Asian stock markets closed on a mixed note Tuesday after recent heavy losses, as falling oil and metal prices amid a spate of weak U.S. economic data and uncertainty over a new aid deal for Greece suppressed investor risk appetite.
Trading activity in most of the regional markets remained lackluster with lower buying interest as investors eagerly looked forward to the Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's speech on the U.S. economy later in the global day. With QE2 coming to an end on June 30 and the U.S. markets continuing a five-week downturn on economic growth worries, investors are becoming wary of uncertain times ahead.
The Japanese market rose, as the weakness of the yen against both the dollar and the euro spurred short covering in beaten-down shares. Both the Nikkei and the broader Topix indexes closed up about 0.7 percent each. TEPCO climbed 4.4 percent on a heavy volume after finishing at a record closing low of 207 yen a day before, while Kansai Electric Power and Chubu Electric Power gained about 2 percent each.
Toshiba added 3 percent on reports that the company is in talks with Sony to integrate their LCD panel businesses. Sony dropped 1.5 percent after Citigroup cut its target price on the stock. Canon lost 3.4 percent after it ended a share buyback program. Carmakers edged higher, with Toyota and Nissan adding about 2 percent each, helped by easing of supply-chain issues and early production starts.
China's Shanghai Composite index advanced 0.6 percent amid thin trading ahead of May trade figures due later this week, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng cut early losses to end 0.3 percent lower.
THE Australian market recouped early losses to close on a flat note after the central bank kept interest rates on hold. The benchmark closed little changed with a negative bias, while the broader All Ordinaries index shed 0.2 percent.
BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto recovered most of their early losses before ending about 0.1 percent lower, but Fortescue fell a little over 2 percent. Oil and gas producer Woodside lost 1.2 percent and Santos eased 0.2 percent. Banking stocks closed higher, with Westpac and ANZ leading the gains, rising 0.8 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively while NAB and ANZ edged up marginally. Defensive stock Telstra rose 2 percent.
The Reserve Bank of Australia decided to retain the benchmark cash rate unchanged at 4.75 percent and said the bank board will continue to assess carefully the evolving outlook for growth and inflation. The bank expects inflation to be close to target over the next 12 months as the temporary price shocks from the effects of extreme weather and rises in utility prices dissipates over the coming quarters.
South Korea's Kospi average closed 0.7 percent lower, with heavy industrials and oil refiners leading the declines on fears of a global economic slowdown. Also, investors adopted a wait-and-watch approach ahead of the Bank of Korea's interest rate decision and options expiry later this week. SK and S-oil slumped about 3.4 percent each while Hyundai Heavy Industries fell 2.5 percent. The local currency lost ground against the U.S. dollar.
Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics edged up about 0.2 percent each. Siemens AG's Osram unit said it filed patent-infringement complaints against both companies in the U.S. and Germany over flat-panel displays.
The New Zealand market fell, dragged down by Kathmandu Holdings amid downbeat comments from the Reserve Bank of Australia on the non-mining sectors of the economy. Shares of the outdoor clothing and equipment retailer ended down a whopping 4.8 percent.
Pyne Gould Corp., the financial services firm, slumped 4.8 percent, Goodman Fielder, the Australian food ingredient manufacturer, tumbled 3.7 percent and National carrier Air New Zealand fell 2.8 percent, while Freightways, which is often seen as a bellwether of the economy, rose 2.8 percent. High dividend yielding stocks such as AMP NZ Office and Vector rose about 2 percent each. The benchmark NZX-50 ended down 0.3 percent
While keeping the official cash rate on hold as expected, Australia's Reserve Bank Governor Glenn Stevens said at the bank's June monetary policy meeting that investment intentions have been revised lower recently outside the resources sector.
Elsewhere, India's Sensex was last trading up 0.7 percent, as a slide in crude prices for the third straight session eased inflation worries. Oil prices slipped below $99 a barrel in Asian trading ahead of a key OPEC meeting this week.
The U.S. dollar was broadly lower against its major counterparts after a string of disappointing U.S. economic indicators including Friday's weak jobs data reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve will not raise interest rates in a hurry.
Indonesia's Jakarta Composite index slipped 0.2 percent, Malaysia's KLSE eased marginally and Singapore's Straits Times was little changed, while the Taiwan Weighted posted a modest 0.1 percent gain.
U.S stocks drifted lower for a fourth consecutive session overnight, as concerns about the outlook for the economy continued to weigh on sentiment. The Dow dropped half a percent, while the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 lost about 1.1 percent each.
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May 08, 2026 15:50 ET Manufacturing and services sector survey results and labor market data from main economies were the highlight on the economics news front this week. Factory orders and jobs report dominated the news flow in the U.S. Similarly, industrial production data from German garnered attention in Europe. In Asia, purchasing managers’ survey results from China and the central bank decision from Australia were in focus.