Asian Equities Give Up Early Gains to Close Lower

By Investors Hub

Asian stocks gave up early gains to end mostly lower on Thursday as investors awaited the announcement of the next Fed chief as well as Friday’s U.S. jobs report.

The dollar pulled back in Asian trading as lingering uncertainty about the U.S. tax bill overshadowed a mildly hawkish Fed statement.

Chinese stocks fell slightly on concerns over slowing growth and tighter liquidity before year-end. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index eased 12.77 points or 0.4 percent to finish at 3,383.14, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 75.42 points or 0.3 percent to 28,518.64.

Australian shares finished marginally lower, dragged down by financials after National Australia Bank said it expects to take a restructuring charge of A$500 to A$800 million in the first half of 2018. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index dipped 6.10 points or 0.1 percent to 5,931.70, while the broader All Ordinaries Index closed little changed at 6,002.20.

NAB fell 2.8 percent after forecasting a rise in costs, and the other three banks ended down between 0.3 percent and 0.8 percent. Higher metal prices helped lift miners, with BHP Billiton, Fortescue Metals Group, Rio Tinto and South32 climbing 2-4 percent.

Energy stocks Woodside Petroleum and Oil Search rose more than 1 percent each. Building materials supplier Boral rallied 3.8 percent after lifting the outlook for its Australian business.

On the economic front, Australia’s foreign trade surplus increased more than expected in September, while the total number of building approvals increased for the second straight month, separate reports showed.

Seoul stocks closed lower on profit taking after four days of gains. The benchmark Kospi dropped 10.11 points or 0.4 percent to 2,546.36, dragged down by technology and insurance stocks. SK Hynix and Samsung Life Insurance both ended down over 2 percent.

Meanwhile, Japanese shares hit a new 21-year high even as overall gains remained modest ahead of a long holiday weekend. The Nikkei 225 Index climbed 119.04 points or 0.5 percent to 22,539.12, while the broader Topix Index closed 0.4 percent higher at 1,794.08.

Honda Motor soared 5.2 percent after the automaker raised its full-year operating profit forecast. Sony rallied 2.8 percent to extend Wednesday’s gains after forecasting a record profit. Panasonic lost 3.3 percent on concerns over Tesla’s Model 3 production bottlenecks.