Tokyo leads Asian stocks higher as yen stumbles
Tokyo leads Asian stocks higher as yen stumbles:- Stock markets were broadly higher across Asia Tuesday, with Japanese equities leading the region as solid U.S. manufacturing data weakened the yen against the dollar.
In other currencies, the British pound GBPUSD, -0.6619% was down 0.6% at $1.2770 against the dollar in Asian trade, as sterling plunged to its lowest level in more than 30 years.
The pound’s decline came after U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May announced Sunday she would trigger Article 50 by the end of March 2017. That will start the clock on what will be a two-year deadline for Britain to exit from the European Union. U.K. Treasury chief Philip Hammond said Monday there would be “some turbulence” caused to the economy as a result of the Brexit negotiations.
The Nikkei Stock Average NIK, +0.83% closed up 0.8%, Korea’s Kospi SEU, +0.55% ended up 0.6% and Singapore’s FTSE Straits Times Index STI, +0.48% was up 0.2%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index HSI, +0.45% edged up 0.1% in a choppy session. Chinese markets are shut for the week.
“We’re up based on a weaker yen,” said Alex Furber, senior client services executive at CMC Markets. “We’ve had some fairly positive data on the U.S. side last night.” He added that this makes a U.S. rate increase more likely.
Released overnight, the U.S. September purchasing managers index, a measure of factory activity, jumped to 51.5, shifting back into expansionary territory, after a surprise dip to 49.4 in August.
The stronger manufacturing numbers sent the yen USDJPY, +0.75% down 0.7% against the dollar, after traders regionally returned to risk assets, exiting the safe-haven yen. Japanese exporters benefited from the yen drop, with Honda Motor 7267, +1.91% closing up 1.9%, Olympus 7733, +3.94% adding 3.9% and Panasonic 6752, +1.95% ending 2% higher.
Elsewhere in Japan, financial stocks rebounded after a recent selloff largely linked to worries about the health of Deutsche Bank.
The Topix banking subsector added 1.6%. Among individual banks, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group 8306, +1.85% was last up 1.9% and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group 8316, +1.57% ended up 1.6%.
Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda defended his negative interest-rate policy on Tuesday, saying it hadn’t undermined banks’ ability to lend surplus funds to those needing them.
In Australia, stocks reversed losses to close higher after the Reserve Bank of Australia decided Tuesday to keep the cash rate unchanged at 1.5%. It was the Australian central bank’s first meeting under its new governor, Philip Lowe. The S&P/ ASX 200 XJO, +0.10% ended up 0.1%, while in New Zealand, the NZX-50 index NZ50GR, -0.27% was off 0.3%.
Financial stocks in Australia changed direction to end higher after trading down for most of the session. Utilities stocks remained a drag on the benchmark, though, tracking U.S. shares lower. The ASX utilities subsector closed down 1%.
“Given what’s happening in Asia as a whole, it looks like there might be a little bit of divergence between developed-market and emerging-market performance,” said Angus Nicholson, a market analyst at IG Markets.
“The ASX is more in keeping with how European and U.S. developed markets have performed, and the rest of Asia seems to be in keeping with how emerging markets as a whole are performing,” he said.
Meanwhile, commodities prices were mostly lower, as a stronger dollar made dollar-denominated products more expensive for those holding other currencies. Brent crude LCOZ6, -0.39% was down 0.7% at $50.54 a barrel, gold GCZ6, -0.12% fell 0.2% at $1,309.17 a troy ounce and London three-month copper futures HGZ6, -0.75% were down 0.3% at $4,804.50 a metric ton.
Additionally, with the Chinese yuan formally included in the International Monetary Fund’s special drawing-rights basket, yuan-denominated bond issuances have hit a record high.
The volume of yuan-denominated bonds from issuers globally was $619 billion for the first nine months of the year, up 39% on year, according to data from Dealogic.
Source:-http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tokyo-leads-asian-stocks-higher-as-yen-stumbles-2016-10-04?siteid=rss&rss=1
