Most Asian Shares Lower on Fed Jitters, Energy Sector--2nd Update
October 28 2015 - 12:22AM
Dow Jones News
By Chao Deng
Markets in Asia were mostly lower Wednesday, after oil prices
slid to two-month lows and investors stayed cautious before the
Federal Reserve concludes a two-day policy meeting.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was down 0.7%, and the Shanghai
Composite lost 0.9%. Chinese energy shares fell in Hong Kong, with
China Shenhua Energy Co. and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp.
both down roughly 2.5%.
South Korea's Kospi was off 0.4%. Australia's S&P ASX 200
was down 0.2%, with energy shares on the benchmark 1% lower.
Santos Ltd. fell 3.4% and Woodside Petroleum Ltd. was 3.6%
lower.
Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average was up 0.6%, amid
expectations that the Bank of Japan will introduce more easing
later in the week.
Shares in the region have been lackluster this week, before the
Fed concludes its two-day policy meeting on Wednesday. Although the
central bank is widely expected to leave benchmark interest rates
unchanged near zero, investors will parse the Fed's post-meeting
statement for clues about the path of its monetary policy.
"Markets are at a tipping point, hesitant of rallying further
ahead of what the Fed and BOJ do," said Angus Nicholson, a market
analyst at brokerage IG. "People don't want to put on big positions
ahead of the two events."
Comments from the European Central Bank last week about possible
easing in December sparked a rally across global equities, just
before China's central bank cut interest rates late on Friday.
The MSCI Asia Pacific closed Tuesday just off its highest level
since mid-August. The benchmark, up 9.7% month-to-date, is on track
for its largest monthly percentage gain since April 2009.
Overnight, U.S. stocks mostly fell as oil prices slumped and
investors await the outcome of the Fed's meeting.
The Japanese yen was last at Yen120.36, roughly flat compared
with its close in Asia on Tuesday. The currency traded as strong as
Yen120.14 against the dollar a day earlier, after news that a U.S.
Navy ship sailed near artificial islands in the South China Sea
claimed by China sent investors toward haven assets.
In Australia, shares of National Bank of Australia Ltd. were
down 2.1%, after the firm unveiled a deal to sell control of its
life-insurance business and plans to exit its U.K. business early
next year. The firm also said its full year net profit rose 20% to
6.34 billion Australian dollars ($4.56 billion).
Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. jumped 4.1% in New York,
after the Chinese e-commerce giant reported a net profit for its
fiscal second quarter ended Sept. 30 of $3.57 billion, more than
seven times what it reported a year earlier, thanks largely to a
one-off gain of $2.93 billion from the revaluation of a stake in
Alibaba Health Information Technology.
The company also sounded a positive note about the Chinese
economy. Alibaba Executive Vice Chairman Joe Tsai said wage growth
and considerable savings would empower consumers even as the
world's No. 2 economy slows to its lowest rate of growth since
2009.
Brent crude oil was flat at $46.79 a barrel. U.S. oil prices
fell 2.3% overnight, on expectations that U.S. crude stockpiles
grew for the fifth straight week last week.
Gold was up 0.2% at $1,168.20 a troy ounce.
Gillian Wong and Robb M. Stewart contributed to this
article.
Write to Chao Deng at Chao.Deng@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 28, 2015 00:07 ET (04:07 GMT)
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