Asian stock markets are turning in a mixed performance Thursday with investors mostly treading a cautious path amid a lack of positive triggers. The overnight subdued close on Wall Street and the European markets too appear to be contributing to the sluggish trend in most of the markets in the region.
The Australian market faltered after an upmove, but rebounded swiftly as select blue chips, led by those from the banking space, surged higher on fairly strong buying support.
Consumer staples and property trusts stocks are among the other notable gainers. Energy and mining stocks are mostly trading lower, while healthcare and industrial stocks are mixed.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index, which declined to 4,436.7, is currently up 9.4 points or 0.2 percent at 4,448. The broader All Ordinaries index is up 8 points or 0.2 percent at 4,466.8, off the day's low of 4,457.2.
ANZ Bank is trading higher by over 1 percent. The bank announced that it plans to spend up to A$1.5 billion on new mobile banking apps and upgrades of its branches to attract more customers.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac (WBK) and National Australia Bank are up 0.7 to 1.3 percent. Bendigo & Adelaide Bank is up marginally and Bank of Queensland is adding 1.4 percent.
Top miners BHP Billiton (BHP, BBL) and Rio Tinto (RIO, RIO.L) are down 1.2 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively.
Bluescope Steel is up nearly 6 percent. Investa Office Fund, Commonwealth Property Office Fund, Whitehaven Coal, James Hardie Industries, QBE Insurance Group, Lynas Corporation and Boart Longyear are trading higher by 1.5 to 3 percent.
Iluka Resources is down more than 4 percent. Perseus Mining, Seven West Media, Newcrest Mining, Primary Healthcare, Regis Resources, Orica, Woodside Petroleum, Caltex Australia, David Jones and Cochlear are also trading sharply lower.
In economic news, building approvals in Australia increased 6.4 percent month-on-month in August, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed Thursday.
The number of approvals totaled 12,046 during the month on a seasonally adjusted basis. The number of private sector houses approved, meanwhile, declined 0.5 percent month-on-month to 7,314. Year-on-year, total building consents plunged 15.4 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, the bureau said.
Meanwhile, retail sales in Australia grew 0.2 percent month-on-month on a seasonally adjusted basis in August, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed. This was slower than the expected 0.4 percent increase and followed a 0.8 percent fall in July and 1.2 percent rise in June.
After a brisk start and a subsequent fall into negative territory, the Japanese market moved higher thanks to some hectic buying on the back of a weaker yen.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index, which briefly slipped into negative territory after a bright start, rebounded sharply towards the end of the morning session and was up 53.9 points or 0.6 percent at 8,800.8 at the break.
Automobile, bank, real estate, insurance, pharmaceuticals and marine transport stocks posted strong gains. Shares from precision instruments, mining, pulp & paper and electric power sections were trading mixed.
Shinsei Bank gained over 5 percent. Daiwa House Industry, Sumitomo Realty & Development, Hino Motors, Isuzu Motors, Toshiba Corp., Unitika, Denso Corp., Mitsubish Estate and Mitsubishi Electric all moved up by 2 to 4 percent.
Mitsubishi Electric Corp., Nissan Motor, Heiwa Real Estate, Honda Motor (HMC), Toyota Motor (TM), Fuji Heavy Industries and Nippon Sheet Glass also posted sharp gains.
Among the notable losers in the index, Mitsubishi Materials, Sharp Corp., Nisshin Steel Holdings and Sumco Corp. drifted down by over 5 percent.
Pacific Metals, Konica Minolta Holdings, Showa Denko KK, Nikon Corp. and Advantest Corp. (ATE) lost more than 3 percent.
Canon Inc. (CAJ) shares declined 3 percent after Hewlett-Packard Co. projected a lower than estimated earnings for 2013.
Toho Zinc, JX Holdings, Kansai Electric Power, Sony Corp. (SNE), Pioneer Corp., Kobe Steel, Panasonic Corp. (PC) and Sumitomo Metal Mining also declined sharply.
According to data released by the Ministry of Finance, Japanese residents sold a net 900 million yen in foreign stocks in the week ended September 29. Japanese investors also purchased a net 1.542 trillion yen in foreign bonds and notes, the data showed.
Foreign investors sold a net 239.6 billion yen in Japanese stocks last week, the ministry said, and also bought a net 298.0 billion yen in Japanese bonds and notes.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded in the mid-78 yen range in early deals in Tokyo. The yen is currently trading at 78.50 to the dollar.
Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Indonesia are trading marginally up, while New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan are trading weak. Markets across the region had turned in a mixed performance on Wednesday.
On Wall Street, stocks moved mostly higher on Wednesday, with traders reacting positively to a couple of upbeat U.S. economic reports. Buying interest remained relatively subdued, however, limiting the upside for the markets.
The major averages all ended the day in positive territory, although they Dow posted only a modest gain. While the Dow inched up 12.3 points or 0.1 percent to 13,494.6, the Nasdaq rose 15.2 points or 0.5 percent to 3,135.2 and the S&P 500 climbed 5.2 points or 0.4 percent to 1,451.
Major European markets ended mixed on Wednesday. The French CAC 40 index edged lower by 0.2 percent, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index and the German DAX index moved up by 0.3 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.
U.S. crude oil plunged sharply to end at a two-month low on Wednesday, mostly on concerns over global economic slowdown and oil demand growth. Oil prices slumped notwithstanding a decline in U.S. crude stockpile and a couple of upbeat macroeconomic data from the world's largest economy.
Crude for November delivery plunged $3.75 or 4.1 percent to close at $88.14 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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