Asian markets linger in red

Lackluster movement in stocks despite gains on Wall Street

Asian markets mostly slipped today as the bulls ran out of steam after their recent heroics. The Wall Street had closed in green but the stocks in Asia were in a lackluster mode, facing selling pressure right from the start. Dollar fell to a fresh one month low against the Euro but then paced up as traders cut positions. The DOW futures slipped while commodities also lingered in red. In overnight trades, US stocks were able to recover from early losses and ended moderately higher on Wednesday, as traders shrugged off data showing limited growth in New York State manufacturing and national production. The Dow added 46.24 points or 0.4% to end at 10,572.73. A report from the New York Fed showed that its general business conditions index fell to 4.1 in September from 7.1 in August, although a positive reading indicates continued growth in the manufacturing sector.



Japanese stocks gained a second day after the yen weakened to the lowest level this month though the rise was tapered given the selling pressure in regional indices. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 0.9% to 9,604.77. The broader Topix climbed 0.7 percent to 854.90, with almost three times as many shares advancing as declining. The yen depreciated to as low as 85.77 against the dollar today in Tokyo from 84.86 at the close of stock trading yesterday, extending its drop after the government intervened in the foreign-exchange market.

The Australian stocks closed in red with a loss of more than 1%, profit selling emerged following recent rally on optimism about global economic recovery and commodities slipped. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 Index dropped 56.20 points, or 1.21%, and closed at 4,605 points, while the All-Ordinaries Index ended at 4,650, down 52.70 points, or 1.12%. On the economic front, Australian Bureau of Statistics stated that the value of merchandise imports decreased sharply in August compared to the previous month. The Bureau revealed that the value of merchandise imported into the country last month totaled A$17.4 billion, a decrease of A$1.3 billion or 7% on the July total of A$18.7 billion. On a balance of payments basis, goods imports slumped A$1.2 billion in seasonally adjusted terms to A$17.6 billion in August. A report released by the Melbourne Institute revealed that Australia's median consumer inflationary expectations rose to 3.1% in September from 2.8% in August.

In China, equities dropped with banking, financial and reality players taking a beating on worries banking regulator may require the biggest banks to boost capital adequacy ratios in next few quarters. The benchmark Shanghai composite index suffered its biggest fall in three weeks. The index dropped 52 points or 1.9% to end at 2,727. The market has been dropping since hitting four-month highs last week. The index fell 1.3% yesterday amid concerns that government curbs on the property market and energy consumption will slow economic growth and earnings.

In Mumbai, the key benchmark indices edged lower as profit taking emerged after a recent solid surge. The market snapped a seven-day winning streak today. The BSE 30-share Sensex was provisionally down 66.92 points or 0.34% to 19,435.19, off 201.47 points from the day's high and up 51.73 points from the day's low.

The market breadth was weak. Banking and realty shares rose after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) signaled that it may be nearing a pause in its current tightening cycle. Metal stocks declined after metal prices declined on the London Metal Exchange on Wednesday, 15 September 2010. IT stocks slipped on worries about a slow global economic recovery.

In other markets, Hang Seng index in Hong Kong edged up 0.16%, TSEC index in Taiwan dropped 0.78 % while Straits Times index in Singapore shed 0.13%. Dollar plummeted to 1.3100 levels against the Euro before gaining marginally. The DOW futures are down 25 points. Crude oil eased after failing to test $76 levels and currently quote at $75.25, down 77 cents on the day.