Japan, China Stocks Rise; India Slides Again

Most Asian markets fell Monday on worries about the Federal Reserve’s policy outlook and rising U.S Treasury yields, while Indonesian and Indian stocks tumbled on local economic concerns.

Mainland Chinese and Japanese shares ended higher after a choppy trading session on buying after a string of recent losses.

Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average  and the Shanghai Composite both ended the day 0.8% higher.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200  ended fractionally lower, South Korea’s slipped 0.1%, Taiwan’s Taiex shed 0.3% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index  was 0.4% lower in afternoon trading.

The performance in Asia came after U.S. stocks ended lower on Friday, handing the Dow Jones Industrial Average its worst weekly performance of the year. Meanwhile, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to hit the highest level in two years amid jitters over monetary policy.

“Recent weakness in U.S. equity markets appears to have been largely about positioning for the Fed to make a first step in the process of winding back its quantitative easing in September,” said CMC Markets chief market analyst Ric Spooner.

“Given this market context, traders will focus on … [Federal Reserve meeting minutes, due out Wednesday] for any clearer signs on the probability of a Fed move,” Spooner said.

India, Indonesia

Meanwhile, India’s 30-stock S&P BSE Sensex  dropped 1.7% in Mumbai afternoon trade, on top of Friday’s 4% tumble, while Indonesia’s JSX  plunged 4.8% in by mid-afternoon in Jakarta.

The declines follows weakened local currencies for both nations amid a string of poor economic data.

“Given recent events in both India and Indonesia, the ‘crisis’ word is being heard more and more often,” said Robert Prior-Wandesforde, an economist at Credit Suisse.

He was referring to controls by the Reserve Bank of India to restrain fund outflows from the country, and data showing a widened current account deficit in Indonesia.

Shares of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. skidded 5.2% and Bharti Airtel Ltd.  slumped 6.8% in Mumbai.

In Jakarta, conglomerate PT Astra International  sank 4.8% and PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia  plummeted 6.4%.

The U.S. dollar has risen nearly 14% against the Indian rupee  and almost 8% against the Indonesian rupiah  so far this year.

Also taking a hit, Thailand’s SET Index  tumbled 2.1% in Bangkok afternoon trade after the local economy grew at a slower-than-expected rate of 2.8% in the second quarter from the year-ago period.

Other stock movers

Hong Kong property developers suffered from the weak U.S. cues, with Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd.   and Sino Land Co.   each giving up 1.4%.

Some mainland Chinese developers also weakened despite broad market gains and data showing a further improvement in Chinese home prices last month. Prices of new homes rose in 62 of 70 large and medium-sized Chinese cities in July from their levels in June, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Sunday.

Gemdale Corp.  lost 3.1% in Shanghai, while China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd.  shed 1.8% in Hong Kong trading.

The choppy trade in Shanghai followed extreme volatility witnessed Friday after a large unintended trade was executed at a mid-sized trading firm, Everbright Securities Co. . The China Securities Regulatory Commission said in a statement Sunday the trading glitch was caused by design defects and the transaction system at Everbright, rather than by human error.

Shares of Everbright remained under a trading halt Monday, following news the mid-sized brokerage firm lost 194 million yuan ($31.7 million) from that trading glitch.

In Tokyo, steel makers and some automobile firms dropped even as the yen briefly weakened after data showing the country’s trade deficit widened sharply in July from the year-ago period.

Suzuki Motor Corp.   dropped 1%, and JFE Holdings Inc.   retreated 0.7%.

However, shares of Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd.  rose 2.2% after the Nikkei newspaper reported the company will team up with Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC   to develop a new aircraft engine that is more fuel-efficient.

The market in Sydney suffered a drag from shares of Commonwealth Bank of Australia  , which dropped 2.9%, and telecommunications major Telstra Corp. , which declined 3.7%, as both stocks traded without rights to a dividend.

BlueScope Steel Ltd.   sank 14.1% after it said it doesn’t expect a better outcome for the first half of 2014 than it had in the second-half of 2013. BlueScope’s annual loss narrowed to 84.1 million Australian dollars  ($77.3 million).

On the upside in Asia, however, energy producers gained after oil prices rose Friday in the U.S.

In Tokyo, Japan Petroleum Exploration Corp.  climbed 2.1%, and Inpex Corp.   added 1.3%. Woodside Petroleum Ltd. gained 1.1% in Sydney, and Cnooc Ltd.  rose 1.4% in Hong Kong.

Source : Marketwatch