Asian markets were mostly down on Wednesday with Tokyo stocks reversing the previous session’s surge, as investors weighed mixed data from the United States.
The yen gained strength a day after the Bank of Japan (BoJ) decided to hold off fresh monetary easing measures and expand its lending to commercial banks.
Tokyo’s headline share index fell 0.68 percent in the morning, Seoul lost 0.49 percent and Hong Kong was down 0.13 percent. Shanghai was flat while Sydney rose 0.27 percent.
The BoJ announced Tuesday it would double the sum of loan schemes to banks in a bid to stimulate lending to firms and finance growth-stoking projects, such as environmental research and natural resources development.
That helped Tokyo’s Nikkei index power 3.13 percent higher on Tuesday, before profit-taking set in on Wednesday morning.
Hideyuki Ishiguro, senior investment strategist at Okasan Securities, said he did not expect larger falls on Wednesday as the central bank’s move was likely to discourage investors to bet against Japanese stocks too heavily.
US stocks closed mostly higher Tuesday as investors weighed mixed company news and an unexpected slump in home builder confidence.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.15 percent to 16,130.40 while the broader S&P 500 index advanced 0.12 percent to 1,840.76. The Nasdaq added 0.68 percent to 4,272.78.
“Equity indices kicked off the abbreviated trading week on a relatively quiet note,” analysts at Briefing.com said in a client note. US markets were closed Monday for the Presidents Day holiday.
The health-care sector gained support on news of a $25 billion acquisition by Irish generic drug maker Actavis of US firm Forest Laboratories.
But shares of home builders came under pressure after the National Association of Home Builders said its sentiment index tumbled to 46 in February from 56 in January. The NAHB said unusually severe weather in much of the country was largely to blame.
On currency markets, the yen edged up early Wednesday.
The dollar bought 102.26 yen compared with 102.40 yen in New York Tuesday afternoon.
The euro slipped to 140.74 yen from 140.89 while trading at $1.3763 against $1.3759.
Oil prices were mixed in Asia. New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate for March delivery, rose 29 cents to $102.72 in morning trade but Brent North Sea crude for April eased 26 cents to $110.20.
Gold fetched $1,318.44 an ounce at 1050 GMT from $1,315.44 late Tuesday.
AFP
