CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are mostly trading weak on Friday with investors treading cautiously and indulging in some selling amid lingering worries about the impact of U.S. debt woes on the global economy. Some of the markets in the region rebounded after a weak start, but faltered again due to lack of support.
After an early upmove and a subsequent fall, the Australian stock market recovered some lost ground only to decline sharply due to heavy selling at several blue chip counters.
Consumer discretionary, financial, energy and industrial stocks are finding some support. Information technology stocks are trading firm, while mining and healthcare stocks are slightly weak.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is down 30 points or 0.7 percent at 4,434.8. The broader All Ordinaries index is trading at 4,509, down 30.2 points or 0.7 percent from its previous close.
Among bank stocks, ANZ Bank, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and National Australia Bank are up marginally. National Australia Bank is trading flat, while Westpac is down with a modest loss. Bank of Queensland is down marginally and Bendigo & Adelaide Bank is trading 0.5 percent up.
Top miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto are trading lower by 0.5 percent and 1 percent respectively. Newcrest Mining is losing 1.5 percent, while Fortescue Metals is down 1.2 percent.
In the energy sector, Oil Search is up 1 percent. Origin Energy and Santos are up with modest gains, while Woodside Petroleum is trading lower by about 0.5 percent.
Austar United Communications has reported a four-fold increase in first-half net profit and expressed confidence that a proposed merger with Foxtel would proceed. The pay-tv provider said net profit for the six months to June 30, 2011 rose 328.5 percent to A$88.66 million. The stock is down 0.5 percent at present.
WorleyParsons, Sims Metal Management, Westfield Retail Trust, Treasury Wine Estates, Stockland and James Hardie Industries are trading notably lower.
Toll Holdings, Atlas Iron, Computershare, News Corporation, Ascianot, Seven West Media and Goodman Fielder are trading higher.
According to a report from the Reserve Bank of Australia, the overall amount of credit extended to the private sector in Australia decreased by 0.1 percent in June compared to May.
Private sector credit had increased 0.3 percent on month for May, the RBA noted. The RBA said personal credit declined 0.4 percent on month.
Credit for the housing sector increased 0.3 percent on month, the RBA said. For the full year, housing sector credit was up by 6.0 percent. General business credit was down 0.7 percent on month. For the full year to June 2011, overall private sector credit increased 2.7 percent.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar opened weak with investors awaiting a vote in the U.S. on raising the debt ceiling. In early trades, the Aussie was quoting at US$1.1005, down from Thursday's close of US$1.1040. The Australian dollar is currently trading at 1.0984 to the U.S. dollar.
After a weak start and a subsequent rebound, the Japanese stock market faltered again on Friday with investors treading cautiously amid concerns about the impasse in the U.S. debt limit issue.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index, which declined to 9.855 but rebounded to 9,910 subsequently, was down 7.6 points or 0.08 percent at 9,893.7 at the end of the morning session.
Steel, real estate, financial and insurance stocks surged higher in early trades but gave up some gains subsequently. Electric power, automobile and marine transport stocks were trading mixed.
Shares of Sony Corp were down nearly 2 percent following the company cutting its profit estimate by 25 percent, citing lower TV demand in Europe and the U.S.
Nintendo lost as much as 20 percent after the company slashed its net income forecast 82 percent to the lowest in a quarter century and lowered the price of its new 3-D portable game player by as much as 40 percent.
TDK Corp shares were down by over 6 percent due to weak results for the April-June quarter. Konica Minolta, Softbank, Fuji Electric and Terumo Corp were down 3 to 6 percent. Advantest, Mitsumi Electric, Oki Electric, Bridgestone, Komatsu and Sumco were also trading notably lower at the break.
Shinsei Bank was up almost 8 percent. Japan Tobacco gained 4 percent. Nippon Suisan, Sumitomo Metal Industries, East Japan Railway, Nisshin Steel, Sojitz and Nippon Steel were up 2 to 3 percent.
Sapporo Holdings, Oji Paper, Kobe Steel, J Front Retailing, JX HD, Fast Retailing, Nissan Chemical Industries, Inpex, JFE Holdings and Mitsubishi Paper were also up with strong gains.
Among automobile stocks, Mazda Motor, Suzuki Motor and Hino Motors were trading modestly higher, while Honda Motor, Mitsubishi Motor, Nissan Motor and Toyota Motor were trading weak.
On the economic front, industrial production in Japan was up 3.9 percent in June compared to the previous month, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said in a preliminary reading on Friday, continuing to reflect the results of the devastating earthquake and tsunami on March 11. The June figure missed expectations for a 4.5 percent increase following the 6.2 percent gain in May.
On an annual basis, output declined 1.6 percent - again shy of estimates for a 1.2 percent decline after shedding 5.5 percent in the previous month. As a result of the data, the METI upgraded its assessment of industrial production, saying that 'industrial production is on a recovery trend after the Great East Japan Earthquake.'
According to a report from the Ministry of Communications and Internal Affairs, the unemployment rate in Japan came in at a seasonally adjusted 4.6 percent in June, matching forecasts after posting 4.5 percent in May.
The job-to-applicant ratio exceeded expectations, coming in at 0.63 versus forecasts for 0.61 - which would have been unchanged from the previous month.
The number of employed persons in June was 60.02 million, an increase of 0.1 percent on year. The number of unemployed persons was 2.93 million, down 10.9 percent on year.
According to another report from the same ministry, the core consumer price index rate in Japan came in at 0.4 percent in June. Analysts had expected core CPI to come in at 0.5 percent after adding 0.6 percent in May.
Overall nationwide CPI came in at 0.2 percent, matching forecasts after showing 0.3 percent in the previous month. On a monthly basis, core CPI fell 0.2 percent and overall inflation eased 0.1 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded at the upper 77 yen level in early deals in Tokyo. The yen is currently trading at 77.70 to the U.S. dollar.
Among other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia are down with notable losses. Shanghai, Singapore and South Korea are also trading weak, while Indonesia and New Zealand are trading in positive territory with modest gains. Markets across the region ended mostly lower on Thursday.
On Wall Street, stocks settled lower on Thursday after exhibiting some strength early on in the session. While a decline in jobless claims and a surge in pending home sales aided sentiment during the earlier part of the session, lingering concerns about the ongoing debt limit debate pulled the market down to a negative close.
The Dow ended down 62.4 points or 0.5 percent at 12,240.1 and the S&P 500 slid 4.2 points or 0.3 percent to 1,300.7, the Nasdaq edged up by 1.5 points or 0.1 percent to 2,766.3.
Major European markets turned in a mixed performance on Thursday. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index gained 0.3 percent, the French CAC 40 index and the German DAX 100 index ended lower by 0.6 percent and 0.9 percent respectively.
Crude oil prices ended marginally up on Thursday amid choppy movements. While upbeat economic data and a likely drop in production following a tropical storm pushed up prices to an extent, uncertainty about the outcome of the debt limit issue halted the rise. Light, sweet crude for September delivery ended up 0.04 percent at $97.44 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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