Ordinary day for Asian stocks

Japanese nuclear worries intensify; Chinese stocks drop on rate hike worries

Asian markets ended mixed today though profit-selling pressures on the Chinese stocks and weak cues from the overnight US market made it an ordinary day on the whole Investors' also eyed the setbacks in efforts to bring Japan's stricken nuclear complex under control and were mostly seen tethering on the sidelines as markets awaited for the US non-farm payrolls due on Friday. In overnight trades, the US markets came under pressure in the late hours and Dow fell by 22.71 points or 0.2%. However, the economic data was good. After a series of poor data releases, the US hosing market witnessed a reprieve yesterday as pending home sales increased by much more than anticipated. The National Association of Realtors stated that its pending home sales index rebounded by 2.1% in February following a 2.8% slide in the previous month. Further, Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart reiterated that US economy is likely to grow moderately, unemployment is gradually declining and inflation is moving toward a level that is consistent with the Fed's objective.



The start of the day turned out to be rather grim for Asia though as the Japanese stocks dropped nearly 1.50% on ideas the Japanese nuclear crisis is still simmering. Reports that plutonium was detected in soil at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi complex of the nuclear power plant pulled down the benchmark Nikkei 225 index sharply in early moves though a couple of impressive economic reports supported the stocks at lower end. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry revealed that retail sales in the country were up 1.0 percent on year in February, standing at 10.407 trillion yen while the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications reported that the unemployment rate in Japan was at a seasonally adjusted 4.6% in February. The number of unemployed persons in February was 3.00 million, a decrease of 240 thousand or 7.4% on year. At the end, the Nikkei ended down 19.45 points, or 0.21 percent, to 9,459.08 points.

In Australia, stocks edged higher on steady buying in the resources with investors eying a bounce in the Japanese stocks and slight moderation in the Australian dollar after the currency hit 28-year high against the US dollar. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 Index added 22.20 points, or 0.47% on the day to close at 4,755.80 points.

In China, the inflationary pressures returned to haunt the investors after the People's Bank of China said yesterday that controlling inflation in the world's fastest-growing major economy remains its main task. This pulled the markets down, making the headline Shanghai Composite Index fall for the first time in three days. By the close of the session, the index dropped 25.93, or 0.9% to end at 2,958.08 points.

In India, a highly volatile activity in the last two hours or so of trade as lower European stocks pulled Indian market off two-month high though stocks rose for the sixth day in a row today, as inflation worries eased along with a decline in crude oil prices and as data showing stepping up of buying by foreign funds recently boosted sentiment. But, the market breadth was weak, having reversed direction from a strong breadth earlier in the day, as investors squared up positions in small-cap and mid-cap shares due to year-end considerations. As per provisional closing, the BSE 30-share Sensex was up 177.87 points or 0.94% to 19,121.01. The Sensex gained 283.07 points at the day's high of 19,226.21 in late trade, its highest level since 25 January 2011.

In other markets, the Seoul Composite index in South Korea gained 0.77%, the Taiwan Weighted index in Taiwan added 0.51% while the Straits Times index in Singapore shed 0.01%. Crude oil dropped further today, easing near $103 per barrel on continued profit selling. The commodity plummeted yesterday, giving up further from its two year highs as rebel forces in Libya captured key oil towns over the weekend and trader's hoped the antigovernment advance would hasten the end of the conflict.