Australian stocks fell into negative turf early Thursday, following a slew of less-than-stellar economic data releases.
Mainland share markets are closed through Monday, as the country commemorates the end of World War Two with an extravagant parade of military firepower on Thursday.
"Respite in global equities may only reflect temporarily allayed concerns about whether the rest of the world was going to catch a cold from China's sneeze. Away for the Victory Day long weekend today and tomorrow, China's "bed rest" means that a break from Shanghai stock gyrations will make for much less nail-biting," analysts from Mizuho Bank wrote in a note.
Major indexes in the US climbed overnight amid volatile trade, after equity markets in China ended Wednesday almost flat on the back of fresh supportive measures from brokerage houses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 rallied more than 1.8 percent in the close to end near session highs, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite outperformed with gains of 2.46 percent to pull out of correction territory.
Nikkei jumps 1.7 percent
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 surged from the get-go, thanks to the inspiring handover from Wall Street and renewed weakness in the yen.
It was a broad-based rally, with heavyweight component Fanuc leading the charge. Shares of the industrial robot maker charged 1.1 percent, while Fast Retailing and SoftBank gained around 0.5 percent each.
Among export-oriented plays, Nissan Motor and Toshiba climbed more than 3 percent each. Banks and brokerage houses recouped Wednesday's losses; Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group advanced nearly 11 percent each, while Nomura Holdings bounced up 0.4 percent.
In the previous session, the Tokyo bourse meandered between gains and losses before eventually closing down 0.4 percent.
ASX drops 0.8 percent
Australia's S&P ASX 200 index turned negative, as banking and retail-related plays weigh.
Australia and New Zealand Banking, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and National Australia Bank fell nearly 1 percent each. Retailing counters widened losses after July retail sales unexpectedly slipped 0.1 percent on-month, missing expectations for a 0.4 percent rise. Myer, Harvey Norman and JB Hi-Fi lost between 2 and 17 percent.
Energy counters turned mixed as oil prices resumed declines in early Asian trade; Woodside Petroleum pared gains to trade flat, while Santos fell 3.8 percent.
Kospi gains 0.6 percent
South Korea's Kospi index headed north in early trade, even though advances were relatively modest as revised gross domestic product (GDP) showed the worst quarterly growth in more than six years for the Asia's fourth-largest economy.
The economy grew a seasonally adjusted 0.3 percent on-quarter in the April-June period, revised central bank data released before the market open showed, unchanged from its earlier estimate. On a year-on-year basis, South Korea's GDP for the second quarter expanded by 2.2 percent, also unchanged from its earlier estimate released on July 23.
Shares of Samsung Electronics, which will unveil its revamped Gear S2 smartwatch on Thursday, widened gains to 2.1 percent. Among other gainers, LG Display and SK Hynix rose 2.4 and 1.5 percent, respectively.
Mainland share markets are closed through Monday, as the country commemorates the end of World War Two with an extravagant parade of military firepower on Thursday.
"Respite in global equities may only reflect temporarily allayed concerns about whether the rest of the world was going to catch a cold from China's sneeze. Away for the Victory Day long weekend today and tomorrow, China's "bed rest" means that a break from Shanghai stock gyrations will make for much less nail-biting," analysts from Mizuho Bank wrote in a note.
Major indexes in the US climbed overnight amid volatile trade, after equity markets in China ended Wednesday almost flat on the back of fresh supportive measures from brokerage houses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 rallied more than 1.8 percent in the close to end near session highs, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite outperformed with gains of 2.46 percent to pull out of correction territory.
Nikkei jumps 1.7 percent
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 surged from the get-go, thanks to the inspiring handover from Wall Street and renewed weakness in the yen.
It was a broad-based rally, with heavyweight component Fanuc leading the charge. Shares of the industrial robot maker charged 1.1 percent, while Fast Retailing and SoftBank gained around 0.5 percent each.
Among export-oriented plays, Nissan Motor and Toshiba climbed more than 3 percent each. Banks and brokerage houses recouped Wednesday's losses; Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group advanced nearly 11 percent each, while Nomura Holdings bounced up 0.4 percent.
In the previous session, the Tokyo bourse meandered between gains and losses before eventually closing down 0.4 percent.
ASX drops 0.8 percent
Australia's S&P ASX 200 index turned negative, as banking and retail-related plays weigh.
Australia and New Zealand Banking, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and National Australia Bank fell nearly 1 percent each. Retailing counters widened losses after July retail sales unexpectedly slipped 0.1 percent on-month, missing expectations for a 0.4 percent rise. Myer, Harvey Norman and JB Hi-Fi lost between 2 and 17 percent.
Energy counters turned mixed as oil prices resumed declines in early Asian trade; Woodside Petroleum pared gains to trade flat, while Santos fell 3.8 percent.
Kospi gains 0.6 percent
South Korea's Kospi index headed north in early trade, even though advances were relatively modest as revised gross domestic product (GDP) showed the worst quarterly growth in more than six years for the Asia's fourth-largest economy.
The economy grew a seasonally adjusted 0.3 percent on-quarter in the April-June period, revised central bank data released before the market open showed, unchanged from its earlier estimate. On a year-on-year basis, South Korea's GDP for the second quarter expanded by 2.2 percent, also unchanged from its earlier estimate released on July 23.
Shares of Samsung Electronics, which will unveil its revamped Gear S2 smartwatch on Thursday, widened gains to 2.1 percent. Among other gainers, LG Display and SK Hynix rose 2.4 and 1.5 percent, respectively.
First Published: Sept 3, 2015 7:37 AM IST
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