Asian Shares Regain Footing
September 29 2015 - 10:20PM
Dow Jones News
Asian shares mostly rebounded early Wednesday from near their
lowest levels this year, following a slight gain overnight in U.S.
markets as a commodities-related global selloff fizzled out.
The S&P/ASX 200 index in Australia rose 1.4% to 4981.20
shortly after the open, while Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 2% to
17274.06. At Tuesday's close, the ASX was at its lowest level since
mid-2013, following losses in commodities companies, and the Nikkei
was at its lowest since mid-January.
The Shanghai Composite Index opened up 0.5% at 3052.84 and the
smaller Shenzhen Composite Index gained 0.4% to 1719.19.
Healthcare and telecommunications companies led gains in Japan:
Olympus Corp. was up 2.8% and SoftBank Group was recovering from a
two-year low, trading 0.9% higher.
In Australia, resources companies also regained their footing, a
day after renewed worries about the spillover of China's slowing
demand battered prices of several commodities and related sectors.
Fortescue Metals Group rose 1.4% and BHP Billiton Ltd. gained 1.3%.
Internet-services provider TPG Telecom Ltd. surged 5.1% to A$10.66
(US$7.47) a share after the firm said it had struck deals worth
more than 1 billion Australian dollars to expand Vodafone Hutchison
Australia's transmission network.
Despite Wednesday's strength, investors remain cautious of more
volatility to come in Asian markets as several indicators point to
a harsher economic slowdown in China than previously thought.
Global stock markets have been sliding in recent sessions because
of fresh worries over slowing growth and questions over the Federal
Reserve's plan for raising interest rates.
Later this week, investors will get an update on the U.S. job
market, which could give guidance on the Fed's timeline for rate
increases. On Thursday, China will release manufacturing data for
September.
Meanwhile, markets remain vulnerable to sharp moves both up and
down as risk sentiment changes. "Risk on, off, on, off, ad
nauseam," ANZ wrote in a note.
Not all markets are trading higher on Thursday. South Korea's
Kospi 200 Index fell 1.1% to 1922.18.
In currency markets, the Japanese yen weakened against the U.S.
dollar. One U.S. dollar bought ¥ 119.95 Wednesday morning, compared
with Tuesday's close of ¥ 119.71. The Australian dollar traded at
US$0.7011 against the U.S. dollar, compared with US$0.6982 a day
earlier.
Write to Jake Maxwell Watts at jake.watts@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 29, 2015 22:05 ET (02:05 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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