $2bn to be offered in two tranches.
South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.48% to 2,480.63, and the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong was off 0.36% at 28,202.38.
Chipmaker SK Hynix was down 3.67% in Seoul, after it reported a 415% rise in third quarter operating profit year-on-year.
Its profit the the period came in at KRW 3.7trn, missing market expectations for KRW 3.8trn.
Carmaker Hyundai Motor was ahead 7.41%, however, after its third quarter profit beat estimates at KRW 852bn, although that was still a 20% decrease year-on-year.
Investors were keeping an eye on the European Central Bank’s meeting, which was concluding on Thursday, particularly looking out for details on the future of the bank’s asset buying programme.
“Between the amount of bonds they plan to buy per month to the duration of the program and their forward guidance, there are no shortage of ways for Mario Draghi to placate the doves and the hawks,” noted BK Asset Management’s managing director of FX strategy Kathy Lien.
Oil prices were lower, with Brent crude last down 0.24% at $58.30 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate off 0.08% at $52.14.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.18% to close at 5,916.30, with the hefty financials subindex rising 0.08% by end-of-play.
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group reported a 12% improvement in full-year net profit to AUD 6.41bn during the session, missing a consensus forecast for AUD 6.87bn.
Shares in ANZ finished down by 1.21% in Sydney.
Australian flag carrier Qantas was down 1.41%, paring back earlier losses of as much as 7%, after it signalled expectations for tough conditions in the rest of the financial year in its first quarter update.
Across the Tasman Sea, New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 was down 0.4% at 8,086.74, dragged down by embattled construction conglomerate Fletcher Building, which fell 2.7%.
The down under dollars were mixed, with the Aussie last 0.07% stronger on the greenback at AUD 1.2972, while the Kiwi retreated 0.31% to NZD 1.4563.