Can the stock market sustain its gains, or are investors facing a pullback? We'll discuss the outlook for the financial markets with Russell Investments Chief Market Strategist Stephen Wood on The News Hub. Photo: Brendan McDermid/Reuters
Asian stock markets ended mixed Friday, with Tokyo shares falling for a fourth straight day on a return of fears about European sovereign debt problems, while a firmer yen weighed on Japanese exporters.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.8%, China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.2% and South Korea's Kospi ended flat. Taiwan's Taiex climbed 0.9%, finishing higher for the first time in four days.
The advance came on reports that a Taiwanese committee looking into whether to reinstate a tax on capital gains favors exempting foreign institutional investors.
Trading volumes were modest, with markets in Australia, Hong Kong, India and Singapore among those closed for the Good Friday holiday. Investors were also cautious ahead of the U.S. nonfarm payrolls data for March later in the day, although U.S. markets are also due to be closed for Good Friday.
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Japan's Nikkei lost 3.9% during the week, followed by a 2.9% decline for the Taiwanese benchmark. The Shanghai Composite and the Kospi rose 1.9% and 0.7%, respectively.
In Friday's trading, gains for some property developers, brokerages and consumer stocks provided support to the Chinese markets, which had posted solid gains Thursday after regulators increased the investment quota for foreign institutional investors.
"We think this move is intended to provide support to the stock market, which has been dragged by investors' concerns about a slowing economy, continued tightening in the property market and weak corporate profits," Credit Suisse analysts wrote in a report.
Shares of Gemdale Corp. rose 0.5% and Cinda Real Estate rose 1.4%, while Citic Securities Co. added 1.3% and Chongqing Brewery gained 1.7% in Shanghai.
But some state-owned banks extended losses following Premier Wen Jiabao's remarks earlier this week that the nation's state-controlled lenders earned profit "too easily" and urged a break-up of their virtual monopoly.
Shares of China Construction Bank fell 1.3% and Industrial & Commercial Bank of China gave up 0.2%.
Japanese exporters declined as the dollar slipped versus the yen, with Sony Corp. dropping 2%, Honda Motor shedding 1.8% and Nissan Motor declining 1.5%.
Shares of Toshiba fell 1.1% in Tokyo and SK Hynix dropped 2.0% in Seoul after a Nikkei business daily reported Thursday they would make a joint bid for bankrupt Japanese chip maker Elpida Memory Inc.
Shares of Japan's Kobe Steel fell 3.1% after the company doubled its loss forecast for the fiscal year that ended last month. Other steel makers were also under pressure, with JFE Holdings Inc. dropping 1.6%, and Nippon Steel Corp. losing 2.3%.
On the upside, Kansai Electric Power Co. rose 2.8% after a Nikkei business news report that the government would likely approve the resumption of operations at Kansai's Oi nuclear power plant.
Astellas Pharma Inc. rose 3.2% after the firm reported that a U.S. advisory committee recommended the Food & Drug Administration approve Astellas' overactive-bladder treatment mirabegron.
Shares of Japanese retail major Seven & I Holdings Co. fell 1.3% in the downbeat market, despite a record-high operating profit reported late Thursday by the 7-Eleven convenience store owner.
stock market, stock markets, stock market, China, Shanghai Composite, Nikkei, Citic Securities Co.
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