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On the economic front, a statement released by the Ministry of Finance revealed that Japanese investors bought net 348.0 billion yen in foreign bonds for the week ended February 20. The statement also noted that the country's residents sold a net 27.9 billion yen in foreign stocks last week. Foreign investors purchased a net 37.2 billion yen in Japanese stocks and net 310.5 billion yen in Japanese bonds during the last week, the statement noted.
Light sweet crude oil futures for April delivery ended at $79.59 a barrel in electronic trading, down $0.41 per barrel from previous close at $80.00 a barrel in New York on Wednesday.
Exporters led the decline on stronger local currency which declined below the psychological 90-yen mark. Sony Corp. declined 2.09%, Sharp Corp., fell 1.61%, Panasonic Corp. shed 1.88%, and Canon Inc. remained unchanged from previous close.
Automotive stocks also ended in negative territory. Suzuki Motor Corp. lost 2.25%, Honda Motor slipped 1.13%, Nissan Motor fell 1.67% and Toyota Motor edged down 0.15%. Mitsubishi Motor Corp., however, remained unchanged from previous close.
Trading companies also ended weaker on stronger local currency. Itochu Corp. declined 1.54%, Toyota Tsusho slipped 0.70%, Mitsubishi Corp. shed 0.45%, Marubeni Corp. fell 0.57% and Sumitomo Corp. lost 0.63%.
Shipping stocks also ended in negative territory. Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha lost 3.33%, Nippon Yusen fell 1.52% and Mitsui OSK Lines shed 1.20%.
Mixed trading was witnessed among banking stocks. While Mizuho Financial Group ended in negative territory with a loss of 0.58%, the other banks ended in positive territory with marginal gains. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial added 0.22%, Resona Holdings climbed 1.50% and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial advanced 0.25%.
Inpex Corp., engaged in oil exploration and development, ended weaker by 1.98%. In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index slipped 54.40 points, or 1.17% to close at 4,594, while the All-Ordinaries Index ended at 4,615, representing a loss of 51.00 points, or 1.09%.
On the economic front, a report released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed that the average weekly ordinary time earnings of Australians increased a seasonally adjusted 2% in the three months to November, much faster than the 1.1% increase recorded in the three months to August period. On a yearly basis, the average weekly wage in Australia rose 5.9% and stood at A$1,226.70, the report revealed.
Separately, the Statistics Bureau revealed that private capital expenditure in the country increased a seasonally adjusted 5.5% in the fourth quarter of 2009 compared to the preceding third quarter. Economists expected a nominal 2% increase in the fourth quarter, following 3.9% contraction in the third quarter. The statement noted that capex for buildings and structures declined 1.7%, while equipment, plant and machinery capex surged 12.4%.
A statement released by the Conference Board revealed that its leading economic index for Australia stood at 112 in December, up from 111.3 reported in the previous month. The statement further noted that out of the seven components that make up the leading index, five components increased in the month. Positive contributions came from building approvals, the yield spread, rural goods exports, share prices, and gross operating surplus, the statement noted.
Light sweet crude oil futures for April delivery ended at $79.59 a barrel in electronic trading, down $0.41 per barrel from previous close at $80.00 a barrel in New York on Wednesday. Mining and metal stocks ended in negative territory. BHP Billiton shed 1.05%, Rio Tinto lost 1.42%, Fortescue Metals fell 2.55%, Gindalbie Metals slipped 1.49%, Iluka Resources plunged 3.47%, and Oz Minerals declined 1.90%.
Gold stocks also ended sharply lower. Newcrest Mining fell 4.58% and Lihir Gold lost 4.09%.
Oil stocks also ended in negative territory. Woodside Petroleum slipped 0.51%, Santos fell 1.96%, Oil Search edged down 0.19% and Origin Energy lost 1.79%.
Bank stocks ended mixed. ANZ Bank slipped 1.20%, Commonwealth Bank of Australia shed 1.52% and Westpac Banking edged down 0.27%. However, National Australia Bank managed to end in positive territory with a gain of 0.33%.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index ended in negative territory with a loss of 68.17 points, or 0.33% at 20,400 as traders preferred to lock in gains and move to the sidelines amid fresh concerns on debt problems surrounding Greece. China related stocks and resource stocks declined on softer commodity prices as investors await second day of testimony from Ben Bernanke, who reiterated extended period of low interest rates in the US. Weak closing on other markets in the region also impacted market sentiment. In South Korea, the KOSPI Index ended in the negative territory with a loss of 25.32 points, or 1.57%, at 1,587, as traders preferred to lock in gains and move to the sidelines amid fresh concerns related to debt problems in Greece. Soft commodity prices and weak trading across other markets in the region also impacted market sentiment.
Short covering on account of the expiry of derivative contracts helped the Indian market end another lackluster session on a flat note Thursday. Cautious investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of Friday's Union Budget. After falling to as low 16,167 by mid-session, the BSE Sensex recouped most of its loss before finishing at 16,254, down 2 points or 0.01%, while the Nifty ended on a positive note at 4,860, up 0.02%.
Among the other major markets, Indonesia's Jakarta Composite Index lost 30.38 points, or 1.18%, to close at 2,549, Singapore's Strait Times slipped 12.99 points, or 0.47% to 2,749, and Taiwan' s Weighted Index fell 102.71 points, or 1.36%, to close at 7,427. China's Shanghai Composite Index, however, bucked the trend and ended in positive territory with a gain of 38.44 points, or 1.27%, at 3,063.
by RTT Staff Writer
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