Indonesia, Daewoo Sign $1.1 Billion Contract For 3 Submarines
Asian Shares Mostly Lower Ahead Of Key Fed Meeting
HONG KONG - Asian stocks mostly fell Tuesday as hopes for strong corporate results were offset by profit-taking while traders looked to a Federal Reserve meeting expected to announce new monetary easing measures.
The dollar was under pressure around 15-year lows after it edged closer in New York to its all-time low on expectations the Fed will introduce quantitative easing to boost the economy, effectively printing money.
Tokyo fell 0.25 percent, or 23.78 points, to 9,377.38 and Shanghai ended 0.32 percent, or 9.88 points, lower at 3,041.54 while Hong Kong was 0.11 percent, or 26.67 points, off at 23,601.24.
Seoul rose 0.19 percent, or 3.70 points, to 1,919.41.
Most markets rose on Monday after finance ministers of the G20 at the weekend agreed not to get involved in a currency war, paving the way for Washington to loosen its monetary policy next week.
The G20 meeting in South Korea ended with ministers saying they would not take part in "competitive devaluation" and would move to tackle large current account surpluses, although they shied away from specific targets.
The deal sent most markets higher on Monday as investors welcomed possible moves to boost the world's biggest economy.
The dollar changed hands at 80.76 yen Tuesday, down from 80.82 late Monday.
On Monday the greenback fell to as low as 80.41 yen, its weakest since April 1995.
The euro traded at 1.3969 dollars in late US trade Monday but had dropped slightly to 1.3967 dollars in afternoon trade Tuesday.
The dollar is edging towards the 79.75 yen mark, its post-World War II low.
Analysts said the greenback could make gains against the yen as traders had already fully priced in the expected quantitative easing measures from the Fed.
"I think the pair hit bottom," Akira Hoshino, senior dealer at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, said after the dollar sank to a fresh 15-year low Monday.
However, dealers remained cautious due to efforts by Tokyo to talk down the yen, signalling it may be prepared to intervene despite the G20 agreement.
Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said Tuesday "the moves yesterday (Monday) were a bit one-sided," alerting investors that Tokyo may consider another intervention after its first foray into markets in six years last month.
"I think there might be an intervention when the (dollar) breaks 80.00," Tomohiro Nishida, senior dealer at Chuo Mitsui Trust and Banking, told Dow Jones Newswires.
"But if they do intervene at any time, the dollar will surge by at least one yen or two. That's why it's hard to sell the pair below 80.50."
Sydney shed 0.47 percent, or 22.2 points, to end at 4,687.8 as dealers consolidated their positions after a surge on Monday caused by a bid by the Singapore stock exchange to pay 8.2 billion US dollars for the ASX.
"The Australian share market outperformed (Monday) on the back of the ASX takeover offer, so I expect it to be a little muted in the short term," said RBS head of sales Justin Gallagher.
ASX Ltd shares ended down 7.83 percent at 38.67 Australian dollars after adding 19.42 percent Monday.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for December delivery, fell 35 cents to 82.17 dollars a barrel in the afternoon. The contract had closed Monday 83 cents higher at 82.52 dollars.
Brent North Sea crude for December delivery was 21 cents lower at 83.33 dollars after closing 96 cents stronger on Monday.
Gold closed at 1,335.00-1,336.00 US dollars an ounce in Hong Kong, down from Monday's close of 1,345.00-1,346.00 dollars.
In other markets:
-- Singapore closed down 0.62 percent, or 19.57 points, at 3,162.51.
Local bourse SGX fell 2.57 percent to 8.72 Singapore dollars as its merger plans with Sydney ASX faced fierce political opposition in Australia Tuesday.
Sembcorp Industries retreated 1.71 percent to 4.59.
-- Taipei rose 0.44 percent, or 36.25 points, to 8,343.23.
Formosa Plastics Corp closed 3.57 percent higher at 90.0 Taiwan dollars and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co edged up 0.48 percent to 62.3.
-- Manila fell 0.17 percent, or 7.34 points, to 4,279.53.
Cebu Pacific, the country's second-largest airline, was the top-traded stock as it made its debut on the exchange on Tuesday at an IPO price of 125 pesos. It closed 6.4 percent higher at 133 pesos.
Ayala Land was off 2.8 percent at 16.50 pesos and Philippine Long Distance Telephone fell 0.6 percent to 2,698.
Atlas Mining was 2.9 percent higher at 19.70.
-- Jakarta rose 0.29 percent, or 10.61 points, to 3,654.10.
Telkom rose 1.7 percent to 9,050 rupiah and coal miner Bumi Resources fell 1.1 percent to 2,350 rupiah.
-- Kuala Lumpur closed up 0.37 percent, or 5.50 points, at 1,496.94.
Tradewinds Plantation rose 3.80 percent to 2.48 ringgit, lender AMMB Holding added 1.50 percent to 6.07 and Malaysia Airlines was down 0.90 percent at 2.29.
-- Wellington fell 0.13 percent, or 4.31 points, to 3,285.44.
Telecom shed one percent to 2.07 New Zealand dollars, Air New Zealand was steady at 1.34 and Fletcher Building slipped 1.5 percent to 8.08.
-- Bangkok climbed 0.38 percent, or 3.80 points, to 996.04.
Banpu gained 16.00 baht to 798.00 while PTT Chemical added 5.50 baht to 149.50.
-- Mumbai slipped 0.40 percent, or 81.73 points, to 20,221.39.
AFP
