Wednesday, 29 July 2015 13:06
HONG KONG: Shanghai stocks recovered Wednesday after plunging more than 11 percent in the past three sessions but there were mixed results for other Asian markets, with some unable to sustain a morning rally.
Buyers were given a healthy lead from Wall Street, which climbed Tuesday for the first time after five sessions of losses as dealers await a key US Federal Reserve policy meeting later in the day.
Shanghai closed up 3.44 percent or 126.17 points at 3,789.17 on easing concerns about government measures to support share prices instituted at the start of the month to prevent a market meltdown.
Hong Kong was up 0.51 percent in the afternoon and Sydney advanced 0.71 percent, or 39.52 points, to end at 5,624.2.
Tokyo ended 0.13 percent, or 25.98 points, lower at 20,302.91 and Seoul was marginally down, shedding 1.48 points to 2,037.62.
The region started with a burst after US and European bourses surged Tuesday after the previous day’s losses that were sparked by Shanghai’s 8.48 percent Monday plunge — its worst in eight years.
Wall Street snapped a five-day losing streak thanks to strong earnings from shipping giant UPS as well as a bump in petroleum stocks.
The Dow climbed 1.08 percent, the S&P 500 gained 1.24 percent and the Nasdaq jumped 0.98 percent.
That followed healthy rises in London, Paris and Frankfurt.
“Often when a lot of stocks get washed out, we get a rebound,” Nader Naeimi, Sydney-based head of dynamic asset allocation at AMP Capital Investors, told Bloomberg News.
The US central bank ends a two-day policy meeting on Wednesday and traders will be poring over its comments to get a handle on its plans for raising interest rates.
While expectations are for an increase in either September or December, Naeimi said the events in China and elsewhere would likely have an impact on policymakers’ decision-making.
“The Fed will be focused on global conditions. What’s happening globally can’t be totally ignored,” said Naeimi.
On currency markets the dollar eased to 123.44 yen from 123.56 yen in New York, while the euro changed hands at $ 1.1073 and 136.78 yen against $ 1.1058 and 136.64 yen.
Oil prices continued to fall on worries about the global economy as well as a worldwide supply glut.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for September delivery slipped 14 cents to $ 47.84 a barrel and Brent crude for September gave up 13 cents to $ 53.17.
Gold fetched $ 1,098.09 an ounce compared with $ 1,091.80 late Tuesday.
In other markets:
— Taipei fell 0.22 percent, or 19.01 points, to 8,563.48.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. closed 1.12 percent higher at Tw$ 135.5 while Hon Hai Precision added 1.67 percent to Tw$ 91.5.
— Wellington shed 0.38 percent, or 22.39 points, to end at 5,870.77.
