HONG KONG: Asian markets edged upward Wednesday in thin trading after the Christmas break, as fears over lacklustre iPhone demand eased and commodities rose.
Shares in Apple — the biggest US company by market capitalisation — and its Asian suppliers had slumped Tuesday after a report in Taiwan’s Economic Daily warned of weak demand for the iPhone X.
But that slide was arrested, with analysts suggesting media reports of supplier order cuts were “confusing the market”.
Rosenblatt Securities analyst Jun Zhang said initial reports out of Taiwan likely only referred to previously announced iPhone 8 cuts, while a survey of mainland Chinese Apple suppliers found no order reductions, Bloomberg News reported.
Taiwan-based Apple suppliers Hon Hai Precision Tech — better known as Foxconn — and Catcher Technology rose Wednesday.
Hong Kong had risen 0.1 percent in afternoon trade, while Tokyo closed up also by 0.1 percent. Taipei added 0.6 percent.
Seoul was up 0.4 percent after the announcement of a new policy aimed at encouraging trades on the junior, tech-heavy Kosdaq market bolstered overall investor sentiment.
But positive news from smartphone suppliers was dampened by major losses at Hyundai Heavy — the world’s largest shipbuilder by sales — which announced a plan to issue new stocks to shore up its ailing finances.
Hyundai shipbuilding shares plummeted by the daily limit of 30 percent in mid-afternoon.
Shanghai fell 1.0 percent as profit growth at China’s major industrial firms slowed in the first 11 months of this year, new data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.
Elsewhere, oil-linked shares were boosted by crude prices that remained close to two-year highs, while copper hit a three-year high.
Singapore rose 0.5 percent, Jakarta 0.5 percent and Kuala Lumpur 0.4 percent, while Sydney closed flat.
Oil prices in New York had jumped to a two-and-a-half year high Tuesday and briefly topped $60 a barrel due to a Libyan pipeline explosion and frigid weather in the US, before easing slightly in early Wednesday trade.
Saudi Arabian officials are forecasting their first budget surplus in a decade amid expectations of higher oil prices, Bloomberg News reported, citing unnamed sources.
“Strength on oil and metals markets, along with strength in gold markets has futures pointing higher this morning,” wrote Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at AxiTrader.
– Key figures around 0700 GMT –
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.1 percent at 22,911.21 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng: UP 0.1 percent at 29,593.84
Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 1.0 percent at 3,273.69
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1879 from $1.1866
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3383 from $1.3377
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 113.21 from 113.25 yen
Oil – West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 28 cents at $59.69 per barrel
Oil – Brent North Sea: DOWN 36 cents at $66.66
New York – DOW: FLAT at 24,746.21 (close)
Source: Brecorder.com
