Tokyo, japan (BBN)-Asian shares were subdued on Tuesday, drawing little support from a strong performance by US and European stock markets.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose by 2.6 per cent to 17,147.92 after shedding a hefty 2.4 per cent on Tuesday, reports BBC.
But Chinese shares were mixed with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng up 1 per cent to 19,063.48 points, but mainland shares fell.
The Shanghai Composite dropped 0.9 per cent to 2,725.18, adding further to Tuesday’s rout of more than 6 per cent.
Shares in carmaker Toyota rose by 3.8 per cent on media speculation that it was exploring a partnership with fellow car manufacturer Suzuki.
Suzuki denied the reports, but its shares rose by 9.4 per cent.
OIL VOLATILITY
A sharp rise in oil during US trade had boosted investor sentiment on hopes that both Opec and non-Opec producers would take action to tackle oversupply, after the oil cartel on Monday called for co-operation from oil producing nations outside the cartel.
But the price of Brent crude later lost most of its gains, trading just 1.4 per cent higher at $30.92.
“The positive sentiment stemmed from strong US corporate earnings and talk of OPEC and Russia considering production cuts. We consider the likelihood of any agreement between these parties as extremely low,” ANZ bank said in a note on Wednesday.
AUSTRALIA INFLATION
Australian markets reopened Wednesday after a national holiday and the ASX 200 fell by 0.7 per cent to 4,970.00 points, still tracking Tuesday’s sell-off elsewhere in Asia.
The latest economic data from Australia showed consumer prices had edged up only modestly in the last quarter.
Core inflation slowed to the lower end of the central bank’s target range which could be an incentive for the central bank to cut interest rates further.
“As December quarter inflation was in line with RBA forecasts it is probably not low enough to bring on another rate cut from the RBA on its own,” analyst Shane Oliver of AMP capital said in a note.
“But with inflation running at the bottom of the 2-3 per cent inflation target it leaves plenty of room for another rate cut and helps reinforce the RBA’s easing bias.”
In Korea, the benchmark Kospi index, rose by 1.5 per cent to 1,900.00 points.
BBN/SK/AD